Finger Foods - Los Angeles,CA

I started my baby on cherrios and puffs when she was 8 month old.

At 8 months old, my daughter had her first Ritz Cracker. I would not have done it if she didn't seem ready, but she LOVED it. I gave her those from time to time, zwieback toast, banana diced into cubes, green beans or peas right out of the can (look for the kind with no salt added, they are very soft). Just watch very closely to see how he does. He will be weirded out at first of course, but it shouldn't take long for him to warm up to the whole chewing thing.

My mother swore by the puffed rice because they melt a little in their mouths my daughter didn't like them, maybe your son will. By about 11 months, my daughter was eating lightly seasoned ground beef or turkey, breakfast sausage that I made the same way, cut up whole wheat toaster waffles or buttermilk waffles with butter, mini pancakes, tortilla pieces, chunky applesauce, tiny pieces of baked chicken, chunky chicken noodle soups out of the can (again, healthy alternatives with less salt) Oh the list goes on. At a year she loved all those things plus dairy added in, things like yogurt, cottage cheese and whipped cream she loved them all. Its so fun to see them eat 'big people food!'

I didn't do any crackers like the other moms. I did the Gerber yogurt melts and puffs. By the time he went through that container he was ready for diced banana, avacado,diced steamed sweet potato. We also went to stage 2 foods right away, there isn't that much of a difference. He stayed on this diet till a year of stage 2 foods and adding more bites like veggies and other fruit. (Use caution with string cheese-choking hazard). Stage 3 foods he hated! So buy 1 jar at a time, he may like something and then the 'novelty' will ware off.
Good luck!

I think I started around nine months and it took my son a few weeks to be interested in eating, rather than playing, with them. Cheerios were great, along with Gerber Puffs. You can give small chunks of banana or avocado. Ritz crackers are great because they dissolve very quickly in their mouth. Just keep offering and he'll be devouring them before you know it.

K.
http://oc.citymommy.com - the hottest new site for OC moms

my son was never a super fan of Cheerios til now..he's 3.5 years old..i would wait til your son has teeth for any hard foods..also oatmeal instead of rice is good..rice can constipate..
try just mashing things up til he has teeth..put sauces on veggies so they're more tasty..seems so long ago now..hard to remember!

Here is a link:
http://www.babycenter.com/0_finger-foods_105.bc

It is different for each baby.
Some babies, even at that age, will choke on even Cheerios, and don't exactly "chew" yet.

You said your baby has been eating rice cereal, fruits, veggies. Do you mean as in "baby food"/pureed food? Or the actual food PIECES that is chopped up? There is a big difference.

If your baby is just playing with the Cheerios, then wait. There is no rush to give finger foods. If you look on some of the packaging of finger foods... it gives an recommended age range as well.

Also, you want to make sure about your baby's tongue thrust reflex- if it is still there, I would NOT try to push the finger foods, as yet. AND, if he does not yet have his pincher-grasp ability... then this is also an indication of 'readiness' or not.

Our Pediatrician, recommends foods that will NOT get "gummy" in the mouth when mixed with saliva... ie: like bread, because it can be a chocking hazard, and not hard pieces of course.

USUALLY... a baby will indicate to you, If and when they are "ready' for finger foods/table foods, or more challenging pieces. If they start to grab at, or make motions with their mouth, or start the "mouthing" phase, then you can try it.

All the best,
Susan