Good finger foods and spoon use?

[nkvilla]

Hello,

Thought I would ask everyone what there child's favourite finger food is?

At the minute my son is loving steamed carrots with a very light cover of sugar.

I'm keen to get him to eat as much as possible by himself, so on that note, at what age did your child start using a spoon?

[DrP]

Any particular reason for the sugar on the carrot ? It is best to avoid adding extra sugar to childrens foods as much as possible.

My son never had a favourite. Fruit, veg, cheese, pancakes, potato farls, pasta - whatever I put in front of him he loved.

He probably started using a spoon at the same time as I introduced lumpier foods. I'd let him have his own spoon to dig in while I fed him at the same time. It was messy but he learnt his spoon skills.

[nkvilla]

When i say light i mean very light. I was advised to sprinkle veg with sugar in the very early days to counteract the bitterness and get him used to eating them.

So does your kid feed himself now with a spoon? If so how old was he when he picked it up?

[DrP]

I'm sure you can do away with the sugar, I've honestly never heard of it being used or advised before. Some people will mix fruit and veg purees at the start but once you move on to finger foods it really is best if they get used to the taste of the veg as they are.

My LO is three now and will happily feed himself with a spoon, knife, fork, fingers, whatever he can.

As I said I gave him a spoon around the time we started on lumpy foods - probably around 7 months. He kept trying to grab mine so it was easiest to give him his own. I just let him get on with trying it out from then on.

[matilda s mum]

My little one just turned one year old!

He loves, in no particular order:

breadsticks
most soft fruits - ripe pear, melon, peach, banana, sweet seedless grapes
cucumber batons
rice cakes
baby biscuits (think they are organix ones)
cooked peas and sweetcorn

I'm struggling to get him to eat steamed veg like carrot, brocolli, etc.

plus he has absolutely no interest in any type of bread - tried wholemeal, white (best of both), pitta, crumpets, english muffins, toast - with a whole wide range of fillings - butter, marmite, jam, cheese spread, but he just pulls a face and throws it away - little rascal! Must have tried every few days for a good couple of months. His sister was the same too!