Fabulous (and Frugal) First Finger Foods

Babies hit a developmental stage when they’re about nine or ten months old where they want nothing more to do with that (lovingly prepared) pureed slop you’re trying to force into their mouths. They want to do it themselves, darn it, and that means finger food.

Here are some first finger food ideas. Don’t introduce too many new foods at one, or you won’t know what’s responsible in case of an allergy. An excellent resource as to what to feed when is the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron.

As always, be sensible: the piece of food must be small enough that the baby won’t choke on it! About the size of a pea is good.

• cooked carrots
• cooked green beans
• cooked potato
• cooked peas
• cooked zucchini
• canned corn
• cubed chicken breast
• shredded baked salmon or cod
• grated hard cheeses (jack, swiss)
• toast, cut into strips
• some baby yogurts (check with a health professional first before introducing dairy)
• scrambled egg yolk
• cooked apple
• apricot (fresh or semi dried)
• peaches
• banana
• avocado
• oven baked sweet potato fries

I often have a container of cooked pasta in veggie sauce in the fridge, so that when the baby is hungry I can plop her in her highchair and she’ll be happy with that as a starter while I prepare something else.

What does your baby like to eat? Mine is a huge fan of Ikea meatballs at the moment… not that I can blame her!