If you didn't do BLW, when did you start finger foods? What did you start with?
I can't feed R purees fast enough. I am wondering when I should start letting her feed herself, but I am so scared about her choking. She has her two bottom teeth but I am still freaked about regular food.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
We started with purees about 1 week shy of 6 months. Then gradually I started making purees chunkier. At about 7 months I started with bite sized pieces of foods. About 2 weeks later we were completely off spoon feeding except for like oatmeal, yogurt, soup, etc.
Just follow her cues. I found that LO was really good about not trying to stuff her mouth all at once. She knew if something was too big and she would pull it back out. But not all babies are like that!
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
@locavore_mama: What do you mean my cues? If I am just doing purees, how do I know she is ready for something else.
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@Smurfette: oh I mean after you start finger foods in terms of sizes. 
GOLD / pineapple / 12662 posts
@Smurfette: Note: I am certainly no expert on solids - we are still struggling at 12 months! But, you may want to start with something small but readily dissolvable like Puffs so that she can work on her pincer grab and get used to manipulating things in her mouth. You could also try baby crackers/cookies or cheese. We had the most success early on with Puffs and then baby cookies (the Arrowroot cookies). We just ate chicken for the first time this weekend(!!!), and are s-l-o-w-l-y warming up to cheese. I still do thicker purees for fruits/ veggies.
ETA: Don't be afraid to let her eat a container or two of puree! It really evens out.
ETA2: I started by introducing Puffs at the end of LO's meal . . .
hostess / eggplant / 11068 posts
While I fed DD purees, I put out puffs on her tray and let her use her pincer grasp to get them.
pomegranate / 3863 posts
I started putting puffs on his tray at around 7 months, he had 2 bottom teeth by then. I would put them on his tray while I got his puree & spoon/bib out. He hasn't shown much interest in them yet even at 9 months but I will say that he will take them out of his mouth if he takes too many or decides he doesn't want them! Also, he has gagged on them but that's different than choking (took me a while to not freak out over the gagging!)
ETA: I offer the puffs to help encourage his pincer grasp as much as to help him learn to eat finger foods.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
@locavore_mama: What foods did you try first? I don't know when she is allowed to have stuff and when she shouldn't.
@MsLipGloss: Added Puffs to my Target list for the weekend. I worry about giving her more then one container of food cause I am not sure she knows to stop when she is full. Plus I nurse like an hour later right before bed,
GOLD / wonderful pomegranate / 28905 posts
@Smurfette: I can't remember! LOL. Wholesome baby food has a great guideline.
hostess / wonderful grape / 20803 posts
Started purées at a little over 4 months and finger foods consistently around 7 months. He got the hang of them around 8 months and preferred them over Purées by 9.
GOLD / pineapple / 12662 posts
@Smurfette: She'll know! Sometimes my LO would gulp down the first few bites of the next container and then put her hands up to block the next bite or sign *all done* to me. *shrug*
honeydew / 7687 posts
@Smurfette: I really like this book if you're into researching/reading: http://www.amazon.com/Fearless-Feeding-Healthy-Eaters-School/dp/111830859X We did a mix of chunky purees and BLW so I don't know if my input is what you're looking for, but we didn't avoid any foods except for honey (which we still do) since we have no family history of allergies. We did introduce peanut butter at the pediatricians office.
I subscribe to the idea that babies are learning how to tell they're hungry/full so I give more until he stops eating. I think avocado slices and bananas are great starter foods because they aren't mushy/choke-y and are easy to hold. Just remember gagging doesn't equal choking - they're learning how to move food around in their mouths and need practice to learn how!
Puffs, cheerios, peas, corn, blueberries are all great for pincer practice.
pomelo / 5621 posts
I've given Isaac a half of a banana a couple times and this weekend gave him steemed carrots. He shoved way too much of the carrot in his mouth and it freaked me out.
grapefruit / 4235 posts
I started giving him some sliced halved cucumber to gnaw on, half corn cobs, etc... L is now 8 months and will eat pretty much what we eat for dinner, including snow crab legs, sweet potato oven fries, etc.
GOLD / squash / 13464 posts
We had so many concerns about food intolerances we didn't even start until 9 months. She doesn't love finger foods (I think her ear infections combined with mouth pain from thrush have made them tricky for her). But just this week she has started to embrace the puffs. Other foods she'll usually take one or two bites and then she starts trying to feed them to me or drop them on the floor for the dog. I don't stress about it... she'll figure it out eventually. And in the mean time she's still getting plenty of breastmilk and the kid puts back her pouches like nobody's business.
pear / 1616 posts
we started giving our LO puffs and mum mum's around 7 months. the mum mums she took to right away, but the puffs took awhile. we let her play with it and i would put them in her mouth to try to get her to eat them. it took a couple weeks but one day she just started picking them up and putting them in her mouth. by 8 months she started to refuse purees so we started with finger foods then (banana, canned green beans, cheese, etc). so she was able to let us know when she was ready. and i still worry about choking even at 10 months! they do gag alot but i try to remember its part of them learning how to eat. i would definitely start with foods that melt easily like puffs. and i would just give her a couple pieces of finger foods on the tray to play with and u'll start to see when she is more interested in them.
nectarine / 2132 posts
we started purees at 4 months then at 6 months gave him puffs. it didn't take long for him to master that so we gradually added new finger foods. bananas and avocados are awesome first finger foods.
GOLD / wonderful coconut / 33402 posts
@jmarionsmith: This is probably a stupid question, but I would rather ask, how small do you cut up the banana or avocado?
nectarine / 2132 posts
@Smurfette: not stupid at all! i texted pictures of my cut up pieces to a few friends when we first started to make sure they were small enough! so with the bananas i sliced them, not too thin because that makes them super hard to pick up, then i quartered the slices and then halved those quarters. i'd cut up the avocados similarly sized.
my lo really did have a hard time picking them up at first, he mostly just pushed them around until eventually he got a piece to the edge of his tray and could scoop it up. someone suggested (i never tried it but it does sound like it could work) to coat the cut up pieces with crushed cheerios. it helps lo grasp the pieces. i hope that helps!
pomegranate / 3858 posts
I don't remember when we started really giving her finger foods, but at 7 months we gave some tiny pieces of turkey, then slowly gave her other things like banana, avocado (hates it), nectarine, scrambled egg, kiwi, toast, Cheerios, sweet potato, cut up grapes, cheese, peas, blueberries, broccoli etc. We still feed her purées (mostly a pear/broccoli/kale that she loves and a veggie/turkey one), but make sure she has finger foods too at each meal. It took quite a while for her to get her pincer grip down, but one day she woke up and a lightbulb went on and now she'll pretty much eat anything we put on her tray! She's 9 months now.
nectarine / 2886 posts
the happy baby yogurt melts were great to start with because of their shape/size and the fact that they melt. My lo gagged and puked when she tried to eat puffs early on. i like happy baby brand specifically, found that the plum organics ones were too big for her when she was young.
squash / 13764 posts
We started with finger foods when I noticed him making chewing motions with his jaws while eating purees. I gave him very very ripe pieces of fruit-small pieces, maybe a little bigger than a cheerio. And I would make sure I could squish it between my fingers, because then I knew he could chew it with his gums.
ETA that was around 7, 7.5 months. He got his pincer grasp down around 8 months.
squash / 13199 posts
@Smurfette: I started around 6 or 7 months, I just watched for signs of readiness. i started with raisins and raisin bread, then chopped up prunes and then chopped up bananas or steamed fruit
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
@Smurfette: I started sticking small pieces of scrambled egg, pasta, and whatever we're eating in J's mouth after about a month of purees. When we first started, the food stayed in his mouth. lol. I'd fish it out and tried again a week later. He's getting really good at eating pieces of food, but I still give him mostly purees.
I picked up some Earth's Best yogurt puffs (puffs with a hint of yogurt) and he loves them. Good for practicing feeding himself.
| Today | Monthly Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Topics | 0 | 0 |
| Posts | 1 | 0 |
Ask for Help
Make a Suggestion
Frequently Asked Questions
Bee Levels
Acronyms
Most Viewed Posts
Hellobee Gold
Hellobee Recipes
Hellobee Features
Hellobee Contests
Baby-led Weaning
Bento Boxes
Breastfeeding
Newborn Essentials
Parties
Postpartum Care Essentials
Sensory Play Activities
Sleep Training
Starting Solids Gear
Transitioning to Toddler Bed
All Series
Who We Are
About the Bloggers
About the Hostesses
Contributing Bloggers
Apply to Blog
Apply to Hostess
Submit a Guest Blog
Hellobee Buttons
How We Make Money
Community Policies
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
24 comments