Finger foods and self feeding idea?

We've been letting our 7.5 month old self feed for about 1.5 months. He eats a variety of foods.

Vegetables include Steamed Broccoli, Cauliflower, Green Beans, Carrot, Asparagus. Roast Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Potato, Carrot. Capsicum and Onion. Baby Peas, Corn, Beetroot slices.

Fruits include Watermelon, Rockmelon, Apple (Wafer thing slices), Peach slices, Apricot slices, Avocado, Banana (whole), Pear (whole very ripe), Tomato (sliced & whole), Grapes (cut up), Strawberries. Cucumber slices.

Other foods he's had are Pasta spirals, Tortellini, Shepherd's pie, Spaghetti bolognese, Toast & Vegemite, Yoghurt, Cheese.

He's pretty much eating what we eat minus allergens that run in the family.

I've been giving him a spoon for a few weeks so he gets used to it. He's still young so hasn't used it yet to feed himself and just chews it but he'll get it eventually.

My son just turned 9 months and he's been self feeding-finger foods since around 7 months. But usually I only do really soft foods, or gerber puffs (because they dissolve). He doesnt have any teeth yet, so I stick to stuff thats easy for him to break down and gum. I let him try to feed himself every once in a while... he can get the spoon up to his mouth, but a lot of times he puts the handle in his mouth instead of the food end- so thats a working progress, LOL :-)

My daughter started feeding her self before 1, but I always helped, but didnt get really good at it until after her first birthday. Now she feeds her self completely and does really well with it.It can get very messy, but a lot of times, she does that on purpose! She does really good with yogurts and oatmeals and everything. Shes a picky eater though so she tends to pick through her food. For example last night we had Chicken alfredo, she ate the broccoli and all the pasta, but pick ALL the chicken out and put it in a pile.

my daughter was never really big on the finger food stage (she was a choker and i had to be careful with her eating) Although, at her first birthday she did manage to scoff down cake just fine!! She also loved donuts, and bits of banana.

She has always been interested in using her spoon, she can feed herself her smooth foods now without much mess (she's 18 months). I sit with her, give her a spoon and i have a spoon. I put the food where she can 'stab' it. As she's trying for a spoonful i feed her, and then pause so she can suck her spoon. I can also use my spoon to scrape up her mess.

tonight she actually managed to get a forkful of spaghetti bol. using a proper utensil and get it in MY mouth!!

Let her try to use the spoon now. She will get used to it before shes one years old.

My son has self feed himself since he was 9 months old. He is 13 months old now.

He gets:

-Rotini pasta cut in half or elbow macaroni,

-Cubed mangoes

-Tangerine orange slices

-Peas

-Cubed cooked carrots

-Banana (cubed)

-Cubed avocado

-Sliced wheat bread in small pieces

-Baby Gold fishes

-Animal crackers

-Ground beef

-baked chicken breast (cubed)

-Pulled pork (no sauce)

-Sliced ripe peaches

-Summer squash (cooked and cubed)

-Cheerrios

-Dried apricots in small pieces

-Watermelon

-Very ripe canteloupe

-Orange small pieces, seeded and without the skin and peel

-Very ripe pears

-My son absolutely loves lettuce! I cut it in very small pieces.

I give my son everything that we eat, we eat very healthy. I avoid processed foods and give him fresh food and fresh produce. It is a lot going to the supermarket and cooking but is well worth it.

It is a good idea to introduce fresh fruits and fresh vegetables an a young age, so they are used to eating well from a young age. It's so sad to see babies nowadays being trained from a young age to eat things out of cans, boxes and bags as if you are feeding a hamster or a dog. This will increases chances of childhood obesity and diabetes once they are used to packaged/processed foods full of sodium, fat, coloring, sugar and high fructose syrup.

Good luck

Go for it! Have a mop handy. Try bananas, all kids love bananas.

banana