Ever since William started eating lumpier food around the age of seven months we’ve encouraged him to eat finger foods.
All the books and websites advise giving healthy homemade snacks and I would advocate that myself. Yet we all know that convenience often wins the day and that also you can easily run out of new ideas. Along with bananas and toast we’ve given William bought snacks, which have also offered him different textures.
The first ones that William tried were the Organix carrot sticks and sweetcorn rings. Although he sometimes needed help with them they were great as first finger foods as they melt in the mouth and they helped reduce my fear of him choking. (4 stars)
We then opted to try some of Hipp’s ‘Little Nibbles’. Regarded as the purest of baby foods, I’ve used their jars since William was first weaned knowing that they were organic and had no hidden extras. I was keen to give them a go.
Firstly we tried the rice cakes which initially were seen more as toys by William as he enjoyed playing with them in his bowl - great for helping him to explore his food. We broke them up and fed to William to start with but he now enjoys eating them himself. The rice cakes come in two flavours, apple, and, the ones we tried, tomato and sweet red pepper, which I also found nice for a snack. (4 stars)
Hipp’s elephant biscuits, which are recommended from 10 months to 3 years, were also a big hit. I’d been reluctant to give William biscuits up until now as I wasn’t sure if he’d be able to manage them.
We were away on holiday and out most days so we needed something different that was easy to transport. As William had been reluctant to eat food by himself we let him play with them in his pushchair whilst we were walking around so he had little assistance from ourselves and he loves them.
They’ve encouraged him to pick up food and eat it with the result that he can now eat sandwiches and cheese on toast with minimal help, when he feels like it. (5 stars)