Finger Foods for 12-Month-Olds

Grains

• By the time he is 1 year old, your baby is probably used to eating small pieces of cereal or puffed grain snacks that dissolve in his mouth. Expand his diet to include other grain-based foods that he can feed himself. Ideas include soft cooked pasta, Goldfish crackers and rice cakes. For breakfast, give your baby pieces of pancake, waffle and lightly toasted bagel. For lunch, spread hummus or pureed vegetable on a piece of toast and cut it into bite-sized pieces or strips.

Fruit

• Your baby can eat most types of soft fruit by the time she is 12 months old. Give her pieces of ripe banana, mango, peach, plum, pear, strawberry and melon. Apples are still too crunchy for a baby at this age, but you can cook apple chunks until they are soft, then give them to your baby when cooled. Slowly introduce bite-sized pieces of kiwis and oranges to your baby. The acidity might bother his stomach at first, in which case you should hold off a few weeks and try again.

Vegetables

• Cook any type of vegetable until it is soft and give it to your baby. Options include diced carrots, zucchini, sweet potato and squash. Soft peas are also safe for 1-year-old children to eat. You can also start giving your baby small pieces of ripe tomato, but as with acidic fruits, keep the quantity small and watch for signs of stomach irritation.

Protein

• When your baby reaches 12 months of age, he transitions into getting more of his protein from finger foods and less of it from his formula or milk. Chunks of hard-boiled eggs are soft and easy for babies to feed themselves. Soft pasteurized cheese pieces are another good source of protein. Your baby can also eat pea-sized pieces of chicken and fish.