Can I give finger foods before DS has teeth?

[Mom to Brandon and 2 cats]

The subject line says it all...he's 8 months now.

--Jennifer

[egoldber]

Yes! My DD had ZERO teeth until 14 months and she was exclusively on table foods after 10-11 months. They can gum most foods very effectively. The only things to be really concerned about are raw veggies and chewy meats.

HTH,

[amp]

DS has 6 teeth now (9.5 mos), but has been eating some finger foods for a couple of months now, and he only had two teeth when he started! He gums a lot of it, but we make sure stuff is fairly small or soft since he still just swallows a lot of it without chewing or gumming very well. He loves his finger foods!

[momma_boo]

Definitely!
DD didn't get her first tooth until she was about 7.5 mos old. We started out with cheerios (they get mushy very quickly once they're on your mouth) and at this point, she's tried lots of things. We try to give her either small pieces (small enough that it wouldn't be a big deal if she swallowed it whole) or i'll give her something big to hold with one hand (while I watch). They learn to "gum" their food.

[AngelaS]

My youngest didn't get teeth until a year and she too was eating all 'people food' by 10 months.

We started with Kix (they dissolve nicely) and went from there. :D

[Mom to Brandon and 2 cats]

Thanks! Cheerios aren't a choking hazard at 8 months? I have a couple of boxes stored in the pantry, just waiting to give them to him.

I'm kinda freaked about the choking hazard thing - today he was gumming an Earth's Best teething biscuit (he's not teething - just likes the taste), and it dissolved enough that he broke off a piece of it in his mouth. He didn't choke, and I was able to remove the piece in his mouth, but it feaked me out enough that I took the teething biscuit away from him (DS was NOT happy).

[jubilee]

My 11 month old has 6 teeth, but I don't think he really uses the teeth yet. He will put the cheerio, or whatever, back where he will have molars one day and chew it with his gums. One idea that is softer than cheerios is the "Gerber Graduates banana cereal snacken squares". They melt in the mouth. I break each square into fourths though. My son loves them!

[toomanystrollers]

IMO, Cheerios are pretty harmless. Start with just one at a time (Neve likes to cram about 5 in her mouth) so he gets the hang of them :) Cheerios are too small to choke on - but he may gag on them. The gag reflex comes in handy :) Those cheerios are either going up or down.

[egoldber]

I agree, Cheerios are pretty harmless (although some babies gag on ANYHTNING for awhile). But I think those teething biscuits are really dangerous.