Need Meal/finger Food Ideas for 9 Month Old

Hi B.

My daughter is the exact same way. She just turned a year, but as soon as she started eating finger foods, she wouldn't let me feed her with a spoon anymore. I have found a few things that she loves to eat because she can feed herself. You will have to cut them up to small enough size though. She will eat the gerber meat sticks and fruit and veggie dices, as well as hot dogs (cut in half and then cut up) and chicken fingers. I also give her cold cuts like ham and turkey. Pasta with only a little sauce so it's not too messy. Gerber also makes pasta pickups, which I cut up for her and toddler meals which are ok for self feeders. You can make grilled cheese and cut it up into small pieces. I also buy frozen or canned veggies in all varieties, which make for quick and easy lunches. Whenever I make chicken I just cut some up for her. Ground hamburg is easy for babies to eat too. You can mix it with rice, veggies or mac and cheese. These seem to be easy things that my duaghter will pick up and eat on her own, but remember, every baby will still be messy eating. I suggest getting a splat mat for under the highchair and using big plastic bibs with pockets. If you're concerned about the amount of food your baby drops, the bibs with pockets are great. You can just scoop any food collected in the pocket and put it back on the tray because it's still clean and never touched the floor. Hope this was helpful.

C.

B.,
It sounds like you are doing a great job- lots of variety and great food choices for your son. He's still young, so really he doesn't need any more variety than you are doing. Any fruits or veggies that you cook will mash up in his mouth if you cook it well enough and chop it up. And if he's eating meats, it's ok to if it's not total mush as well. Try cooked brocolli, baby carrots, squash, turnip, plums, pears, raw melon. Just avoid until one year old (risk of food allergies is higher if introduced too early): berries, peanut butter, egg whites (but boiled or scrambled yolks are great), citrus fruits, and honey (honey can cause botulism in babies). Also, avoid chokers- raisins, nuts, popcorn, hard candy, etc. HTH, but really, it seems like you are doing a great job anyway. You can also give him small chunks of simply whatever you are eating at the table. And don't worry about how much goes on the floor- as long as he's growing, he's getting enough in his tummy!

I'll tell you what my pediatrician told me when I felt like I was going a little nuts with lack of variety in foods with my two kids (now 4 and 5) As long as you are feeding him a well rounded meal (think basic food groups)variety is not necessary.

His taste buds haven't developed so much so that eating chicken every day or yogurt every day would bore him---like would us....

My kids really enjoyed the Gerber 3rd foods chicken sticks and turkey sticks they mash up easily in the mouth. Pasta works great too---use wheat for some fiber and oomph---if you want somethign alittle lighter to digest try rice flour noodles

You really sound like you have a healthy and well rounded variety of foods that you are introducing, I wouldn't stress sounds liek you already doing a great job ;o)

I really agree with the first two responses - it sounds like you are doing a great job already and if he likes all of those foods, he's getting everything he needs - as the other poster said, babies really don't get bored with lack of variety. Any veggies are pretty easy to give your son, just steam chunks of the veggies until a fork slides right into it. Also, I always use whole GRAIN pasta for my son - it's much healthier. Barilla and Ronzoni both have a line of whole grain pasta. You could also try giving him whole GRAIN bread, which, cut into small chunks, is easy for him to eat and you can put thing on it like homemade hummous, cream cheese, etc (maybe wait until he's a little older for the spreads, but the bread alone is good). Don't ever give him white bread because it doesn't break up very well and gets kind of gluey and he can choke on it. I really like the Arnold Double Fiber brand and so does my son! Oh, you could also try some 100% fruit spread as a treat on the bread (I like the Polaner All-Fruit). Hope this helps and again, you are already doing a great job!!

B., you could try grilled cheese (cut in small squares), french fries, cut-up grapes, go-gurt, cheese sticks, hot dogs (cut-up but not round) and they have biscuits just for little ones.

just a thought on helping him learn to feed himself. as a daycare teacher, i see a lot of kids wanting to do everything themselves, including feeding themselves even when they don't get alot of the food into their mouths. you can buy baby spoons (i believe at cvs or walmart) that are made to help teach babies to feed themselves. the spoon itself has tiny holes in which helps prevents the food from slipping off if the spoon is twisted or held upside down. with these spoons, the food stays on longer so your child has a better chance at getting the food into their mouth. the spoon is also small and curved like a baby's hand to make it easier to hold on to. also, i have noticed that if you let the child hold their own spoon while you feed them, the child is more likely to let you slip some food from your own spoon into their mouth. this also helps them learn how to spoon feed themselves.