https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 08 Apr 2026 12:35:46 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bento-for-toddlers#post-99900 Fri, 23 Mar 2012 09:13:02 +0000 sulli301 99900@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Andrea: yeah, she didn't start solids until 6 months &amp; wasn't really interested until 7 months, so maybe that has something to do with it too</p> <p>@cupcakemama: that's how I feel! I am petrified of choking &amp; it is just hard to know what to feed them now!!</p> <p>@808love: awesome thanks for the info! What do you use to chop everything up with? DD only has her two bottom teeth &amp; then her two top teeth JUST popped through this week, so maybe that is something to do with it? Yeah I can't believe she does waffles so well, I think because they are so soft. She is such a little stinker about the mesh teether, but to be fair I have only tried it a couple of times, but she has tossed it on the ground. Does your LO throw the little silicon cups at all? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bento-for-toddlers#post-99784 Fri, 23 Mar 2012 02:15:56 +0000 808love 99784@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was super scared of choking but overcame it by 11 months and started doing bento. It took me forever to give my daughter a cheerio and I used to break puffs in fourths! We were giving finger foods a few months earlier since LO's fine motor was pretty good. </p> <p>Our go-to staples for finger-food bento were avocado, scrambled egg and really soft strawberries, steamed carrots and sweet potato. I would mince everything and then slowly got bigger and bigger as I got braver watching my daring CPR trained hubby feed her with chunks. Now it's 14 months and she can do almost anything (not things like grapes, nuts and known hazardous ones), though I still chop everything and put it in little silicone cupcake holders.<br /> We also introduced rice early on, but she wretched on it at the beginning...freaky! We didn't do bread until much later. I just thought it would be hard to chew, but that's great you have your LO on waffles already. Our DD only had 3 teeth when we started and she's had 6 since we started with the bento. Oh and I gave her apple in a mesh food-chewing teether thingee to get her jaw going, practicing chewing, and the muscles working. We taught her "Chew, chew" with exaggerated chewing motions and noises and say AHHH so I could check her mouth. I don't like her shoveling it in so fast...still freaks me out sometimes. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bento-for-toddlers#post-99741 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:02:59 +0000 cupcakemama 99741@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I want to transition to finger foods too. Just not sure how to go about it. I worry LO will choke! Toast and bread are as far as we have progressed. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bento-for-toddlers#post-99737 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:33:56 +0000 Andrea 99737@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sulli301: good luck! every kid is different and i have seen a huge range in when kids have given up mashed foods. i don't think there is any rush so just start slow. :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bento-for-toddlers#post-99735 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:31:20 +0000 sulli301 99735@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Andrea: Okay...I am so nervous to start this! I am not sure why. She certainly knows what she likes...mashed food :P thanks! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bento-for-toddlers#post-99734 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:30:05 +0000 Andrea 99734@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@sulli301: i basically fed her the same things i was making purees for at first. so instead of sticking chicken in the food processor, i would slice it really thin for her to pick up and eat instead. i did this for everything: fruit, veg, meat, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bento-for-toddlers#post-99731 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:26:21 +0000 sulli301 99731@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Andrea: I guess more when &amp; how do you transition your baby to older foods? And does anyone on her use bento for their young toddlers?</p> <p>@chopsuey119: thanks for the link! What are you feeding LO now that she is liking more solid finger foods? What are her meals like? Do you plan to use bento meals at all? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bento-for-toddlers#post-99532 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:23:59 +0000 chopsuey 99532@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Here are some Bento tips and ideas.<br /> <a href="http://www.hellobee.com/?s=bento" rel="nofollow">http://www.hellobee.com/?s=bento</a></p> <p>My LO stopped wanting mashed foods about a month ago (at 11 months). She loves picking food up and eating on her own now.<br /> Maybe your LO will start liking finger foods more soon? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bento-for-toddlers#post-99519 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 18:03:49 +0000 Andrea 99519@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Do you mean can you feed all finger foods at this age? You can but it just depends on your LO's preferences. My LO did not like purees for very long so at 11 months she was eating finger foods. You should check out Mrs. Bee's posts. She is the expert! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bento-for-toddlers#post-99452 Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:20:17 +0000 sulli301 99452@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO is almost 11 months old &amp; while she is a good eater she is super finicky about finger foods or solids that are not mashed! She will eat Happy Baby puffs, small pieces of whole grain waffles, etc but I can't get her to enjoy fruits or veggies unless they are in liquid form! I am in love with the idea of using bento lunches or snacks but can you start this early? How did you do it? What tools &amp; accessories worked for young toddlers? </p>