What solids foods can I give my 7 month old??

[Ambinsi]

DD is 7 months old and is currently eating cereal and Stage 2 solids - mostly fruits and veggies although we're going to try to introduce some of the meats soon. She's had puffs, and I want to know what else I can try to give her, if anything. At 7 months what else should she be trying?? The thing is that she has no teeth so I get a little concerned, although I've heard that the gums are hard enough now that they can handle some harder foods.

[Lolly]

By 7 moths they can handle lots of finger foods, the babies that are going the baby led weaning path aren't having any purees at all! You will need to check on the guidelines for your country but from 6 months my DD was having steamed veg like carrots and broccoli, toast, sandwiches, pasta - all sorts really! I followed the BLW guide and gave her foods that were a size she could hold in her hand with a bit sticking out for her to get into her mouth. Their gums are really hard and they don't need teeth to be able to handle finger foods.

They do gag at first on finger foods but this is ok - it helps them to learn to protect their airways and isn't the same a choking.

HTH!

Laura

[~inbalance~]

Here is some more info on Baby Led Weaning if you're interested:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=92560.0
There is also a BLW support thread for if you'd like to talk to other moms who do it and get some ideas:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=175926.0
Also, you might find some great ideas on the Baby Recipes board:
http://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?board=10.0

With DS1 I started with purees and we did fruits and veggies, then around 7mos we started with cheerios, puffs etc.  After 8mos I started giving him just about anything, pureed and in finger food form and by 9mos I can't think of anything he didn't eat except for maybe nuts and honey.

With DS2 we are doing BLW and I give him pieces of pretty much anything we eat, although at this age he is still playing with it more than he is eating it.  I just avoid junk food, foods with added salt, foods with sugar, nuts, and honey.

Like Laura said, gums are hard and they do learn to chew with them, and also saliva helps break down the food as they are pushing it around in their mouths.  But at 7mos just expect her to play and explore with food, anything that ends up getting swallowed is a bonus. 

[Mollie1]

My lo started solids at 4 months due to being a very large baby and we started on pureed veggies and fruits plus baby cereals without gluten. Now he is 6 months, I have introduced chicken and beef and started mashing the foods so they have abit more texture to them and he is doing well on this. I just made up a chicken casserole, beef casserole, vegetable stew and a spaghetti bolognaise yesterday and froze it in ice cube trays. I do need to start him on some finger foods aswell but he isn't very good at getting the food up to his mouth!