Finger Food for Babies Recipes

There are a lot of finger food for babies recipes available that can help get your baby a nutritious meal or snack that he can feed himself.

Before finding finger food for babies recipes, you may wonder if your baby is ready for finger foods. Is your baby starting to reach for your foods or food on the table? He just may be in a state of readiness to try some finger foods himself.

In most cases, experts recommend starting babies on finger foods when they are about nine months old. By this age, most babies have the motor skills necessary to feed themselves, such as a pincer grasp with their forefinger and thumb.

Allowing your child finger foods at this age teaches her the valuable skill of self-feeding and gives her some sense of control over developing her own eating habits. Not only that, but babies who feed themselves finger foods learn to develop a sense of self-regulation, stopping when they are full.

You should use careful consideration when choosing appropriate finger food for babies recipes. You can't just feed your baby the same foods that you are eating and expect him to be successful. Foods that are ideal finger foods have some of the following qualities:

• The foods melt in the mouth.
• The food mushes in the mouth easily.
• The food is naturally soft in texture.
• The food doesn't require teeth, but can be eaten by "gumming."
• The food is cut into small pieces that allow the baby's gums to quickly and easily smash it.

What you feed your baby now, during his introduction to solid food and self-feeding, can have an impact on your baby's palate, tastes and food choices for the rest of his lives. Here are some tips for this important introduction to finger foods.

• If the baby rejects the food the first time, keep offering it to her. It may take a while for the baby to develop a taste for the food.
• Avoid offering junk foods. Your baby will develop a taste for these soon enough. Instead, offer foods that pack a nutritional punch, like fruit, vegetables, legumes and tofu.
• Only introduce one or two new foods at a time to your baby. That way, if your baby has a sensitivity to a particular food, you will be much more easily able to isolate which food caused the sensitivity and avoid it in the future.

Some foods are poor nutritional choices. Others are a choking hazard. Here are foods to avoid when feeding your babies finger foods:

• Raw vegetables
• Hard fruits
• Raisins
• Whole grapes (grapes can be peeled and cut in quarters)
• Whole cherry tomatoes (tomatoes can be peeled and cut in quarters)
• Whole hot dogs
• White bread
• Hard cheese
• Candy
• French fries
• Baked goodies like cake and cookies

With the above in mind, you are ready to find recipes that will provide your baby with safe and nutritious finger foods that can lay the foundation for lifelong healthy eating.

There are a number of resources on the Web that provide you with healthy recipes for finger food. Here are just a few.

• Wholesome Baby Food features a variety of finger food suggestions and recipes that are rated by age appropriateness. The site also features charts that show age readiness of introducing solid foods and advice for incorporating solid food into your baby's diet. The site also provides baby menus for babies of various ages.
• Homemade Baby Food Recipes provides a comprehensive guide to baby finger foods and offers tips, recipes and advice on adding healthy finger foods into your baby’s diet.
• Families Online Magazine has a helpful article on introducing your baby to nutritious finger foods and provides three recipes – Sweet Potato Cubes, Cinnamon Apple Slices and Dusted Tofu Cubes.
• Recipes Today has "A Culinary Adventure for Baby," which offers tips on nutritious finger foods and has a recipe for teether biscuits, which may be a great first food for your baby.

As your baby grows, you'll be ready to move into a wider variety of foods, including finger foods for toddlers.

With a little creativity and some help from recipes on the Internet, you're well on your way to introducing your baby to a lifetime of healthy eating habits.

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