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Is Your Baby Ready for Finger Foods and Self-Feeding?

Margaret Meade
April 02, 2007
Finger foods for babies do more than provide nutrition! Finger foods help baby learn fine motor skills and also allow baby to engage in the wonder and fun of food experimentation. Allowing your baby to explore and have fun with foods may be messy however it will help your baby develop a positive relationship with food. When your baby reaches between 7-8 months old and has a developed pincher grasp, you may think about offering him finger foods to engage fine motor skills and food exploration. The pincer grasp does not have to be perfect but if your baby is able to pick up small finger foods, it will help ease frustration.

While all babies are different and there is no set-in-stone age for when to introduce finger foods, the average age for introducing baby finger food is between 7 and 8 months of age. Your baby should be able to "chew" using his or her gums to mash foods. As mentioned, your baby should also have a pretty good pincher grasp. The pincher grasp is the ability to grab and hold objects between the thumb and the fore finger. If your baby has the fine motor skill to maneuver, grab and hold onto foods with the pincher grasp, then your baby is more than likely ready for finger foods.

As with anything your baby is learning to accomplish, there is a level of frustration that comes with each milestone and accomplishment. If you offer your baby finger foods and your baby is not physically ready to pick up and hold onto the small bits of food, your baby may become frustrated. It is important to limit baby's frustration so as not to inadvertently begin to foster a negative relationship with food and self-feeding.

What are Good Finger Foods to Offer Baby?

Ideal finger foods are those foods that baby can easily pick up and easily mash between his gums. Finger foods help baby begin to learn to self-feed. Appropriate baby finger foods are any foods that baby has already had, and anything that you can make into small soft and mashable bits! Even if your baby does not have teeth, your baby can still eat finger foods. Babies do not chew until they get their molars in and molars generally appear between age 16 months and 24 months of age! Babies mash food between their gums!

◊IMPORTANT NOTE◊

  • Please keep in mind that your baby should only be offered finger foods that are soft, easily mashed and age appropriate!


  • Baby finger foods should be "mashable" between the gums!


  • Baby should always be sitting upright when offered baby finger foods so as to avoid possible choking!


  • NEVER leave your baby unattended when serving baby finger foods (or any other chunky food for that matter)!


    • Some parents will tell you one brand or recipe for teething biscuits or rusks is great and never crumbled or broke. Other parents will tell you the very same brand/recipe was horrible and their child almost choked due to crumbling or breaking. There is no brand of teething biscuits/crackers or recipe for teething biscuits/crackers that is guaranteed not to crumble or break off into pieces!!

    The homemade baby finger food ideas below are healthy to make and easy for baby to eat. Baby finger food does not have to come from a box of cereal or a tube of puffs! Try these healthy baby finger food ideas and encourage your baby to self-feed.

    FRUITS take out seeds!

    Fruits make great baby finger foods! Colourful and highly nutritious, small soft bits of fruit will have your baby's fingers pinching away for hours!

  • soft baked peaches - diced


  • small dices of ripe banana


  • small bits of ripe mango


  • dices of ripe pears


  • small dices of melon


  • small bits of avocado


  • squished blueberries


  • kiwi - diced small (seeds should be ok for baby over 10 months old)


  • small dices of mixed fruits for a "finger fruit salad




    • VEGGIES

    Vegetables, like fruits, make great baby finger foods!

  • soft baked sweet potato dices or sweet potato fries (see below for recipe)


  • soft baked white potato dices


  • small dices of soft cooked carrots


  • small dices of soft cooked peas


  • small dices of soft cooked broccoli


  • small bits of soft cooked green beans


  • small bits of soft baked butternut or acorn squash


  • small dices of soft cooked veggies mixed for a veggie finger medley


    • Remember, you can make your baby any type of finger food as long as that food is soft and mashable and is something your baby has already had! For more ideas, visit wholesomebabyfood.com
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    Margaret Meade

    Maggie Meade is the Editor/Owner of www.WholesomeBabyFood.com and WholesomeToddlerFood.com and works at home while raising her twin boys.

    Wholesomebabyfood.com offers an extensive range of baby food recipes as well as solid food guides, and infant feeding articles and advice.
    Taking pediatric and nutrition advice, medical recommendations and her own knowledge of making baby food, WholesomeBabyFood.com was born in 2003. "With information from a variety of resources such as the AAP, the CDC, the WHO and consulting dieticians, nutritionists and physicians, we believe we have put together a comprehensive site that will have you on your baby food making way in no time at all."

    Making your own baby food is really one of the most wonderful things you can do for your baby! "It takes less time than you would imagine and is easy as 1-2-3! It is our sincere goal to help parents disengage from the myth that commercial baby foods are superior and somehow magical. In doing so, we hope that they will become less reliant on pre-packaged foods as their children grow! Starting healthy eating habits early will put our children on a road to good health and nutrition that will last a lifetime!"