Vegan gluten-free finger food ideas for 10-month-old

[beckington]

So my 10-month-old has decided he doesn't want to be spoon-fed any longer. (Well, except for his yucky rice cereal that he loves.) I went the more BLW approach with my oldest, but we've struggled with weight gain big time with this baby and tried spoon-fed solids to help increase his weight (which it did). He is still very small though and we really want to keep the weight gain going, so this refusal to be spoon-fed is frustrating. BLW does not lead to a lot of food being eaten at the beginning! But he's 10 months and isn't doing too bad with eating on his own, so we might be OK. I hope! I just need some ideas. On his own he is eating banana, various steamed veggies, raw grapes, cucumber and red pepper, rice cakes and quinoa cereal. He won't try eating anything with a spoon by himself. He is on doctor prescribed gluten-free diet and we are vegan. I've tried giving him black beans mushed up but it wasn't very successful - do I need to mush these or can he eat them whole (choking hazard or no?)? Avocado turns to a big mushy mess. I was thinking of making a 'guacamole' and dipping veggies in it so he can suck it off - same with hummus maybe? Any other ideas?

Thanks!

[IzzyTheTerrible]

I'm vegan too, though I must admit little one's not following a vegan diet.  My husban is a total omnivore, however I only cook vegan so I wanted to make sure he's completely accustomed to vegan foods.

I haven't found beans (whole) to be especially positive yet.  They tend to be a bit slippery, and the skins make me nervous, they cannot chew them - it's a membrane, so I just imagine it getting stuck..  I have, however, popped the skins off garbanzo beans which seem to be textured enough for him to grab and nom on ( I cook them a little longer for him).

Hummus on carrots is his absolute favorite.  Clearly he can't eat the carrot raw, but he loooooves hummus and it's his favorite on carrots.  Bonus - if you have dogs, they will love this treat too.  He sucks the hummus off and discards the carrot stick.

He also likes tofu cubes, as long as they're marinated and cooked.  Otherwise I get lots of spit out tofu! 

Little man likes Chex as well, and they have rice and corn, which are both gluten free.

Gluten free pasta would be great, something like spirals (for the grip!).

[IzzyTheTerrible]

Oh by the way, I do a combination of finger and spoon fed.  I usually give him his own finger foods to eat, and spoon feed him others while he's distracted with his finger foods.

[beckington]

GF pasta and tofu are great ideas, thanks! And good point about the skins on beans - yeah, that's a bit tricky. Hmmm...

[IzzyTheTerrible]

Not something I thought of right away when feeding fruits and vegetables, but squash has a lot of protein and is super super loved by my little one.  Not sure if that's in his diet yet or not, but he loooooves butternut squash, acorn squash, etc.  Just another thought. 

I cook them, then cool them and cut them into fry shaped strips.

[Baby_Cakes]

What about roasted squash or sweet potato?  Asparagus?  We were big on roasted things with DD at that age.  Also ripe melon and berries, grapes (cut up).  

[Megan73]

DS2 isn't quite there yet but DS1 did self-feed beans at that age. I cut kidney beans in half but left smaller beans whole. Hummus would be great with all the good fats in tahini. Nut butters are great but spread them thinly so it's not a choking hazard. DS1 also liked those cakes of five spice pressed tofu cut in cubes. Cubes of cooked sweet potato are always a hit. Oh, and try offering an avocado wedge with some skin left on. It helps them get a grip on it.

[noahs_wings]

banana avocado cooked vegies rice  sushi soup, i pick out the singer food pieces while spoon feeding the rest

i make dairy gluten free muffins or other baked goods with no sugar added, sometimes black strap molasses - i use eggs in these though

scranbled egg bits if you do egg

i break rice cakes into tiny pieces

basically small pieces of whatever i made for the rest of us

[anjsmama]

DD is 9.5 months, GF & vegan and eats

Cubed or sliced apples

Cubed or sliced pears

Steamed broccoli, carrots, cauliflour

Baked potato, sweet potato, summer squash, butternut squash, zuchinni, pumpkin

Tofu cubes

Brown rice

Berries

Grapes (kind of quartered)

Green beans

Snap peas

Banana rolled in GF cereal crumbs (DD likes rice chex)

Peppers, steamed

Cucumber slices

Spinach & cos in small pieces

As far as spoon feeding, have you tried/LO tried feeding himself? My DD has never been spoon fed really but we do occasionally do some spoon foods (homemade apple or pear sauce, pureed potato/pumpkin, soy yogurt) and she can more or less navigate the spoon on her own (she definitely won't let me feed her either!). If I make sure there is food on the spoon she can pick it up and get all the food in her mouth and put the spoon back in the bowl. She's pretty efficient really. HTH!

[beckington]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I have tried getting him to feed himself, loading the spoon for him and all that, but he's not interested. Tricky! Will keep at it though...

Thanks again!