Snack Time!

Hungry Baby cannot go for more than a few hours without a snack, especially when we're out and about at the pool, park, or a friend's house. And finding convenient, portable snacks for an infant is not always easy! If your child is accustomed to chewing solid foods, they may be ready to try some of these on-the-go snacks. This is certainly not a comprehensive list of snacks, but a quick rundown of snacks that we find very convenient.

Baby's Age: approximately 8 to 12 months

Consistency: both soft and crunchy pieces

Dried Fruits -
Gerber Graduates Mini Fruit Snacks - These mini fruit snacks are small and very easily chewed. They are not typical fried fruit, which can sometimes be chewy. They are freeze-dried, which makes them almost melt in baby's mouth - try one before you give it to your baby. And best of all, there are no additives; the ingredients for the mini apples is freeze dried apples, and so on for all three flavors: Apple, Pineapple Banana, and Strawberry Banana.

Dried Vegetables -
Comforts for Toddlers Little Veggies Sweet Corn - This product is new and distributed by Kroger, so may not be available at grocery stores other than Kroger. But, where one company starts, others are sure to follow, so watch for this product in your local grocery store in the near future. Once again, the ingredient is just freeze dried corn; no additives or preservatives.

Calbee Snack Salad Snapea Crisps - A super-fun and delicious snack, these snap peas are dried, making them crispy, yet easily dissolvable. They are also easily graspable, so little hands can get a good grip on them. These peas are not intended strictly as an infant or toddler snack; they're actually great for the whole family. Cut and paste the following address into your browser to find a location near you that carries the Snack Salad brand.

http://calbeeamerica.com/snapea_store.htm

Crackers and Cookies -
Baby Mum Mums - These rice rusk crackers dissolve very easily and they can be gummed into mush, they they are not messy like other teething toasts. Where to find Baby Mum-Mums is another issue altogether. In Georgia, they are available at Wal-Mart in the baby food aisle, usually tucked away on the top shelf near the end of the aisle. But I have not been able to find them in any grocery store here. Cut and paste the following address into your browser to find stores near you that carry Baby Mum Mums.

http://www.mummums.com/products/retailers

Baby Mum Mums come in three flavors: Original, Original Organic and Vegetable. All crackers are gluten-free, egg-free, and peanut-free. The crackers are wrapped two to a wrapper, 12 wrappers, a total of 24 crackers in a box. And they actually taste really good!

Cheerios - The old stand-by, Cheerios are one of Hungry Baby's favorite finger foods, and such a bargain since a box will last months when a bay is only eating a few handfuls at a sitting.

Beech Nut Let's Grow Banana Cookies - As far as cookies go, these are likely one of the least offensive, most readily available in grocery stores everywhere. Unlike animal crackers, these cookies are made with whole grain wheat flour and evaporated cane juice as opposed to the high fructose corn syrup and sugar found in traditional animal crackers.

Dairy -
Tillamook Cheeses - Tillamook Medium Cheddar is one of Hungry Baby's favorites! With a mild flavor and soft texture, it's perfect for cutting into small cubes for babies who've mastered the pincher grasp. And its mild flavor means it's not to tangy for baby's taste buds. Tillamook is readily available across the U.S. Cut and paste the following address into your browser to find a Tillamook retailer near you.

http://tillamookcheese.com

Hungry Baby tries new snacks all the time, so we'll post her favorites again in a few months!