Introducing finger foods to baby is an exciting step for parents; babies provide entertainment, parents get a break from spoon feeding and snacking on the go gets a whole lot easier."Wholesome Baby Food" reminds parents that "baby finger food does not have to come from a box of cereal or a tube of puffs;" by the end of the seventh month babies have the ability to gum soft, small portions of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and cheese.
Toasted Oats
In "What to Expect the First Year" Arlene Eisenberg recommends that finger foods be anything "baby can gum to swallowable consistency or that will dissolve in the mouth without chewing." Toasted oat cereal is a common first finger food; the tiny rings dissolve easily and are small enough for babies mouth. Purchase unsweetened cereal in an attempt to avoid foods with added sugar. You can encourage healthy eating habits for the rest of baby's life by providing her with nutritious foods now.
Bread and Crackers
Whole grain bread can be cut into tiny squares; babies can even hold a thick slice of harder bread and gum the thick crust. Eisenberg recommends freezing a whole wheat bagel and feeding baby tiny hunks of the cold bread to give baby an easier time gumming and dissolving off little pieces at a time. Baby brands sell very hard "first crackers" that offer the same enjoyment.
Fruit
Start with tiny hunks of ripe banana to get baby used to eating fruit. If it seems too scary to offer the softer raw fruits like cantaloupe or plums, try steaming any fruit and serving tiny hunks to baby. Harder fruits like apples must be steamed or served as applesauce or in mushy baby foods.
Vegetables
Introducing all kinds of vegetables to babies is important; steam all veggies until the consistency is soft enough for baby to gum. Great starters are carrots, sweet potatoes and squash because they are sweet and easily palatable for baby. Remember to introduce a variety of veggies because she only knows what she is fed and may fall in love with a typical kid nose-turner like broccoli or okra.
Cheese and Meat
Tiny hunks of cheese are a great and portable snack for baby; try softer cheeses like havarti first to ease baby into it. If parents are determined to introduce meat at this age, it must be in the form of mushy baby food or smashed into an easily dissolvable consistency. Eisenberg warns, "even when the first couple of teeth are in place, babies continue to chew with their gums--which are no match for a hunk of meat."
References
- "What to Expect the First Year"; Arlene Eisenberg; Workman Publishing; 1996
- Wholesome Baby Food; Baby Finger Food Recipes
