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Top parenting stories this week
Finger Food for Babies Recipes
June 18th, 2009
Try these finger food tips and recipes as you teach your baby to feed himself
by: Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers
In This Article
- How to startY
- Finger food for babies that are great raw include:
- Finger food for babies that need to be cooked include:
- Finger Food for Babies Recipes:
- Dusted Tofu CubesThese nutritious little cubes are fun to pick up and taste good too. For variety, try banana instead of tofu. Ingredients:1/4 teaspoon flax seed, finely ground 1-2 tablespoons of Cheerios (or other cereal) OR 2-3 graham crackers 5-6 1/2-inch cubes of firm tofuDirections: Place ground flax seed and cereal or graham crackers in a bag and crush into crumbs. Add tofu and shake lightly to coat the cubes with the crumb mixture. Serve immediately. Age to introduce: 12 months (without flaxseeds, 8-10 months)Sweet Potato CubesThe natural sweetness of sweet potatoes (and their bright orange color) makes them a favorite among babies.Directions: Wash, peel and dice a sweet potato into small cubes about ½-inch in size. Place the cubes in a microwave-safe dish, cover, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes. Let them stand for five minutes. You'll know they're done if you can easily mash a cube with a fork. Add a li
- Dusted Tofu Cube
- Sweet Potato Cube
Finger Food for Babies Recipes
- Introduce finger foods at 8 or 9 months and do it one at a time, slowly adding new ones for your baby to try.
- Start with finger foods your baby likes in puréed form before introducing new tastes.
- Finger foods should be soft enough for your child to gum.
- A few raw finger foods to try include banana, avocado and grated cheese.
- Finger foods such as apple slices or asparagus spears should be cooked first so your child can manage them.
elf-feeding is an exciting developmental milestone for both mom and baby, but serving the wrong size or texture of food can put your little one at risk of choking. A few simple tips can help you take the fear out of introducing finger foods.
How to start
You can begin introducing finger foods when your baby is between eight and nine months old. Your infant will have few, if any, teeth at this age so it's crucial that the texture is soft so he can "gum" the foods (some foods will need to be cooked first).Your baby should always be seated-and supervised-when eating to prevent him from choking. Start by giving him puréed food for most of the meal, then gradually transition to more finger foods over a six- to eight-month period. Start with finger foods your baby likes in puréed form before introducing new tastes. And don't be in a rush-introduce finger foods one at a time and slowly add new ones as he starts to get the hang of things.
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