healthy snacks

amandadot

Hey folks, we just got on the Puffs bandwagon, I always assumed they didn't get them until they were a year or so but my DH's aunt was telling me about her grandson who loves them, especially while at dinner so we tried them out. She called them rice puffs, so I foolishly assumed that they were made from rice and whatever vegetable was used as the flavor. 1: because that's what she said 2: because they are for crawlers. Anywho,

LO loves them, I was checking the label the other day and they have whole-wheat  flour, sugar and all sorts of things I can't pronounce. Now I'm not a crazy person about what LO eats, but I just don't think an 8 month old should be getting sugar.

I cut up apples and peel carrots and let her chew/teeth on these but I liked that she was learning to pick up food and feed herself with the puffs.

What are some healthy alternatives, or make at home alternatives for finger snacks. When can we start cheerios?  

thechickencoop

Our pedi OK'd Cheerios at 6 months, DS LOVES them.  We do puffs too, but he only gets them maybe once a day, where I give him a few Cheerios before each meal to keep him busy while I'm getting his food together.  Avacados are one of his favorite finger foods - we do them at night so I can stick him right in the tub  Other than that, I'll give him little chunks of bananas, cut up whole-wheat pasta (like rotini), cooked carrot chunks, etc.

meglette417

I am with you on the puffs, I did get them once but don't want to give those all the time.  We do Cherrios, he loves any fruit: bananas, apples, strawberries, peaches.  He also likes roasted potatoes with little pieces of chicken.

snicksnack

If you want to give puffs happy baby had the fewest ingredients when my two-year old was a baby. To be honest i view the repackaged finger food as  baby junk food and did not give it to Dd and she is a healthy toddler who is not picky and eats Lima beans for snack. She only has junk type food on special occasions. When she was a baby she ate fruits and veggies for snack   When they are little they don't know any better so expose them to everything. Soft lima beans, soy beans, chopped up sweet potatoes etc.  work just as we'll for finger foods cheese cubes work too. 

berger8

I was reading an article today about the top 10 foods to give your baby and surprisingly a lot of them on there our LO LOVES and they can be great snacks or finger food alternatives to Puffs. 

Some of the 10 that I can recall off the top of my head are:

1. garbanzo beans 2. broccoli 3. mandaran oranges (one of my LO's favorites) 4. avocado 5. squash 6. green leafy veggies like spinach, Kale, ect. 7. lentils 8. blueberries and I'm drawing blanks on the other two.  

oliversmommy32912

What everyone else said, plus freeze dried fruit. We discovered this with my niece. Target sells a brand called Archer Farms in the snack section. Make sure it's freeze dried, not dehydrated. Look for the ones with no sugar added. They aren't quite as soft as puffs but they do get soft quickly in the mouth. I just make sure the pieces are small like puffs and LO is good to go. We have tried pineapple, mango, berries (those are the softest), and banana. Don't get the peas, they're too hard.The fruits are a nice finger food because the only ingredient is fruit (again make sure it's the no sugar added kind) and they are not messy.