Should he be eating Cherrios now or wait

[MomofBrendy]

Hi-
My son just turned 9 months old. He got his first tooth about 2 months ago and hasn't gotten another yet. He loves his jar baby food. I took him in for his 9 month well child care visit and the doctor asked me how he was picking up his Cheerios. We haven't given my son anything other than cereal and baby food out of fear of him choking on it. I was wondering how old your child or children were when you started them on Cheerios and other little "baby" finger foods?? ANY help is most appreciated

[fuzzy]

My son had only 2 teeth (on bottom) when I started giving him cherrios,shredded cheese,bananas,toast with butter.he was also 8/9 months old.For the cherrios I would soak them in the formula/milk for a bit before giving it to him.There are also little graduate fruit/veggie puffs you can get that I gave to him for a treat while I was getting him meals ready ,they melt in their mouths.I have been also scared of things to give him I actually made a post(I'm stuck between jars and real deal) and ra11en's advice really helped me out~!Good Luck!

[k4satin]

My boys were both eating Cheerios by that age. I had heard people say that they couldn't choke on Cheerios because they had holes in them. Not entirely convinced, I used to cut them in half until they got used to them. Cheerios are one of the best things to start with because they get mushy really quickly when they get wet. Babies have a plentiful amount of saliva in their mouths, so I think it would be near impossible for them really to choke on a Cheerio.

The commercial baby finger foods vary greatly in how appropriate they are as a "first food." I found the Wagon Wheels to be one that my babies could easily hold onto and that got mushy very quickly as well. I was not as thrilled with the various toast-like finger foods out there. We had a scare when my son managed to break off a large chunk of hard toast in his mouth. We fished it out, but did not give him any more of those until he was quite a bit older!

I don't think the teeth really have much to do with it. The first teeth come in in the front. These teeth are for biting, not chewing. Early on, babies mash soft foods with their gums.

Good luck!

- Kristin
www.thesatinbutton.com

[MommaC]

I've read that you can start giving them finger foods whenever they start sitting independently. Babies can choke/gag on just about anything. I prefer the Gerber puffs over Cheerios just because they dissolve so quickly. At six months (with NO TEETH), my daughter was chomping on crackers and zweiback toast and puffs. Just don't leave them unattended with their finger foods and know what to do IN CASE something should happen.

Your doctor's question seems more related to whether or not your son has mastered a pincer grasp (thumb and pointer finger)...which most kids start learning when they have to pick up small things.

[lucsmama]

My son choked on cheerios at 9 months but by the end of the month he was eating them with no problems. I switched to the Gerber graduates in the mean time. He loved and had no problems with the puffs (star shaped melt in the mouth rice puffs) and the cheese doodle things. He is also fond of the freeze dried apples and bananas. Once I gave him these foods he quickly learned how to self feed, which gave me time to make dinner!

[kaiya23]

We used the puffs pretty early. But my daughter did have cheerios before she had teeth...those teeth didn't poke through until 10 months, and she needed more than the jarred baby food. I think the picking up cheerios question is more for development, our doc. office has a survey that asks about the baby picking up small things like a raisin with fingertips. So if he's picked up a small coin or small things that fall on the floor that we don't realize they will pick up or even see...that's what the doctor is looking for. But cheerios by 9 months is common.

[babyTmom]

I started giving my baby Cheerios about 2 weeks after oatmeal cereal, just for practice. This was around 6.5 mos before his teeth came in. He didn't start to really eat them for another month or so, but it did great things for his fine motor skills. BTW, I cut them in half at first, too, but gave it up pretty quickly.

[shonda]

I didn't start giving my daughters cheerios until they were over year old. There are twins and were born five weeks early so they were a little behind as far as eating solid foods. I started them with the graduates first, since they dissolve easily then I started giving them cheerios. But, I have noticed that not all Gerber Graduates snacks are easy for them to eat. I tried giving them the fruit strips and they almost choked on them when they were about a year old, so I wating until recently (sixteen months old) to try them again and they haven't had any problems chewing them. They have four teeth on the bottom, four on the top and two molars on the bottom also.

[jillymacking]

I started my little guy on cheerios about 9 months. He loved them, and it kept him occupied in his high chair while I prepared his meal. I also started him on
the zwiback toast and he really liked that also, but he has 6 teeth already, so it may be easier for him than for a baby without teeth. I tried some of the Gerber Graduate snacks and he has enjoyed them also.

[luckymama2]

I gave my daughter cheerios and puffs at about 7-8months. Around the time she started crawling. And with my son I think he was at the 8-9months mark. And I think I did cut them in half and with my son he did gag on a cheerio at first so I did puffs for a week or two and then tried the cheerios and he did ok. Half the cheerios if you are nervous and just monitor the child at all times while he is eating.