“Many of us are aware of the nutritional benefits our babies get from eating a variety of foods, however it’s not as widely known that giving your baby foods of varied shapes and textures can help the growth of areas such as hand and eye coordination, chewing skills, mouth muscles, essential gripping skills, and speech development. Exposing a baby to a wide range of finger foods at a suitable early age can get them on their way to start practicing everyday skills, such as using their pincer grip with their thumb and forefinger, an essential life skill to pick up small objects,” comments Dr Frankie Philips, a nutritionist specialising in child development.
Finger foods offer children a great way to explore food and the world around them as they can handle the food themselves, look at it, put it into their mouths to discover texture, taste and flavour, and to learn that their actions can have an effect. They are also an essential part of a baby’s diet, required to help learn the physical, emotional and social skills children need to feed themselves and to have a positive engagement with eating.
Child psychologist, Dr. Angharad Rudkin, says: “Parents tend to focus on their little one eating everything on their plate, or whether they’re walking or talking, leaving out an important area of development – social and emotional skills. Having a friendly interaction at mealtimes is just as important as getting them to eat all of their meal. The biggest thing parents want from their child is to be interested in what they eat and that they want to try new things. It’s this area of development that will come from enjoyable mealtimes enabling your baby to feel confident to try new tastes, shapes and textures.”
In line with the launch of the video, Organix has introduced two new finger foods to the baby food category - Strawberry Rice Cakes and Multi Grain Hearts with Strawberry. Suitable from seven months, Organic Strawberry Rice Cakes are carefully designed to encourage babies to develop more complex self-feeding skills and progress from grabbing with the palm of their hands, which is the first grip position a baby learns. The texture is firm to hold but gentle enough for a baby’s developing gums.
Organix is giving one lucky reader the chance to win a months supply of the new Strawberry Rice Cakes and Multi Grain with Strawberry. The winner will get 8 packs of snacks altogether.
To win this fantastic competition please complete the rafflecopter form below.
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