As much as I would love more than anything to remember the infant years of my twins, they have become a complete blue to me.  With a husband who works 80-90 hours a week, I was pretty much left to raise them on my own.  I was completely sleep deprived.  I would even go as far as saying that I ran on 3 non-consecutive hours of sleep a night, at the most, for the first 3 months (I hated that saying “sleep when the babies sleeps”).  But what I do remember is when my twins started finger foods around 8-9 months.

I can still remember the first time I decided to try out finger foods with my boys. As a nutritionist and foodie, I had been looking forward to this stage forever. I remember watching other parents in restaurants giving their toddlers pieces of food they could hold and eat on their own, allowing mommy and daddy to eat their meal. I was so envious as I fed my boys their pureed food and asked for my meal to go. In my brain I sincerely thought the day when my kids started finger foods would be magical. A few months later that day came…and it was NOT so magical. I was all alone and after making and offering many types of fingers foods, all of which were treated like a baseball, the three of us were covered head to toe in food. Since my kids were hungry, but didn’t actually eat any of the food I worked so hard to make, I had 2 screaming toddlers on my hands to boot. What did I do? I cried!!! That’s what I always do when I don’t know what to do next. And I have no shame in admitting it to anyone.  From that day on I developed a fear of giving my kids finger foods. But I did persevere and got through that messy eating phase just like all of you who have and who will.

It can be an extremely messy stage, especially with twins, but it is fantastic for your toddlers’ development and it builds self-esteem.  It also frees up some of your time so you can eat while they are eating (or pick up most of the food your toddler has decided to throw off his or her tray rather than eat, like I do – less cleanup later on always makes my day).

Dairy:

• Mild cheeses, cubed or grated (ie: marble, mozzarella)
• Ceam cheese, goat cheese or ricotta (on bread, crackers or rice cakes or as a dip for steamed veggies)
• Yogurt (if using a spoon)
• Cottage cheese, with or without fruit (if using a spoon)
• Cottage cheese muffins or pancakes
• Homemade yogurt popsicles

 Grains:

• Cheerios or other low sugar cereal (ie: Bran Flakes, Rice Crispies, Puffed Corn)
• Rice cakes
• Crackers (preferably whole grain)
• Pita triangles (with or with a dip)
• Mini muffins (ie: carrot, zucchini, banana, apple, sweet potato, bran)
• Mini pancakes (ie: pumpkin, blueberry)
• Waffle strips
• Well-cooked whole wheat pasta with homemade cheese sauce, tomato sauce or butter and parmesan cheese
• Ravioli or tortellini, cut into pieces
• Well cooked noodles (ie: soba, rice, vegetable)
• Toast, cut into strips (with or without a topping)
• Rice (squish into small globs to make it easier to pick up)
• Quinoa
• Oatmeal (if using a spoon)
• Corn muffins
• Homemade rice pudding (if using a spoon)
• Peanut butter cookies
• Polenta cakes
• Naan bread
• French toast fingers
• Sandwiches without curst cut into strips or small pieces (fill with egg salad, tuna salad, peanut butter, hummus, cream cheese, mashed avocado)
• Grilled cheese (you can add finely chopped veggies)
• Homemade pizza, cut into strips or pieces
• Homemade cheese quesadillas, cut into strips or pieces (can also add veggies and/or beans)
• Baby Mum Mums
• Cookies (preferable whole grain and low in sugar)
• Homemade fruit and oat bars

 Vegetables:

• Sweet potato, cooked and cubed or cut into French fry shape (season with cinnamon or chili powder)
• Sweet potato and black bean patties
• Roasted vegetables, cut up
• Mini carrots, cooked
• Peas
• Corn
• Asparagus tips, cooked
• Green beans, cooked and cut up
• Butternut squash, cooked and cubed
• Broccoli and cauliflower pieces, cooked (can add butter or parmesan)
• Tomato, cubed
• Grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
• Beets, cooked and cubed
• Zucchini, cooked, peeled and cubed or sliced
• Potatoes, cooked and cubed (can add butter and season with parsley, garlic and/or paprika)
• Cucumber, peeled and cubed or sliced
• Pickles, chopped
• Potato pancakes
• Roasted sweet peppers, chopped
• Pureed vegetable soup (if using a spoon)
• Vegetable stir-fry
• Veggie and cheese patties or muffins

Fruit:

• Bananas, cubed or sliced
• Banana slices coated in pancake batter and cooked in frying pan
• Avocado, cubed (or mashed and used as a spread on bread/crackers or a dip for vegetables)
• Apples, cooked and cubed (or cut into French fry shape and cooked/softened in microwave for 2 min, sprinkled with cinnamon)
• Cherries, halved and pitted
• Peaches and pears, sliced
• Mango, cubed or sliced
• Melon, cubed
• Kiwi, cubed
• Blueberries
• Raspberries and blackberries, halved
• Strawberries, sliced
• Mandarins and clementines cut into small pieces (can use canned mandarins, drained and rinsed)
• Plums, peeled and sliced
• Applesauce with cinnamon (if using a spoon)
• Grapes, halved or quartered
• Olives, chopped
• Raisins (softened in boiling water)
• Freeze-dried fruit (no sugar added)
• Homemade fruit popsicles

• Tofu, cubed (marinate to add flavor)
• Meatballs, cubed
• Pork, cubed
• Turkey, cubed
• Beef, cubed
• Chicken, cubed
• Chicken nuggets (preferably homemade)
• Chicken/turkey/meat loaf
• Salmon or salmon/potato loaf/patties
• Tuna patties
• Fish sticks
• Cooked fish such as salmon, sole, tilapia, halibut or haddock, flaked (you can use pureed vegetables as a sauce or just some butter)
• Hard boiled eggs cut into pieces
• Frittata or omelet with veggies and/or cheese, cubed
• Egg muffins
• Homemade turkey and apple breakfast sausage
• Nut butters (on bread, crackers or rice cakes)
• Beans (larger ones should be cut in half)
• Baked beans
• Lentils
• Edamame, shelled
• Falafel balls, cut into small pieces
• Chickpeas
• Hummus (spread on bread, crackers or rice cakes or used as a dip for steamed vegetables)

Fufu is so happy with his plate of food, as usual.

Nibbles just poking at his.

The post Twinfant Tuesday: Finger Foods For Infants appeared first on How Do You Do It?.