Foods for Teething Babies

Soft Foods

• Soft foods are safest for a young baby who hasn't yet mastered chewing and swallowing, but older babies and toddlers may also enjoy soft foods while teething. The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that you can introduce solid foods to your baby when she is around 6 months old, which is often the time when a baby starts teething. Serve foods that are cold, such as applesauce, unsweetened yogurt and chilled baby food or infant cereal, to relieve gum pain. Cook and mash vegetables and fruit, and then chill them before feeding. Cooked and pureed chicken or pureed tofu may also appeal to your baby.

Finger Foods

• Some babies and toddlers prefer crunchier foods while teething. If your baby hasn't yet mastered eating soft foods and isn't ready for harder foods, fill a mesh feeder with chunks of cold fruits or vegetables. When she chews on the feeder, she'll enjoy the pressure of chewing something hard without the risk of swallowing large pieces of food. Older kids will enjoy using a mesh feeder, too. Most babies are ready to try finger foods at around 9 months old, according to the KidsHealth website, which is part of the pediatrician-led Nemours Center for Children's Health Media. Look for foods that you baby can gum easily, such as teething crackers that are light enough to melt in the mouth or toast cut into pea-sized pieces. Do not give a teething child chunks of hard foods like raw fruits and vegetables. Large pieces of frozen food, such as a bagel or banana, are also unsafe as pieces will break off as she chews.

Breastfeeding and Teething

• Being sympathetic to your baby's teething pain doesn't mean that you need to let her use your nipples as chew toys. The Parenting.com website offers a few suggestions to curb biting while breastfeeding; for example, if you notice your baby bites you toward the end of a feeding, remove her from the breast when she starts winding down and offer her something else to chew such as a cold washcloth or teething ring. If she starts to bite while she's latched to you, tilt her nose into your breast for a few seconds so she has to open her mouth to breathe, or break the latch with your finger. If you put nursing on pause for a minute every time she bites, it should eventually teach her that the milk goes away when she chomps down.

Ways to Encourage Eating

• Refrigerating your child's rubber spoon may entice her to eat. After she swallows the food on the spoon, she can chew on the spoon for a few seconds. Try easing her teething symptoms right before mealtime by rubbing her gums with a clean finger, letting her chew on a teething ring or -- with your doctor's permission -- try giving her a mild pain reliever. If she still refuses to eat, encourage her to drink water, breast milk or formula often to prevent dehydration, trusting that when she's hungry enough, she'll eat. Don't feed a teething child salty or spicy foods, as they may irritate her gums, advises the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center website.