What Size Should I Cut Food For Baby

Information technology's possible to brand it easier for kids to eat the food we offering them just by making sure it'south cut into appropriate sizes. This tin can assistance reduce frustration, picky eating , and food waste—and the potential for choking risks. This mail has all of my all-time tips for how to cut food for babies and toddlers!

toddler-plate-of-food-with-toast,-berries-and-cottage-cheese

How to Cut Food for Babies and Toddlers

Nutrient can be slippery and hard to pick upwardly. It tin be chewy, tough, glutinous, or a whole host of other textures. It tin can help to greatly reduce frustration at mealtimes if you lot consider a few basic tips when cut food for kids. The principals of this are really straight forward, just I'grand going to share a lot of visuals since I know the real life practice of this can get confusing!

How to Cut Food for Baby Led Weaning

If you're starting solids with the Baby Led Weaning style, you'll want to brand sure that the food is soft (it should easily squish between your fingers) and be cut at least the size of your finger. This volition assistance ensure that baby tin hands choice it upwards, withal be unable to put the entire piece into her mouth.

TIP: Detect my Ultimate Guide to Infant Led Weaning hither.

Tips for Cut Upwards Finger Foods for Babies

When babies are almost 9 months onetime, they develop the "pincer grasp", or the ability to pick upward smaller pieces between two fingers. At this age, yous can commencement to serve very soft, squishable finger foods that are about the size of a pea or two.

TIP: Find my full list of Early Finger Foods for Babies here.

raw-veggies-for-kids — Progression of how to serve raw veggies for kids

How to Serve Raw Veggies to Toddlers

Offering raw veggies to kids can be challenging since many are hard and have a lot of work to chew. And big chunks of raw veggies like carrots can be choking hazards. To stay rubber and give the kids a take a chance to practice with the new textures, attempt:

12/14 months: Start with shredded raw veggies like carrots, cucumbers, bong pepper, and lettuce. (Yous tin soften the carrots for a few minutes in very hot water if desired.)
16/18 months: Keep to very, very thin slices (newspaper thin!).
20/24 months: Gradually offer slightly thicker pieces effectually, merely they should nonetheless be thin and less than 1/4-inch thick.
two years: Endeavor offering small-scale diced pieces of bell pepper and cucumber, though some kids may notwithstanding practice ameliorate with larger, thin pieces.
4+ years: Kids may be able to safely chew a big piece of raw carrot or a whole babe carrot. (This is a really tough texture, so attempt to avoid it for a while.)

How to Cut Sandwiches for Kids

Staff of life tin be a challenging texture for kids, especially when there are other textures in the middle of a sandwich. Progressing through a few phases tin make this easier and help avoid frustration.

half-dozen+ month: Serve lightly toasted finger-size or larger pieces of staff of life for infant to gnaw on.
ix+ months: Dice bread into very minor pieces. Moisten it with apple butter, baby food puree, or another moist spread every bit needed to help baby motion it around in their mouths.
14/16 months: Stick pieces are neat for this age to assistance kids practice taking bites.
20/22 months: Sandwich quarters are a great size for one yr olds and are a nice size for little hands to hold.

TIP: Observe my favorite Child's Sandwiches hither.

How to Serve Apples to Babies and Toddlers

Start with applesauce and Roasted Apples for babies, then shredded apple to sparse matchsticks to very sparse slices through the one year erstwhile yr.

How to Serve Bananas to Babies and Toddlers

Start with a BLW-fashion banana (get out a little of the skin on to act as a less slippery handle) and Banana Puree, then motion to small pieces around 9 months, and larger pieces effectually sixteen months. Kids may too be able to bite whole bananas after 12 months since they are so soft.

How to Serve Broccoli to Babies and Toddlers

First with Mashed Potatoes with Broccoli or a big BLW-fashion slice, then move to smaller very tender pieces around nine months, and gradually increase the size through the one yr onetime yr.

With all of these, you lot want the florets to be very soft and then they are like shooting fish in a barrel to chew.

pear-with-fork-marks — Fork making "seize with teeth marks" in pear

How to Help Kids Learn to Have Bites

It's mutual for one year olds to stuff a lot of food into their mouths at in one case, then we sometimes demand to be very deliberate about instruction them to take bites. You can use a fork to make a "bite marker" so they can run across where to endeavour to put their teeth. Yous can besides give them larger pieces of food that they physically wouldn't be able to fit into their mouths so they sort of have to have a bite.

Sit with the kids during meals, if you can, and show them how yous take bites. This is a normal phase and kids usually go the hang of it if we give them time to learn and do.

fruit for kids on countertop — Effort cut foods in new ways to keep thing interesting.

Best Tips for Cutting Food for Kids

Starting time with finger-size pieces at six+ months for baby led weaning.
Transition to pea (or two peas) size pieces around nine months when kids can pick up smaller pieces between their fingers.
Offer larger pieces so they can practice taking bites effectually 16/18 months.
For raw veggies and hard fruits (like apples), offset with shreds, and so matchsticks, and newspaper thin pieces.
Save babe carrots and other very hard raw veggies until age four+.
Detect my favorite baby First Finger Foods here.
Find my go-to toddler Finger Foods here.
Learn more about Serving Nuts to Kids here.
Castor upwardly on the common choking hazards hither and how to reduce the risk.

I'd dearest to know if you take any questions on this or feedback, so please comment below!