Finger Foods

By nine months of age, your baby can grasp food and get it to his mouth and will likely enjoy starting to feed himself. He will be more successful feeding himself if you serve the right foods in the right sizes.

Serve finger foods as part of the main meal, as you continue to give baby food. For example, you may need to spoon feed cereal and peaches, but your baby can manage to feed himself small pieces of a cracker, low-sugar dry cereal, yogurt melts, or fruit puffs.

Let your baby discover the tastes and textures of different finger foods. Watch your baby carefully, in case of choking, as you give him very small pieces of the following finger foods:

• Toasted bread crusts
• Crackers
• Zwieback toast
• Cheese cubes
• Cooked pasta
• Slices of ripe peach or pear
• Rice

Cooked vegetables also make great finger foods. Offer small amounts of cooked squash, sweet potato, white potato, beans and carrots. Avoid raw vegetables now. Your baby doesn't have enough teeth to chew hard food.

These tips were adapted from the U.S. Department of Education.

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