By 8 or 9 months of age, babies have usually developed the ability to grasp objects between their pointer finger and thumb, which means they are ready to start eating finger foods. Finger foods allow caregivers to introduce foods with varied textures. First finger foods for infants should be soft and easily mashed or gummed, according to the Nemours Foundation. Cut foods small enough that they don't present a choking hazard.
Grains
Ready-to-eat cereal offers a crunchy alternative to the soft foods baby has been eating up to this point. The best cereals for a baby are those that will easily melt in the mouth. Choose whole grain varieties fortified with vitamins and minerals. Avoid highly sweetened cereals and those containing honey.
Babies can also feed themselves well-cooked pasta. Choose shapes that are already suitably sized for baby, such as macaroni, or cut long thin noodles into bite size pieces. Avoid shapes that might present a chocking hazard, such as pasta shells. Offer the pasta plain, without any seasonings or sauce.
Fruit and Vegetables
Cultivate your baby's taste for vegetables by offering a variety of soft pieces of well-cooked vegetable. Some baby-friendly vegetables include sweet potatoes, carrots, peas and green beans. Serve cooked vegetables unseasoned and without any butter or oil so baby can enjoy their natural flavors. You may give canned vegetables to babies as long as they don't have any added salt or sugar.
Most babies will enjoy small pieces of soft ripe fruit. Some good choices for baby include apricots, bananas, plums, pears or peaches. Just wash, peel and cut the fruit into small pieces. Delay the introduction of citrus fruit until baby gets older because their high acid content could easily upset young stomachs.
Protein Sources
Cut up small chunks of soft tofu, frankfurters, meat sticks or pieces of egg yolk for finger foods. Babies may also like eating shredded cheese or large curd cottage cheese with their hands. Cheese provides protein and fat, which babies need for proper growth, but you should limit cheese to small amounts prior to a baby's first birthday, the National Institutes of Health recommends.
