too much bread? & other finger food ideas

[CJF]

hi
 i have a ?  can a lo have too much bread?  what would be too much?  my little guy LOVES toast.  he has just started to really take to finger foods and doesn't like to eat off the spoon much anymore so i am racking my brain to come up with ideas for new finger foods for him.  he loves to eat toast, especially when i toast it with cheese.  right now he eats maybe a half a slice for lunch and dinner (sometimes breakfast, too).  so i guess he could eat 1 to 1 1/2 slices a day (1 1/2 slices would be on the extreme side).  is that too much?  oh, he eats 100% whole wheat bread.
....have any other ideas for finger food?
thanks!

[maxysmum]

Not sure about if its too much bread but IMO anything can be a finger food, once he could eat finger food my DS wouldn't let me feed him anything but I carried on giving him normal food and he just fed himself (it does get kinda messy but he had a varied diet)

Good finger food= Cooked carrot, green beans, sausage, cooked mixed veg, fruit, cheese, cheerios (any cereal), crackers etc.

HTH

Love

[binxyboo]

You put experiment with putting different things on the bread, different spreads etc. I have heard of people putting purees from jars on there!

We did foods as the pp said.

[taygensmom]

My LO is 9 months and also loves bread, toast, and cheese toast. It is definately his favorite part of the meal. I just make it a point to offer him other foods FIRST (so he doesn't only eat bread) to keep his diet varied. Then I will give him some bread at the end of the meal and let him go to town. This way he still eats veggies and tries new foods when he is hungry. I pretty much give him anything that we are eating now (cut into small pieces) as long as it is soft and "squishable". He does fine as long as they are cut into small pieces!

[wfabby]

1/2 a slice of bread is a serving for a toddler, and no, any food a toddler will eat is good!  some days, they may not eat anything!  My lo likes  cream cheese and jam on his bread as well.

I have found good finger foods other than the pps, typical stuff, like bananas, any fruit (loves pears!!!!!!!!) he'll eat a whole pear after his meal

Not the most nutritious stuff, but they make mini tater tots which are a hit in this house.  It keeps my lo busy while I finish making the rest of the meal.  Fish sticks are good (though I take the breading off), same with chicken nuggets.

Broccoli heads are good, they come apart easy if you cook them long enough.

Ground beef with pureed tomatoes are a hit as well.  I grind the beef further after it is cooked and then add the pureed tomatoes.  You can toss some cheese or mashed potatoes into that as well.

I typically have a great eater who will try and usually eat anything!  He loves hummus on bread as well

[Karin3]

I do a lot of little sandwhiches....  I put veggie purees on bread but mostly I do cream cheese (or some kind of spreadable cheese) and hummus.  Mimi's favorite finger food right now is black beans & large curd cottage cheese mixed together with a pinch of garlic powder.  This is pretty messy so I usually strip her down to a diaper and do this as part of the last meal of the day before her bath.  This past wknd we went to Chile's for dinner and Mimi ate pieces of my cheese quesadilla w/ sour cream & guacamole as well as the black beans.

I've also found that sometimes if a fruit or veggie isn't quite soft enough for her, I can mash it with a fork just a little bit, and then she'll eat it as a finger food.

There's a ton of finger food ideas out at wholsomebabyfood.com.  I think they might also have some in the baby food recipes link by the FAQ for this board.

Hope that helps some!

[jumblebox]

popular finger foods here...
banana slices tossed in crushed cereal (I throw bran flakes in the blender), macaroni & cheese (sometimes w/broccoli), veggie & cheese omelets, veggie burger (he thinks it's meatloaf), homemade meatloaf (w/lots of veggies added), pretty much any food on our plate that isn't runny or mashed potato consistency... or too salty or spicy.

[mommy_to_2]

I have a question about toast as a finger food.  I am just starting finger foods with my dd and so far we are making slow progress.  I would like to try toast as I think it is a good way to get her eating grains as well as the fact that it is so easy.  My question is (actually two questions) is 1.  How long (crunchy) do you toast the bread?  2.  What size does everyone serve it?  We are having problems with anything larger than pea size.  She either gags on whatever it is we are feeding her, or if it is cut into strips she doesn't seem to know how to bite it or won't even pick it up.  Any suggestions?

[taygensmom]

My LO adores toast. We lightly toast it so that it is not too crucky or hard. We break it into pieces about the size of our thumbnail. However, if your LO gags on foods larger than pea size, then I would just start really small and slowly work your way up in size. You want it to be a positive experience for her, so start where you know she is comfortable and then slowly (over a period of weeks) increase the size.

[mommy_to_2]

Thanks, I will try that at lunch today and let you know what happens.

[knackered]

Just wanted to jump in here - I think I read somewhere that babies shouldn't eat wholemeal bread - because it fills them up too quickly and they don't get the calories they need from it. Also if you're buying ready made sliced bread - check out the salt content, they vary hugely.

Have you tried flavoured rice cakes? There's some great ones designed for babies available - flavoured with apples. I can't help but snaffle a few myself!

Anna x

[bethann]

So funny- cause abigail LOVES bread.  She could eat it all day.  And I was totally wondering if it was all right for her to be eating so much bread! 

The suggestions are really helpful, and I will try them! 

[mommy_to_2]

Thanks for the idea of flavoured rice cakes.  I will keep a look out for those. 
Toast at lunch today was a success.  I cut it really small and slathered it with cream cheese.  She had no problems with it.

[CJF]

my little guy loves toast, too (as i stated before), and i tried putting some of his babyfood from the jar on it and he loves it (like mixed veggies or green beans).  that is such a good idea.  he would rather eat finger food than from the spoon so that has really helped with him getting some of his veggies in, using up the jars and gives him a variety of spreads to eat.
thanks for that idea!!