Ideas for finger food for baby with allergies???

[gngcrzy4u2]

My son is 10 months old now, and is allergic to potatoes, carrots, strawberries, soy, and any dairy. (I am not opening a debate on allergy testing, he is scheduled for that, but he breaks out in full body rashes and immediately vomits with these foods!)
He is in the "independent" stage and refuses the baby jar food since he is not feeding himself. He wants to pick up his own food. I can't afford to keep buying so much of the "prepackaged" gerber foods!
I give him peas, green beas, corn, steamed apples, canned chicken, rice....
Can everyone add their input?? I need ideas for quick things to feed him since lunch is many times on a time crunch. Even if it's something I can pre-prep the night before & warm.....I just need ideas other than him always eating Cheerios & Puffs!!

[foggierbard9]

cut up grapes so they aren't big, dice up bananas, you could make up meatballs as a batch then freeze and heat them 1 at a time for his meals(I did this for DS when he started wanting to feed himself), you could also do like pinto beans or something like that, cut them in half and he can pick those up and feed himself those.

If I think of anything else, I will add those.

[Shadowchasy]

you could do cut up franks ( I cut them in fourths), cut up vienna sausages.

[foggierbard9]

blueberries, diced up peaches or pears, broccoli (my son used to bite the tops off the "trees" and not eat the rest when he was that age), chicken nuggets would be an option too, just cut them up to bite size pieces.

[zookeepermel]

I did thin finger sandwiches when my son was a baby. Remove crust and slice 1 slice of whole grain bread to 1/2 thickness. Spread 1 layer w/ baby food type meat or fruit. Top w/ the other layer of bread and cut into fingers (or bites).

[gngcrzy4u2]

These are some really great ideas! Thanks guys- I just get stuck in a rut with what to feed him and I needed some fresh perspective! Any more input is appreciated- this is a great starting point!

[CW&M Mom]

check the chicken nuggets & hot dogs for soy though.

My kiddo's loved loved loved banana's. My kids also liked kidney beans, you could do deviled ham, cucumbers.

BTW gerber food..even basic baby food often has milk traces in it (and I know this isn't a debate...more of just a fyi.... allergy testing for children under three is not always reliable...so a positive is a positive...but a negative isn't always a negative KWIM?...so if they react even if they show they aren't allergic...I wouldn't trust it until they are over three).

((HUGS)) and good luck!

[gngcrzy4u2]

Thanks Cori n Wess mom.....yeah I agree with you- it's so hard to allergy test the babies....they were talking about a blood test but i dont know till I see the specialist. I really just want to make sure he doesnt have any severe reactions that will show up right away since nut allergies also run in the family & he seems to be so daggum allergic to so many things! a lot of the beech nut products also have the dairy so I have to be careful. and carrots, phew, carrots are blended into everything!! lol, argh! i'VE LOVED THESE GREAT IDEAS........ we had some northern beans at lunch today & he did pretty good with them....he LOVED the apple I steamed for him!

[cintinative]

Mine had allergies too.

I agree with the beans--even baked beans can be okay just check the ingredients. I would sometimes give mine brown rice with beans mixed in. Rice isn't the best finger food but it is doable. I couldn't do carrots for mine either because I was allergic.

Other ideas: canned pineapple cut into small pieces, also canned pears, homemade applesauce (very chunky is good), corkscrew or macaroni pasta with a little tomato sauce, sauteed mushrooms (use dairy free butter like Earth Balance), scrambled egg (make with rice milk or almond milk), bananas, raisins, pizza without cheese, hard boiled egg.

You can make cornbread with almond milk or rice milk. I have done it before. It doesn't taste quite the same but it is still good. I can get you a recipe I really like.

I also liked to make pudding with almond milk when I was off dairy. It's yummy, but doesn't set up as well. Okay, that's not a finger food. That is, unless you want to finger paint.


I did find some teething biscuits at Whole Foods that are dairy free in case you ever need those.

In general, feel free to replace milk with rice or almond milk in a lot of your recipes. In the case of baking it does sometimes effect things but in cooking it rarely affected anything but taste.

I am not sure if you are breastfeeding, but hopefully they told you that these allergens can pass through your milk. I was off dairy, gluten, wheat, eggs, and almonds for my second and dairy for my first. Check your formula very carefully-even the most hyperallergenic formulas contain milk. I am sure considering your issues you are being careful, but just in case no one has brought it up, I wanted to mention it.

[wholesalebiker]

just a guess from a girl w/ allergies I would take guess he is allergic to niacin... strawberries very high, peanut butter, seafood, fish, etc. Potatoes ,carrots are very high in iron. I wouldn't try blueberry... but pear, apple, mandarin oranges, If I'm right high amounts of cracker's,cereal, breads contian niacin in small amounts... so be careful w/ amounts on that!!