I'm looking for some ideas....my 8mo (no teeth) has been eating solids, starting with rice cereal, for about 2 1/2 months. She does fine with purees, but is not a fan of picking up little things (puffs, cooked carrots, etc) and putting them in her mouth. She can do the pincer grasp and pick them up, but for whatever reason doesn't put them in her mouth. If you try to do it for her she clamps her mouth shut. What she does like though, is holding onto bigger things and nibbling on them. We have done mum-mums, toast and strips of whole wheat toaster waffles. I'm looking for more variety of ideas that she can hold onto and eat herself, with no teeth. Somebody (a sample man at the grocery store) gave her a Ritz cracker and she loved it, but I'm not wild about them at this age b/c of high fructose corn syrup. Are there other healthier crackers with a similar, super crumbly consistency that would be safe? Other ideas for bigger things for her to feed herself? Thanks so much!
Toast, frozen bananas, water melon, baby teething crackers... those are all good things for no teeth and hard to choke on!
My 10-month-old daughter really enjoys Skyflakes crackers. They are bland, crunchy, and relatively healthy. They are individually wrapped and come in a large blue box.
larger foods that she can hold and nibble...my son is 9 months and likes all these things: toast, waffles, teething biscuits, rice cakes, graham crackers, bagels, english muffins, crackers, just look for all these and choose the whole wheat/grain, organic and healthier varieties
what a fun age hey??!
rice cakes are great because they are easy to bite the right sized bite, so there is little choking hazard. Teething biscuits always worried me because they broke randomly, often in big pieces, and are major choking hazards. Are you comfortable giving her bananas? Fresh ones that are still firm are best.
I also have an 8 month old with no teeth. She is still working on her pincer grasp, but is practicing picking up food any way she can to shove it in her mouth. Some things you might want to try are teething biscuit - found near the infant cereal. They are larger than a cracker - easy to hold and don't crumble in the mouth. I worry that with all of the crumbles from a cracker type food, there is more of a chance for inhaling the crumbs - especially when she is just getting used to putting things in her mouth. I also use mesh bags that have a handle and put fresh fruits in (peaches, pear, etc). She is very excited to hold on to the bag and essentially feed herself. I hope this helps - good luck!
Soft fruits & veggies. Bananas, peaches, pears, avocado, sweet potato, cooked carrots. They make mesh bags that you can put the food in & she can chew & suck on to get the food out without getting too large a piece if you are uncomfortable with giving larger whole pieces to her.
Arrowroot cookies are good, they are hard enough that she is not going to get big bite of but they much up really well when gummed by babies. They are like a healthier version of an animal cracker.
Someone asked a question very much like this one a day or two ago. You could look up her answers.
