Moving from purees to finger foods...

[Sarah O]

Hey guys,

Do you guys follow a 'rule' about when to serve finger foods and when to serve purees?  Super Baby Food says that snacks should be finger foods and meals should be purees...but how stiff a rule is that when you start to move away from purees...is it OK to have finger foods at every meal?  And can a meal be entirely finger foods?  I'm having such a hard time with this transition...who would have thought it would be this hard??  When I serve purees, they want finger foods.  When I serve finger foods, they want purees.  When I serve both, they don't want solids at all.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Sorry for the tangent...had to vent.  But if anyone can tell me their "ratio" of finger foods to purees it would be helpful.

Thanks!

Sarah

[Sarah O]

Sorry, I should mention that my guys are almost 10 months (corrected)

[tylersmommy]

My answer isn't very good...when we introduced finger foods around 8 mo, we didn't really follow any kind of plan. It was just whatever I was in the mood to serve! Tyler gave us no choice at 9 mo when he refused the spoon completely. It was all finger food from then until 12 mo. So yes, it's entirely possible to serve meals that are only finger foods, because that's what we did! Lots of steamed veggies, ripe fruits, and sandwiches torn into bits can make for a very balanced diet!

[*Natasha*]

I still feed my DD meals but try to encourage finger food as a snack or after a meal. I generally give cheese, biscuits sweet and savoury and just started giving saltanas she loves these.

[Sarah O]

Thanks guys - another question...what would your advice be regarding the fact that my DS doesn't want to be spoonfed but he also doesn't like "oogy" textures on his fingers...all he'll accept as finger food are rusks.  No veggies, no fruit, because they're all too slimy.  He enjoyed holding a celery stick and cucumber but didn't like the taste of either.  How can I get some veggies into him?  I considered spreading a puree onto the rusk but it will probably just disinetgrate. 

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Sarah

[Lucysmom]

Like Melissa's ds, my dd is going through a finger food only stage.  So don't worry about not being able to give purees if they don't seem interested.  My dd will not accept the spoon so I am trying like crazy to find finger foods that she'll eat.  Right now her diet is NOT balanced AT ALL but the only thing I can do is offer foods and hope eventually she will put something in her mouth and like it!!  I understand your frustration as I feel it often (oh, like 3 times a day everyday!!!).  Good luck!

[tylersmommy]

Tyler didn't like slimy foods for the longest time either. It really helped to coat them in dry infant cereal, crushed cheerios, or wheat germ (after you've introduced it). I also used purees as a spread on just about every kind of bread product...squished sandwiches, toast, waffles, pancakes...

[Sarah O]

Melissa - for us, the more it's coated in dry cereal, wheat germ, etc the worse it is for him to hold...what am I doing wrong?  When I roll it in dried 'anything' and he tries to hold it, it just gets slimy.

[Lucysmom]

So I tried smearing apple puree on bread this morning and squishing it to make a sandwich.  Usually she likes bread on its own.  She took one bite and then refused to even pick up the other pieces I put on her tray.  So frustrating.  She is living on crackers, cheerios, veggie puffs, and bread.  Sometimes I can get her to eat 2 oz. of puree.  I have yet to get her to accept anything other than the items I listed above as finger food.  Sarah - I feel your pain!

[Messa]

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babyfingerfood.htm

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/teethingbiscuits.htm

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/Meals.htm

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/Mealtimes.htm

http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/

HTH
There is lots more on the site too.

[Lucysmom]

Wow, Melissa!  Thanks for those websites!  Great info on there and some recipes I think Lucy might like!  Thanks again!

[Messa]

Not a problem, I just made the sweet potatoe fingers last night haven't given them to DD yet but DH like them 

[Sienna Raynes mum]

I am having the same problem with my lo, she only wants to feed herself.  The only problem is she doesn't have any teeth yet, so can i still give her veggie/fruit pieces? Everytime I give cheerios to her she gags because she will keep popping them into her mouth!

Tylersmummy - you said you gave squished sandwiches? Did ds have teeth? My lo loves bread bu i am so nervous of a big piece coming off and her choking!
 

[datallan]

Hi All

Phoebe had no teeth when I introduced FF. She ate toast, veggies, fruit, baby bikkies, rusk. Their gums are hard as anything.
I always give FF after her meals.
Brekkie tends to be a 100% FF festival for her, dry cheerios, strawberries, toast, fruit. Small brekkie as she stopped eating off the spoon and refusing lunch and tea. Reducing her brekkie and dropping 10am snack has broght back her hunger for lunch and eats of the spoon again. she has 6/8 tablespoon from spoon, followed by FF which could be slice wholemeal bread, finger cheese, homemade chicken and veggies nuggets, mini beef & veggie burgers, bagel,
Same at tea time main meal of spoon and followed by FF. Again teatime more relaxed , if she has eaten well during day I don;t panic what she eats at teatime.

Must admit never used a cereal to dry the outside of fruit, just let her get on with it and she did.
Lo do a gagging thing when they eat but they learn to control and stop doing it.

I have arecipe for risotto finger ( rice and veggies) which are great hit , good at tea time for carbs.

Debs

[tylersmommy]

Tylersmummy - you said you gave squished sandwiches? Did ds have teeth? My lo loves bread bu i am so nervous of a big piece coming off and her choking!

Tyler had front teeth, but that doesn't make a difference. Until they get molars, all of their "chewing" is done by squishing food around with their tongues and gums. So well cooked veggie pieces and soft fruit pieces should be fine. My test was always to put one in my mouth and see if I could squish it with my tongue. If I could, then it was soft enough for Tyler. When I gave Tyler sandwiches, I'd squash them down so they weren't as big and I'd cut them into finger food sized pieces. We started with toast bits to get him used to the texture and moved on to sandwiches once he was doing well with those.

Sarah - Maybe the fruit/veggies are too wet when you coat them? That's all I can think of, sorry!

[Lola]

I have cooked apples/pears adn coated them in squashed cheerios like suggested adn my 8 month old loves them. She has two bottom teeth only and is starting to resist the spoon in the morning!  Lunch yesterday was cooked zuchhini, cheese bits (she loves any kind of cheese) and yogurt with squashed cheerios in it for texture!  Dinner was broken bits of pasta and cheese. Anything she can put in her mouth works. She shovels stuff to the end of the table and slide it in if she gets too frustrated with it being slippery. The dog is happy! anything I eat I break up and give to her she loves. We will start chicken next week!
Im a nervous freak about choking so her bits are really rather small. (makes for good gross motor coordination) LOL

I do the squish test on my tongue too YUMMM