meals DS can feed himself

[Graceie]

my DS 7 almost 8 months will not let me feed him he must do it himself so Im trying to come up with food ideas . we are a GF / dairy free household

[katelove]

My LO is 7.5 months. So far she has only had fruit and vegetables. We just cut them into pieces long enough that she can hold them in her fist with a bit sticking out the end. Her favourites are watermelon, cucumber and apricots (we cut these in half). She also likes roasted pumpkin, sweet potato and broccoli.

We try pretty much any fruit or vege we're eating ourselves.

[Graceie]

thanks

[BabyFireFly]

I didn't start feeding solid foods until my daughter was a year old, but when we first started she was the same way, wanting to feed herself...and she is still like that for the most part. She will allow me to feed her for a couple spoonfuls and then insist that she either taken the spoon and attempt it herself or want to take the food off the spoon and shovel it in her mouth with her hand. The amount of teeth she had at each stage also affected what I could and could not feed her....so I'm not sure how yours is doing in that department, but mine is now almost 17 months and only has 8 teeth so far.

Here are my ideas for GF, DF, feed to yourself when you are only 8 months and may not be ready to really chomp that much yet : )

Fruits and Veggies:

Blueberries, melon that is soft and ripe, kiwi slices (seeds removed), bananas mashed a bit,  soft and ripe papaya, peeled and pitted cherries, figs or dates "poached" in a little bit of pear or apple juice and then sliced, steamed asparagus - broccoli - peas - green beans - acorn squash - cauliflower - egglant - sweet potatoes or carrots (steamed soft and then sliced small enough to be managed by the child without posing choking hazard of course).

Scrambled egg yolks (unless you include eggs in your DF, some do and some don't - toss the idea if you do) chopped into pieces and served in a bowl.

Tofu chopped up small and rolled in GF cracker dust (send the crackers through the food processor until they are the consistency of dust)

Soft cooked brown rice pasta - small shapes like spirals that are easy to grab and hang onto.

Bob's Red Mill makes a GF bread mix that can be prepared dairy free - bake a loaf plain and slice it up to make mini finger sandwiches, add diced fruits to the dough prior to cooking for a nice sweet bread or make toast and cut into little "points" and serve with pureed fruit or coconut milk yogurt as a spread. You can also puree chicken or other meats and then spread the puree on your GF DF bread and then serve it as a finger food.

GF/DF Pancakes (I'm sure you have already made them in your house, just omit any sweeteners like honey that may be in the recipe) topped with a pureed fruit spread or with small dices of fruit added to the batter. Allow to cool a bit and then slice into easy to manage pieces. Or you can take small slices of banana and coat them in the pancake batter and lightly fry them in your skillet until lightly brown.

Butter Beans - slip the skin off prior to feeding.

Black beans - you can make a very good iron/protein finger food my making a "hash" from black beans and veggies like sweet potatoes.

You could make little casseroles with brown rice pasta and veggies and then mixing with a meat puree - a little messy but baby will pick through and have a variety while still getting the puree as a gravy - much less mess than just letting them go at a bowl full of puree.

[BubbleMa]

Excellent suggestions!  I don't really have anything to add to that.  :)