Transcript Fun with Finger Foods

Fun With Finger Foods
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Fun With Finger Foods
sually around 9 or 10 months of age your baby will be ready to eat foods
from the table.
You can tell when he’s
ready because he can mash
up pieces of food using his jaw
and gums, and he may have a
few teeth. He can pick up bits
of food with his thumb and first
finger. He will enjoy trying to
feed himself.
Fun With Finger Foods
Food to Try
Dry Cereal ( such as O-shaped oat cereal)
Small pieces of toast or pita bread (soft bread becomes pasty and hard to swallow)
Dry Pancakes, cut into bite-sized pieces
Diced Cheese cubes
Diced soft meat
Pieces of tofu
Diced soft-cooked vegetables (sweet potatoes or carrots)
Diced cooked apples, peeled
Diced soft fruit (bananas, papayas or kiwi)
Pieces of cooked whole-wheat pasta
Pieces of graham cracker
Breadsticks
Fun With Finger Foods
You can also feed your baby some table foods
with a spoon at this age.
Cottage Cheese
Yogurt
Mashed Potatoes
Mashed or refried beans
Well-cooked mashed vegetables
Mashed, soft fruit
Creamed soups
Macaroni and Cheese
Applesauce
Fun With Finger Foods
Food Allergies
The younger your baby, the more likely he is to have a food
allergy or sensitivity. Doctors recommend that you wait until after
your baby turns 1 year of age before giving him certain foods.
Until he is at least 1 year old do no give your baby:
Eggs
Peanut Butter
Fish
Soy
Cow’s milk
Citrus fruits or juice
(such as orange juice)
Honey
If allergies run in
your family, talk
to your
healthcare
provider. You
may want to
avoid other foods
as well.
Fun With Finger Foods
Healthy Eating
You are helping your baby learn to like healthy foods.
Avoid giving your baby the following foods.
Sweets (such as candy, cookies, cake or donuts), Soda or
sweetened drink mixes, salty snack foods (such as potato
chips), Drinks with caffeine (such as coffee and tea)
Fun With Finger Foods
Most children have a natural desire to eat foods that are sweet, salty, and
high in fat. They don’t have to be taught that. They do have to learn to like
most other foods, and the best way to teach them is to give them many
opportunities to taste, touch, and smell them.
Parent-Child Activity:
Let’s have a picnic
You and your child pack a nutritious snack or
lunch to take outside. As you pack the picnic
basket together talk about the foods that are
being packed and what they taste like. You can
extend this activity by asking, “What else should
we take?” (blanket, plates, napkins, spoon or
forks, etc)
Introducing foods and
sharing them in a fun
environment creates a
positive feeling about
eating and tasting a
variety of foods.
Take a book to the
picnic and have a fun
afternoon.