Does your baby need to have teeth in order to start finger foods?
No, he doesn’t – but it IS important to ensure that any foods you offer your toothless tot can be ‘gummed’ efficiently – i.e. mashed with the gums and therefore made easy to swallow, which minimizes the risk of choking.
Hayley from New York has discovered the perfect finger food for her daughter, 11 month old Sapphire. She told us…
My little girl just LOVES garbanzo beans – she can’t get enough of them!
I usually buy them dried, then soak them overnight before I cook them. They take about 2 hours to cook – just boil them in lots of water with no salt. But you can also buy the canned variety and give them a good wash to remove the salt (if you can’t get the sodium free ones).
Once they’re cooked, I take the skins off because I worry that Sapphire may choke on them – the skins just slip right off, so it’s real easy. Because the beans are round (and because I’m paranoid about choking) I flatten each bean with the back of a spoon. Then I let her dig in! The beans have a soft texture, so she has no trouble mashing them up with her gums (she only has 2 teeth at the front) – and I’m happy because I know they’re good for her.
Thanks for sharing your tip, Hayley – and you’re right! Garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas) ARE very nutritious. An excellent source of protein, garbanzo beans also provide folates, fibre and iron… and eating them in later life helps lower cholesterol.
But will garbanzo beans give my baby gas?
Beans are notorious for causing gas, but you can make them much easier to digest by soaking them overnight in the fridge, draining and rinsing them twice, then cooking them in fresh water.
How does this help?
Well, soaking the beans causes them to release enzymes that break down the complex sugars they contain into simple sugars. Complex sugars in beans are responsible for the difficulties some people have in digesting them!
Does YOUR baby enjoy garbanzo beans (chickpeas), either as a finger food or in other recipes? Please share your tips here!
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Introducing garbanzo beans (chickpeas) to your baby, plus recipes to try
Preethi
Saturday 7th of October 2017
My baby loves peas. I have to keep a stock always in the fridge. The best part is the moment he will see the peas - he opens his mouth. And if I want him to eat something which he is reluctant to open his mouth for, then I usually put the pea on top of that food and he eats it! I usually boil them and saute with a little cheese and salt and 2 garlic cloves. He is 9 1/2 months old.
List of Calcium Rich Foods | The Homemade Baby Food Recipes Blog
Friday 25th of September 2009
[...] Chickpeas/garbanzo beans – try serving them as a finger food! [...]