Skip to main content
FamilyEducation
FamilyEducation
Family Education

FE-Menu

  • Pregnancy
    • <blank>
      • Pregnancy Tracker
      • Trying to Conceive
      • Signs & Symptoms
      • Pregnancy Health
    • <blank>
      • Baby Names
      • High Risk Pregnancies
      • Preparing for Baby
    • <blank>
      • Concerns & Complications
      • Labor & Delivery
      • Postpartum
  • Baby Names
    • <blank>
      • Browse All Baby Names (A-Z)
      • Top Names for Boys
      • Top Names for Girls
      • Baby Name Generator
    • <blank>
      • Baby Name Lists & Ideas
      • First Names By Origin
      • Browse All Last Names (A-Z)
      • Last Names by Origin
  • Babies
    • <blank>
      • Caring For Your Baby
      • Baby's Health
      • Feeding Your Baby
    • <blank>
      • Your Baby and Sleep
      • Baby's Growth & Development
      • Baby Hygiene
    • <blank>
      • Baby Safety
      • Baby Products
    • <blank>
  • Toddlers
    • <blank>
      • Toddler Growth and Development
    • <blank>
      • Toddler Behavior and Discipline
    • <blank>
      • Your Toddler and Sleep
  • Kids
    • <blank>
      • Health
      • Childhood Development
      • Fitness & Nutrition
      • Childhood Safety
    • <blank>
      • Communicating with Your Kids
      • Childhood Behavior and Discipline
      • Fostering Responsibility
      • Instilling Values & Manners
    • <blank>
      • Childcare
      • Neurodiversity in Kids
      • Adopting Children
  • Teens
    • <blank>
      • Teen Health
      • Teen Puberty & Sex
    • <blank>
      • Behavior & Discipline
      • Teen Social Development
    • <blank>
      • Values & Responsibilities
  • Activities
    • <blank>
      • Printables
      • Indoor Activities
      • Learning Activities
      • Arts and Crafts
      • Performing Arts
      • Food Activities
      • Outdoor Activities
    • <blank>
      • Books
      • TV
      • Movies
      • Online
      • Quizzes
      • Games
      • Celebrities
    • <blank>
      • Parties
      • Travel
      • Toys
      • Holidays
      • Gifts
  • Learning
    • <blank>
      • By Grade
      • By Subject
      • College
      • Preschool
    • <blank>
      • Back to School
      • Study Skills
      • Learning Styles
    • <blank>
      • Homeschooling
      • Parental Involvement
      • Your Child's School
  • Family Life
    • <blank>
      • Mom Life
      • Dad Life
      • Family Relationships
      • Having a Healthy Marriage
      • Divorce
    • <blank>
      • Health & Fitness
      • COVID Resources
      • Managing Your Home
      • Moving Your Family
      • Pets
    • <blank>
      • Family Finances
      • Work
      • Families and Food
  • NewslettersNewsletters
    Newsletters

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Babies
  3. Feeding Your Baby
  4. Fun Finger Foods For Your Baby

Fun Finger Foods for Your Baby

Find a list of foods that are fun for baby to eat with her fingers.
  • facebook share icon
  • pin
  • twitter share icon
  • email share icon
  • Print page icon

Fun Finger Foods for Your Baby

Babyproofing

Until your baby can chew, stay with your baby when he has a hard finger food (a bagel, for instance). If he breaks off a piece, quickly sweep it out with your finger so that your baby won't choke on it.

Babyproofing

Certain finger foods present a serious choking hazard. So be sure to store popcorn, nuts, hard candies, and other dangerous finger foods well out of your baby's reach.

As you well know by now, everything is a finger food for your baby. No matter how earnestly he tries to use a spoon, sooner or later he abandons it for the much more successful use of his fingers. From the soupiest of pureed vegetables to the stickiest oatmeal, every food seems perfect for picking up (or dipping) with his hands.

You can begin offering "real" finger foods almost as soon as you begin to feed your baby solid foods. Until he can chew, however, he can only suck on most finger foods: a slice of apple or a bagel. Although he cannot eat these foods yet, your baby may still enjoy discovering their different flavors. You can also offer your baby a few finger foods that he can eat: bite-size dry cereals, zwieback, and toast will all "melt" in your child's mouth through the action of his saliva.

By six or seven months, your baby will be ready for more finger foods that he can chew (or gum, as the case may be). Finger foods offer a terrific opportunity to offer greater variety into your baby's diet. You can introduce:

  • Cooked, grated vegetables
  • Cooked, sliced vegetables (carrots, beans)
  • Chunky mashed potatoes
  • Sliced banana or very small pieces of fruit (even a grape is too big)
  • Cubes or triangles of bread, plain or smeared with cream cheese, or margarine
  • Dry, relatively unsweetened cereals
  • Macaroni or other pasta
  • Rice
  • Rice cakes
  • Low-salt or no-salt pretzels
  • Small cubes of well-cooked meat or poultry

Eating with his fingers is fun, fast, and efficient for your baby. It allows him to experience not only the tastes of a wide variety of foods, but to feel their texture with his hands as well as with his mouth and tongue. Eating finger foods also helps to exercise your baby's rapidly improving hand-eye coordination. Best of all, finger foods not only encourage your baby to learn to feed himself, but also keep his hands busy enough to allow you to shovel in the food he needs.

What's hot

  • Introducing Cereal to Infants BabiesWhen Can Babies Eat Cereal? (…
  • two babies playing in the playroom Babies12 Simple Developmental…
  • Toddler Takes Sips of Wine and Beer BabiesIs It Okay for Toddlers to…
  • Printable Month-by-Month Developmental Milestone Chart BabiesPrintable Month-by-Month…
NewslettersNewsletters
Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.
Family Education
FamilyEducation does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Your use of the site indicates your agreement to be bound by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Information on our advertising guidelines can be found here.

FE Footer

  • Newsletter Center
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Policy
  • Editorial Team
  • Expert Panel
  • Cookie Policy
  • Site Map
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Terms of Use
  • Do Not Sell My Info (for CA Residents)
sandbox learning logo
Family Education is part of the Sandbox Learning family of educational reference sites for parents, teachers, and students. 

factmonster logoinfoplease logoTeacherVision logo

sandbbox logo
©2022 Sandbox Networks Inc. All rights reserved. Sandbox Learning is part of Sandbox & Co., a digital learning company.