Starting Finger Foods

oddly my son will only eat what we eat. he's 13 months. This means that he has now had baked falafel, pasta with lots of veggies and marinara, couscous w/ veggies and feta, my husband's burrito covered in enchilada sauce :) , asparagus. Basically, we offer him anything we're eating, and he just eats it. We do eat very healthy overall, which makes it easier to give him healthy foods too. We struggled with the same thing you're struggling with until we realized that he just wanted to eat what we were eating. Of course, it's frustrating too because I would have really liked to have made a big salad last night for dinner, but he's definitely not at the point where I'd feel safe with him eating that...so we didn't have salad.

He also loves fresh bananas and apples. If you're still unsure about giving pieces of fruit, there are freeze-dried "mini fruits" in the baby aisle at the grocery store. Also, if you find something he does like, you could always to try to mix some veggies in like maybe take baby food peas (or some other veggie he would eat) and mix a small amount into his mashed potatoes. Hope this helps. Good luck!

I recommend the book Super Baby Foods. It has everything you need to know about feeding your baby and includes great recipes. I still follow it and my daughter is 3 now - and everyone I know who uses the book loves it!

My son really liked cheese so I offered shreds instead of small cubes or mozzarella instead of cheddar to vary things a little. He loved green beans cut into small bites or peas. Fresh blueberries, strawberries, peaches, apples, bananas can all be cut into small pieces if you have the time. If it's a food that you're not comfortable giving to him as is, you could try a safe feeder. It's a small mesh bag that attaches to a plastic handle so the child can essentially chew and suck on the item without getting chunks of it. This even works with oranges. Oatmeal is nice because it sticks to the spoon well enough that he can practice using his utensils. You know best what your child's eating abilities are so work with that. Give him the opportunity to try different foods and expect that he will get a little messy. ;-)

The freeze dried fruits for babies (by gerber) are great for getting fruits and such in. My son hated using his fingers to pick up slimy things like bananas and peaches but loved these. Just don't overdo it or they cause the runs. Give him cut up pieces of avocado, green beans, bananas and other soft foods. Whole peas. Steamed pears, peaches, apples cut up into little pieces. Maybe he just wants what you are eating, leave the food a little blander and then prepare food for him off your plate, then add more flavor to yours (at least in the beginning).

For the choking if you go to Burlington coat factory their baby depot has
these great little baby feeders. The baby can hold it themselves and you put
the food into a mesh bag that screws onto the handle. Then they can eat pretty much
anything you give them by chewing on the food inside mesh until it's small enough to not cause
any choking problems. I have three kids and they loved that thing.
You can give them fresh fruit and steamed veggies and they prefer it because it has texture
plus it makes them feel big because they can do it themselves!
Although, if you child is impatient like one of mine was it may make them more upset because it takes longer for them to eat the food.
Hope that helps!