When it comes to babies starting to feed themselves, moms may wonder just what kinds of foods they can eat. The best thing to do is to expose them to as much food they can pick up with their little fingers as possible so as to not create picky eaters down the road. Some great starts for beginning self feeders are beans, black eyed peas, boiled pasta with little to no seasoning, any almost any cut up veggie. Always stick to natural foods if possible and make sure the foods are cut up smaller than the size of a quarter for easy chewing and swallowing. Your baby only has a few teeth, so you will be surprised to know your baby probably swallows more things whole than he chews, so make sure they are small enough to go down with little to no chewing.
For me with my first child I was great at feeding him the fruits he loved....but kind of clueless when it came to veggies. Of course my first child was a picky eater, and that might have been my fault for making him that way, but Baby B loves to eat and if you have a child that loves to eat, use that to your advantage by exposing them to new foods all the time.
Here is a list of some lunch and dinner foods your baby may be able to start feeding themselves:
boiled pasta
cubed avocado
boiled sweet potatoes and carrots (cooked in half water, half pear or apple juice for 15 minutes)
peas
cooked green beans
lima beans
cooked, cubed chicken or pork (with little to no seasoning)
white or brown rice
chopped cucumbers
cubed tofu
Knix the cheeses and dairy foods until about a year of age. Most times your baby may want to eat what is on your plate, and that is a great way to start them out on finger foods, just knix any foods that you prepare in a lot of butter or oils. Those things can upset a baby's tummy because their tummies aren't designed to process the oils and fats. If your baby can enjoy the natural flavor of the food without that stuff, you stand a higher chance of your child continuing to love his veggies. You can also introduce eggs at about a year of age. My J Myster loves his eggs!
What were some of the first finger foods you fed your child? Does he still love them today?
Some ideas on what to feed your baby who is exploring finger foods. bit.ly/RqmjXz
— Heather (@mommyonlyhs2hds) September 6, 2012
Author: HeatherWife, Mother of Two Boys, Coffee Addict, Pinterest obsessed, an aspiring writer balancing every day life of raising a family and blogging about it.
3 comments:
Great list. Actually egg yolks before a year are on the "approved list" it's just the whites that should be avoided until they are a year old. My little one really enjoyed hard boiled eggs yolks!
Great list of first finger foods! I'll remember this when my little guy is ready to try them out!
According to me, if there is a child available in our home, then we should try to eat some finger food because it could be very beneficial for our baby. Finger food is important to teach our baby for eating food and playing with finger foods has a number of advantages for your baby.
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