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First Finger Foods Advice...
Although I am not doing baby led weaning, and Bert has currently only had purees I would like to start to introduce finger foods for Bert to try at lunch time in his high chair…I'm obviously nervous about him choking on things, so I'd love some advice on what would be good first finger foods to start him on….so far I've thought of toast fingers, and partially cooked carrot sticks??? What else could I give him? And how long would you cook the carrot sticks for?
I'd really appreciate any advice - I'd love him to be able to eat a selection platter of foods (I have one of those plates with different compartments) and be able to start really exploring foods with his hands now he's 7 months.
Lucy x
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We did BLW. Some of the easier foods (rather than meals) we offered initially were strips of pepper & cucumber. Strips of meat (steak, chicken, pork..). Naturally Soft fruit like quarters of pear/peach/plum/nectarine/melon. Bready things like crumpets, muffins, croissants. Steamed veg like broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, baby sweetcorn. Roasted veg 'chips' like sweet potatoes, parsnips, swede & carrot.
My lo likes fish fingers.. They are soft and easily squished up.. I tried him on breaded chicken pieces (similar to nuggets) and potato waffles tonight, but took chicken away as was a bit tougher to chew and was worried about choking. Also mini sandwiches with soft fillings such as avo & grated cheese or mashed banana.
I have also given him blanched courgette sticks and raw red pepper sticks which also seems to help sooth his gums from teething pain. I have also only just started on finger foods, but mainly still feed purees with small chunks,so am also looking for advice/ ideas.
Oooh these are great ideas - thanks everyone - keep them coming! Am trying to compile a nice long list of suitable first finger foods so I can give Bert a nice selection when he's sat in his highchair at lunch times.
I might give him a try on some today…..
Wish me luck and I'll update you on how we got on.
Keep those first finger food ideas coming… really helpful.
Lucy x
We bit the bullet at lunch time today and I made Bert up a platter of finger foods to try. I gave him bread and butter, a couple of quavers, avocado, nectarine and banana. He did so well - he really enjoyed exploring it all - and knew to put things to his mouth and ate a fair bit - much more than I'd imagined. I'm really pleased. I sat with him and encouraged him, and helped him take sips from his zippy cup of water. I will definitely continue with some more of these lunches. I'm still looking for any great first finger food tips
I gave Annabel roasted vegetables, she loved roasted carrots and roasted parsnips. I made them really soft, so she could suck them.
Once a bit older and more use to finger foods I made her pastry swirls, which I still make her as snacks now. Cheese scones were also well received, but when she was more use to finger foods.
Toast slices with hummus or cheese spread also went down well with Annabel.
See recipe below from Thinkweiss:
Simple cheese/pesto (or chesse and spinach) whirls.
These are very quick and easy to make, and make a great snack!
Take a packet of pre- rolled puff pastry and un-roll it.
Spread with basil pesto
(always check ingredients ,do not buy pesto containing nuts such as cashews if your LO is not old enough. pine nuts are not nuts though, they are seeds.you can also buy jars of special nut/dairy free pesto. tubs of fresh pesto from a deli/supermarket is best. or if you prefer I can put a quick recipe for a pesto on here, let me know)
or alternatively cook a small bag of spinach, whizz up in a blender with a little creme fraise, a small squeeze of lemon and a few leaves of fresh basil and spread on.
Grate a thin layer of cheese over the top.
Roll the pastry up firmly then cut in to pieces about 2 cm in width and place on a baking tray.
Brush with a little milk (or beaten egg if your LO is old enough) and cook on a med/high heat for about 15/20 mins untill golden browm.
Cool and Serve!
Oooh I love the idea of the pinwheels - I haven't made them for a while (used to make them for parties etc) - I often make my own pesto for pasta, so I'll definitely give these a go for Bert…I'm sure he'll love them - and I know if all else fails his Dad with devour them! Good to know that about pine nuts, as I would have assumed he wouldn't be able to have them - thanks.
These are great ideas, and I'm getting a nice long list of things we can try. I love the idea of roasted veggies, as I can do them for the adult dinner, and he can enjoy them alongside us. Fab! Thanks Nicola.
Cheddar cheese sticks, banana, clementine segments as they can suck them (just make sure to remove them when they are nearly finished as its hard for them to chew up the skin), biscotti biscuits, any melon, pasta shapes (rigatoni and fusilli are good as they are easy to hold) and these can be coated in a philli sauce or tomato sauce, breadsticks and cheese scones are a good one in this house too. I will see can I did up the recipe for child friendly ones and post later.
Oooh Em Lowe the cheese scones sound great! I haven't tried bread sticks with him yet, but friends of mine do - so I'll definitely give them a try. We eat pasta quite a lot, so I'll try him on some of that soon…it's quite scary giving him finger foods - I'm getting braver, but its hard as I worry he'll choke. We also love eating melon in this house, so I can give that a go too… thanks for all the ideas, my head is buzzing now! I'd love a recipe for child friendly cheese scones - I write a baking blog and I'd love to give those a try.
Here you go Lucy, the recipe for our cheese scones. Hope you like
225g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
75g (2o) butter (preferrably unsalted)
50g of grated cheese (I like cheddar personally) more or less depending on how cheesy you want.
approx 150ml (5fl oz) milk
Preheat the oven to 220Celsius & lightly grease a baking sheet. Add the dry ingredients and then cut the butter (soft is better) into cubes and rub the flour and butter together to get breadcrumbs. Add the cheese and mix together. Make a well and start adding the milk. Fold the mixture together and keep adding the milk until the dough is soft but not sticky.
On a floured board roll out to about 2cm thick. Then cut with scone cutters. Bake for approx 12 mins.
These scones are quite dense so are perfect for small hands without them crumbling.
Hi EmLowe - fantastic recipe thank you - I am definitely going to have a go at baking a batch of these this week for Bert - I bet they will freeze well too. He's definitely getting much more into finger foods - we tried those Heinz little bear biscuit things yesterday and he really seemed to like those. I'm excited about making him some myself though. I'll let you know how I get on. xxx
Things like rice cakes are a good introduction as well especially when you're out and about and want to occupy them!
Thanks Mummy Swan...I have tried Bert on the baby-specific mini rice cakes (apple flavour) but he always seems to choke on them - do you know if there are big full size rice cakes on the market for children? As I think they would be better for him maybe? He's used to eating bigger hand held things like rusks/baby wafers-crackers, rather than tiny things. x
The rice cakes can be quite dry I think. Annabel use to struggle with them too! She also really didn't like the apple and cinnamon flavour ones. It took her a while to get the hang of chewing them, I don't think that they dissolve very well in the mouth.
Maybe Bert isn't quite ready for rice cakes just yet. I agree with the bread stick threads, Annabel loves them and they melt in the mouth.
oh yeah, bread sticks are something i must try with him, I'm sure he'd enjoy those. do you buy mini ones? or full size bread sticks?
My daughter loved breadsticks but my son wasn't keen at all.
I did give them plain adult rice cakes but it's hard finding them without added salt