I have a 7mo boy. I am unsure when to introduce fingerfoods. When do i an what should i start with?
My daughter who is now a year, starting eating cheerios, puffs, arrowroot cookies by around 9 months. She has never choked on anything, which is probably unusual. By 10 months she was eating crockpot meats, grilled cheese sandwich, chicken nuggets etc..
they say "by the book" once they can pick things up with two fingers... or when they watch you carefully eating your own food, you can try to give them small pieces, tortillas, toast, cheerios, kix. trial and error. :) once you open that door, it's a whole new world! LOL
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What solids are you currently doing? Each child will develop the motor skills to mash or chew foods on their own schedule. I would first see how the child can handle mashed sweet potato or squash, maybe small pieces of soft noodles, or small bits of bread. If they are choking on such soft things, then take a break for 1 or 2 weeks and try again.
We started with small pieces of bread around 8 or 9 months. He still would gag every so often. The sensations are new and they have to use their muscles differently. Be patient with introducing solids. If your boy is showing tons of interest with what you're eating, you might try introducing such finger foods. If they aren't so interested, you will find yourself very frustrated with the process and wishing you'd waited anyway.
Stick with things that mash easily until you're sure they are chewing well and efficiently. Then you can try a lot of things, as long as you keep the pieces small. My son loves to bite into whole orange slices at 15 months. He is starting to experiment with biting pieces off now.
