Finger foods

What It Means

Finger foods are soft foods cut into small pieces that a baby can pick up and put in their own mouth. HealthyChildren.org, the AAP's site for parents, says they can be offered once a baby is sitting up and getting their hands, or a toy, to their mouth, and its symptom checker ties them to the pincer grip, picking things up between thumb and first finger, which usually shows up at 9 to 1010,000 stepsA popular daily step goal that began as the name of a 1960s Japanese pedometer; later studies find health benefits begin well below it. See more months. Every piece should be soft, easy to swallow and cut small.

How Parents Say It

• "He's all about feeding himself now."
• "Can she have cheese yet, or is that too much?"
• "Half the peas end up on the floor."

The Breakdown

Finger foods by stage, from HealthyChildren.org

Good first choices. HealthyChildren.org names small pieces of banana, scrambled egg, well-cooked pasta, finely chopped well-cooked chicken, and cut-up cooked potatoes or peas. CDC adds small cooked noodles, small pieces of bread, soft ripe peeled fruit, soft-cooked vegetables and thin slices of mild cheese.

How to cut them. Pieces no larger than one-half inch, per HealthyChildren.org. Hot dogs, sausage and string cheese go in short, thin strips rather than rounds, per CDC.

When to talk to the doctor. HealthyChildren.org's symptom checker says to call if your child refuses most solid foods, is losing weight, or has feeding problems often or that don't get better.

Good to Know

HealthyChildren.org's choking page lists foods to avoid or change for young children until age 4 or older, including hot dogs, nuts and seeds, whole grapes, raw carrot sticks, raw apple chunks, popcorn, thick chunks of nut butter, and chunks of meat or cheese. It also says children should eat seated at the table with an adult watching, never walking, running or lying down with food in their mouths. A gag means slowing down with smoother foods or smaller amounts. HealthyChildren.org also says no honey and no cow's milk to drink in the first year. Buhata's choking vs gaggingChoking vs gaggingGagging is a noisy, normal reflex that keeps food out of a baby's airway; choking is a blocked airway, often silent, that needs 911 and first aid. See more page has the American Red Cross steps for a baby who is choking; in an emergency, call 911.

Related Terms and Categories

• Choking vs gagging

  Gagging is a noisy, normal reflex that keeps food out of a baby's airway; choking is a blocked airway, often silent, that needs 911 and first aid.

• Baby-led weaning

  A way to start solids where a baby feeds themselves soft pieces of food from about 6 months instead of being spoon-fed purees.

• Purees

  Smooth, blended foods that many babies eat when they start solids at about 6 months, before moving on to lumpier and chopped textures.

• High chair

  A tall, freestanding seat with a tray for feeding a baby or toddler. CPSC's federal standard requires a three-point restraint and a passive crotch restraint.

• Allergen introduction

  Giving a baby common allergy-causing foods, such as peanut and egg, early in the first year to lower the chance of a food allergy.

Baby and toddler