Baby and Toddler Finger Food Ideas
Starting your baby on solid foods is a big and exciting step. When a baby is between seven and nine months old, he can begin to be introduced to solid food. Beginning solid baby food are usually known as finger foods. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests "slowly introducing fruits, veggies, and meat one at a time to gauge baby's reaction to each new food." All finger foods should be soft and easily mashed. Don't worry if the finger food is messy. Starting on solid food is an important step for your baby.
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Fruit
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Start by scattering only four or five cut-up pieces of fruit onto your baby's plate or high chair. As your baby eats the pieces, then you can add more to the plate. Remember that all fruit should be diced. Try soft-baked peaches, ripe bananas, ripe mangoes, small bites of avocado, softened blueberries, kiwi and melon. Once parents know which food their baby enjoys, they might consider packaging the diced fruit together in a toddler cup for easy access on the go.
Veggies
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It is recommended that parents steam or bake veggies instead of boiling to retain more of the nutrients. Also, all veggies should be diced. The following list are healthy ideas for veggie finger food: soft-baked sweet potato slices (babies prefer naturally sweet veggies), soft-baked white potato slices, cooked carrots, cooked peas, cooked broccoli, cooked green beans, cooked butternut or acorn squash.
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Meat
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Babies and toddlers can eat meat, but it should be pureed for babies under 12 months. After the one-year mark, babies can eat dices of shredded chicken, beef, turkey or fish. Parents can cook the meat with a few spices, but make sure the spices are light. Try tofu cubes for vegetarian parents. The tofu cubes can be "dusted" with cereal dust or wheat germ for texture and flavor.
Carbohydrate and Other Finger Foods
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For grain, try individual pieces of toasted o's cereal. Also consider cubes of soft, whole-grain bread, cut to exclude the hard crusts. The American Academy of Pediatrics indicates that "there's no evidence that avoiding eggs during early childhood will prevent a food allergy" so parents can try diced hard-boiled eggs and scrambled egg yolks. Parents can also introduce soft-cooked pasta at five or six months.
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References
- Photo Credit eating baby girl with red carrot image by Aleksey Kondratyuk from Fotolia.com
