Finger Food Ideas for 1-Year Old

MINI MARSHMALLOWS my son loves them .. my son doesnt really like meat right now either but loves vienna sausages or if you want the healthier kind they have the meat sticks by gerber i think so maybe try those plus there good for the small hand size and there mushier then hot dogs. graham cracker sticks, jello , or even the cheese crackers with the peanut butter in the middle if you feel comfortable giving them

Hi L.! My littlest one enjoys scrambled eggs with the prepackaged diced ham, which is the perfect size! Also spiral macaroni and cheese is easy for her (me too). Rice mixed with stuff is great too! I use a pizza cutter to cut her food too!

Have you tried the gerber graduates finger foods? They have fruit and veggie puffs. My kids started eating them when they were 9 months old, they are 4 and 2, and they still love them. They are only 25 calories for a 1/2 cup, which is great too.

It depends on how messy you're willing to let her get. My daughter, also 1, loves to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by herself. Other favorites are: carrot wheels(gerber), zwieback toast(gerber), pancakes, muffins, pretzels(thin), toast, and basically anything mommy is eating. I've even let her have pop-tarts, as bad as they may be for her. Hope that helps! =)

My son was, and still is, very into blueberries cut into quarters (halves now), Scrambled eggs, bread in any incarnation with or without additives like butter or jelly.. and small pieces of any soft or well cooked fruits and veggies in general. The Gerber Graduates meals have been a life saver as well. They have everything from mac and cheese (A staple favorite) to mashed potatoes and gravy with chicken or turkey etc.

A healthier version of french fries is sweet potato fries. My son loved them. Slice them up as thin as she needs them, season with a little salt, pepper and cinnamon and bake! You can freeze them too, and re-bake. Also, avocado is yummy, easy to eat and really good for them!

My 20 month old loves cheese sticks, and apples. I peel the apples, but she has been eating them since about 14 months. She even loves a bowl of shredded cheese. She stopped eating baby food at 9 months so I have been grinding and cutting small pieces since then. When we have burgers I cut it into strips for her and she thinks that is too cool. Another favorite is fish sticks. She even loves any color of peppers. I cut those into little strips also. The baby Goldfish are a good snack! Hope this helps!

My son will be one on Monday and is quite into feeding himself so I was interested in this too. Here is some of what I've tried as well as some of what I found on the internet. Anything I mention should obviously be cut into chunks or slices.

avocado, bread, any kind of beans, pasta, graham crackers, peeled and sliced grapes, scrambled egg, tofu, cooked brocoli, cauliflower, edamames, peas, corn, waffles, pancakes, french toast, pieces of burger, cucumber, tomato, peeled apple, dried fruit like raisins, apricots, apple, banana, pineapple, mango, and papaya, squash, yam, hot dog, olives

If you like to have quick things on hand, check out the frozen food section and canned goods. Lots of quick veggie and fruit ideas.

Pretty much if it isn't hard like a raw carrot, you can serve them what you are eating, just in small chunks.

Have fun!

My sons favorite for a long time was avacado! Toddlers love having a full mouth. Avacados are great because of the awkward chunks you can cut them in, and they mash up easily in their mouths.
Another trick is a baked potato. The day after we've had them for dinner, I peel the skin (easy because they're cooked and cold) then cut them into french fry shape. warm in microwave just enough to take the cold off. Try with ketchup to dip if you're ready for that! :)
Also, pan cooked egg with the yolk broken before cooking is a great flat egg you can cut into squares, easy to pick up. Good luck!

Watermelon, cantalope, the green melon (cant think of the name), blueberries, raspberries, rasins, maybe try little pieces of bologny (I know you said she didnt like chicken or meatballs but it doesn=t hurt to try), goldfish (you can buy baby goldfish crackers that are smaller than the regular ones). I am sure I could come up with more. lol

Hi, L.. Your little one sounds adorable! We found that sticking to as much natural foods (fruits & veggies) as possible worked out better for a lot of reasons. Our 2 older kids who were not exposed to as many of these foods in their toddler years are 1) pickier eaters and 2) have tendencies toward sugar based foods. The younger two were given tons of fruits & veggies as toddlers and have a tendency to eat in moderation, prefer low sugar foods, and neither have developed ADD/ADHD. Food for thought. Best of luck and God bless, B. J.

My 13 month old daughter likes Kraft cheese crumbles.. they are just the right size to pick up- they are next to the shredded cheese at the store. It is one food that you will not have to cut up into pieces.

She also likes canned fruit. I cut up a can of peaches or pears.. and within 2 or 3 meals she has eaten the entire can.

She likes the thin sliced lunch meat. I usually get turkey- but she will eat ham or whatever. She usually wont eat veggies- so we are still using baby food veggies..

rice a roni cheesy rice- is a good finger food. the cheese makes it stick togehter and the baby can pick it up.. I try to put some pieces of well cooked carrots or brocoli in the rice.r

Hi L.,
My son is two and I gave him almost everything we ate (his was cut up in teeny tiny pieces, of course). He is now a GREAT eater. It was be hard getting him to like 'regular' meat such as chicken/beef. He's still a little weird (he'll chew it up but never swallow it). To try to get some meat/iron in his diet, I gave him cut up hotdogs (make sure that you cut then in half length-wise to avoid choking!). I wasn't sure when I gave him his first peanut butter & jelly sandwich but when he was only a year he ate half of it which really surprised me.

One thing that I did do was constantly give him vegetables. Now vegetables are his favorites. We give him fruits on occasion and we make sure to give him vitamins to make sure that he is getting plenty of nutrition.

i would say to follow a few simple rules: trust you instincts, watch the portion sizes and choking hazards, look for nutritional content, etc. I also highly suggest taking a trip to the nearest 'Trader Joe's' grocery store. They have oodles of healthy, often organic, snacks such as sourdough parmasian sticks (my son's personal fav.), crackers, cereals, and a large variety of dried and freeze dried (which literally melt in you mouth) fruits ...
oh, and when my son was around 1, he loved to gnaw on frozen veggies- great nutrition and helped with the teething...
hope you find what you're looking for!

You seem to have a good handle on things. My son is almost 16 months now. When he started finger food his favorites were colby-jack cheese and turkey lunch meat (he wouldn't eat any meat until we tried this). Just wait until she insists on feeding herself applesauce (he's in that phase right now). It's so funny but such a mess. Good luck!

A good website to look at is myfreshbaby.com they have good ideas for finger foods.

Fish sticks
chicken nuggets (both can be homemade with Like Shake and Bake or something like that)
Avacodo
Black Beans
Kidney Beans
Thawed Frozen Peas (great for the diaper bag too!)
Roasted Potato Wedges (great bridge from Fries to regular Potato!)
Jello (you can put shredded fruits and veggies in it)
Trail Mix (just mix different cereals, and cracker bits with some Gerber Dehydrated fruits another great one for the diaper bag)
mini marshmellows (for a treat!)
Soft Peaches (you can cook them first with a little bit of cinnamon)
Pears

My daughter is really into lunchables. She's 14 months, so not much older than yours. There are also graduate snacks, like the puffed fruit. She loves Tyson chicken nuggets also.

My daughter loves eating dry cherrios, raisens. I think that your giving her good finger foods trial and error always worked for me! L.

My 9month old likes mac and cheese and he also loves veggies. I can open a can and my 9month and 2yr old will eat the whole can for a snack. They really love green beans and the mixed veggies. Also good things are cheerios and kix. Good luck