Best Soft Foods for Babies With Few Teeth

This main listing of finger foods for toddlers, babies, and kids is your go-to listing for healthy and delicious foods the kids tin feed themselves…and easily and safely chew!

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Healthy Finger Foods for Kids

When little ones want to feed themselves, which often happens before long afterward starting solids, information technology'due south a perfect time to introduce salubrious, fresh foods to make the well-nigh of their enthusiasm. Fruits, veggies, whole grains, meats, fish, beans, and more are easy finger food ideas that are often super easy to prepare and like shooting fish in a barrel for the kids to choice up and eat.

In this post you will observe lists of recommended foods, suggestions for how to cut and set them, and images of examples of what those foods may look like as your child grows.

TIP: I love to go on finger foods in the mix even as kids get older since they brand for simple, salubrious snacks that are ordinarily depression cost and depression prep.

Rubber Finger Foods for Kids

A skilful dominion of thumb to help prevent choking or excessive gagging is to avoid anything:

hard (like a raw carrot)
round (like a piece of hot dog or a whole grape)
mucilaginous (like a spoonful of nut butter)
very chewy (like gummy candy)

If you are just starting out with baby led weaning or if baby is younger than 9 months, longer sticks of foods are normally easier to pick up and cocky feed. Once a baby has mastered her pincer grasp around the age of nine calendar month and can option up a food like a puff or a Cheerio with their fingers, you lot can motility on to soft diced foods.

Stick with softer foods to get-go with that are easy to chew.

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First Finger Foods for Babies

Foods that squish hands between your fingers are a prophylactic bet for babies and younger toddlers. Think cooked peas, raspberries, chunks of banana, diced avocado, and soft cheese. Aim to cut food into small pieces—roughly the size of a pea or two—equally they showtime eating finger foods to give them enough of chances to exercise eating and chewing.

Always adjust sizes of foods to adapt the historic period and eating experience of your own child and add more complicated textures every bit they grow.

TIP: Find my all-time first finger foods for babies hither.

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Finger Foods for Toddlers and Babies: Fruit

Fruit is a wonderful finger food for kids since it's ofttimes very flavorful and ordinarily needs little to no prep. Below are some of my favorite fruits for kids, along with serving suggestions

Apples, shredded or cutting into matchsticks, or steamed or roasted until soft
Bananas, broken upwards and sectioned (these are easier to choice up than slices, which can be slippery)
Blueberries, halved if large
Raspberries, halved if large
Blackberries, halved if big
Strawberries, diced
Clementines or oranges, halved or diced
Grapes, sliced in half or quarters vertically
Kiwi, diced
Watermelon, diced or in sticks
Cantaloupe, diced (make sure it'southward very ripe and soft)
Cherries, pitted and chopped
Honeydew, diced (make certain information technology's very ripe and soft)
Mango, diced (make certain it'south very ripe and soft)
Pears, very ripe and soft served diced with or without the skin or cutting into matchsticks

TIP: Observe my Principal List of Fruit for Kids.

How to Serve Apples

Here'southward an instance of the progression of what it might await like to serve apples as finger foods.

(6+ mo) Applesauce, unsweetened
(half-dozen+ mo) Steamed or baked apple slices: served BLW style, the baby will be able to pick up the pieces and suck off the tender flesh, then discard the skin.
(8/9+ mo) Raw, grated, using softer varieties similar MacIntosh or Gala and offer a small amount at a time.
(16/18 mo +) Raw sticks, using softer varieties here too and sit with your kiddo to run into how they practice.
(ii year + ish) Raw slices. Use soft varieties and see how your toddler does. Many toddlers at this age can really eat whole apples, but some can't and so you demand to see what works for your kid!

TIP: Sauteed Cinnamon Apples are a actually bully finger food option using apples.

How to Serve Clementines

And here's what information technology might look similar to serve clementines as finger foods.

(8-ish+ mo) Clementine flesh, outer membrane removed. Or, mash them more and serve on a preloaded spoon. See if baby likes the texture…or not! P.South. Canned standard mandarin oranges in h2o (NOT syrup) with no added saccharide are a super soft choice that many babies and toddlers love.
(x/12+ mo ish) This volition depend on the baby and how they're doing with finger foods, but the segments are easier to chew and move effectually when the membrane is cutting in half. Can cutting smaller if desired. Tin continue to remove the membrane if needed/preferred.
(Closer to 2, with discretion) Whole segments. My two.five year old can unremarkably eat these with no problem, but she still may have a hard time chewing them and sometimes spits them out. And serving with the whole peel, with it started so they can remove it themselves, is a great style to practice fine-motor skills as they terminate peeling the fruit! (They can practice peeling earlier though yous may need to cut the fruit if needed.)

TIP: Yous can too slice with the skin on as shown hither.

Finger Foods for Toddlers and Babies: Vegetables

Nearly raw veggies volition be too difficult for niggling ones to chew, then read the suggestions beneath for like shooting fish in a barrel ways to cook them—and for advice on which work well served raw.

Avocado, cubed or sliced
Butternut squash, steamed or roasted until soft
Broccoli florets, steamed or roasted
Carrots, shredded and served raw to toddlers over 18 months or diced and steamed or roasted until soft
Cauliflower florets, steamed or roasted
Cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
Cucumbers, sliced or diced (you may want to wait until over at to the lowest degree xviii months and and then remove the skin)
Snap peas, diced fresh for kids over 2 or steamed for younger eaters
Sweet potato, peeled, diced and roasted until soft, or roasted whole until soft and served in pieces
Thawed frozen peas (or still frozen for older toddlers!)
Thawed frozen corn
Thawed edamame, cut in half as needed
Zucchini or yellow squash, diced or sliced and sauteed, steamed, or roasted

variety of shapes of carrots on cutting board

How to Serve Carrots

Here'southward a progression of options for serving carrots as finger foods from babies on upward as an instance.

(8+ mo) Steamed or boiled grated carrot: Very soft modest pieces are easy to chew and a good fine motor practice in picking upwards.
Diced Roasted Carrots: Toss carrot sticks with olive oil and roast on a baking sail at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until soft. Dice.
(10/12 mo+) Halved Carrot Coins: Like shooting fish in a barrel to choice up and less of a choking risk than total coins. Serve them steamed, sauteed, or roasted.
(12+ mo) Roasted Carrot Sticks: Yous tin can try these earlier, particularly if doing BLW, though many younger kids will stuff the whole matter into their mouths (which can get stuck).
(16/18 mo+) Grated Raw Carrot: This tin exist an interesting texture for toddlers and tin can be a prissy introduction to salad. Serve a small amount at first to see how they practice with the texture.
(16/eighteen mo+) Steamed/Sauteed/Roasted Carrot Coins: I like to cut them for a while just to make sure the kids can chew them well, but serving rounds is a fun way to change up the shape.
(two.5/3 yrs+) Raw Carrots: It's entirely possible that your toddler will be okay with these at two. Or not until 4. Cutting the sticks thinly. Employ your instincts with this i since information technology can be a choking hazard!

TIP: We honey these Easy Sauteed Carrots and Roasted Carrot Fries.

How to Serve Broccoli

Here's what a progression of serving broccoli equally finger foods might look like.

(6 mo +) Cooked with potatoes or sweet potatoes and mashed. You tin mash super soft chopped florets into difficult cooked egg yolk.
(viii/ix mo +) Steamed or roasted very tender florets: I'd avert the stem since it can be very tough. Progress from smaller to slightly larger pieces to assistance them learn to move the texture in their mouths.
(18/20 mo+ or co-ordinate to when your kiddo can bite and chew thoroughly): Total-size florets, steamed or roasted: If steamed, toss with a little olive oil, butter, or toasted sesame oil for additional flavour. (This is also a method of serving broccoli BLW that my kids loved—but they more suck/gnaw than chew information technology all up so expect a fair amount to come up back out!)

TIP: Find my favorite Roasted Broccoli here.

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Finger Foods for Kids: Dairy

Dairy is an often overlooked finger food but there are so many easy ways to serve it!

Cheese, diced or shredded
Goat cheese, crumbled
Cottage cheese, 4% offered on preloaded spoons or on a highchair tray (yeah, information technology's messy!)
Frozen yogurt drops
Hard cooked eggs, diced (yolks may be easier to chew, but some kids only like the whites)
Scrambled eggs
Egg muffins, diced

Finger Foods for Toddlers and Babies: Meat/Poultry/Fish

It's piece of cake to serve meat, poultry, and fish to trivial kids equally long as information technology's soft and piece of cake to chew. Here are some ideas.

Beef, ground and cooked through and either diced (if in something like a meatball) or served mashed.
Beef, shredded (anything cooked in a slow cooker or instant pot and shredded is likely to be an easy texture to chew)
Chicken, ground and cooked through and either diced (if in something similar a meatball) or served mashed
Chicken, diced (simply be certain it's not too dry out)
Chicken, shredded (anything cooked in a slow cooker or instant pot, like my Butter Chicken, and shredded is likely to exist an easy texture to chew)
Deli meat (sliced turkey, ham, or salami, cut up into small-scale pieces)
Fish Sticks
Meatballs, diced or slightly mashed
Salmon, poached or baked and diced or shredded
Shrimp, cooked until very soft and diced
Turkey, roasted breast or thigh meat and diced or shredded; or ground and cooked through
Tilaipa, cooked and shredded
White fish, cooked through and diced or shredded

Finger Nutrient Ideas: Legumes/Nuts

You may desire to mash beans slightly to brand sure they are soft for the kids.

Hummus (with a cracker for dipping)
Chickpeas (like these Soft-Baked Cinnamon Chickpeas)
Edamame, steamed or boiled according to package directions
Energy bites, diced
Larabars minis, diced (for over 12-eighteen months)
Finely chopped cashews and walnuts (2 or 3 and upward)
Frozen peas, thawed
Nut butter (on toast cubes or sticks)

Finger Foods: Whole Grains

Whole grains, whether cooked from scratch or served in a food like staff of life or a muffin, are a nutritious category of finger food ideas.

Oatmeal, cooked until it's nice and thick and so it's easy to pick up with fingers (you can also add together i teaspoon chia seeds, let sit for five minutes, and it will thicken upward)
Baked Oatmeal Cups
Crackers, whole grain (Breton and the whole grain mini rounds in the chocolate-brown box from Trader Joes are nice and soft)
Soft snack bars, homemade granola confined, or Dino Bars
French toast, diced
Muffins, diced
Pancakes, diced
Rice, fully cooked until soft with mashed avocado or shredded cheese to help information technology hold together as needed
Quinoa, fully cooked until soft with mashed avocado or shredded cheese to assist information technology hold together as needed

Easy Finger Food Ideas: Snacks

Having a few go-to shop-bought snack food options is super handy. These are some of my favorites.

Cheese crackers
Cereal (depression sugar): Cherrios, Kix, Chex
Mini rice cakes
Puffs (like Plum Organics or Happy Infant)
Snap pea crisps
MySuperFoods Maple Graham Confined, Nature'southward Baker Fig Bars, and Dino Bars
Quinoa Chips (these are softer than regular chips, and high in protein; best for over ii or 3)
Whole grain crackers (we similar Bitsy'due south Brainfood)
Whole grain graham crackers
Veggie Straws

My baby/toddler has no teeth—tin he consume finger foods?

Admittedly! Gums are incredibly strong, as is the tongue, so how many teeth your baby or toddler has (or doesn't take!) is non an indication of how well they will be able to swallow finger foods. The key is to brand sure that the foods are soft enough for them to chew and the pieces are an appropriate size.

Finger Foods for Kids at Daycare

The foods in this post can be actually helpful when packing food for daycare to make meals easy for your baby or toddler to consume. Aim for a mix of nutrients with whole grains, protein, fat, and lots of produce to help them meet their nutrient needs.

The lists in this post are designed for kids over 9 months. For younger babies doing babe-led weaning, serve foods in longer/larger pieces equally needed, and avert annihilation that's not soft enough for them to hands chew. (The foods should still squish between your fingers easily or dissolve quickly like a puff.)

Sit down with your kids whenever they eat and specially whenever they try new foods to come across how they handle it—then y'all tin see if yous demand to cut things bigger or smaller to meet them where they are.

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Source: https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/finger-foods/