Puffs are good for helping babies with their dexterity as well as figuring out how to chew, so they are not all bad, but it's like anything else when it comes to food for both myself and my baby... the less processed the better! I know it can take time to make homemade baby food, but making finger food is actually easier. Of course, run all of this by your baby's doctor before you take my advice, but this is what I have found worked for me.

Instead of food with zero nutritional value, I like to incorporate foods that are easy for baby gums to mash and are filled with nutrients and good calories that they need. My baby loves feeding himself, and each day that goes by he likes it more than being spoon fed. I wanted to share with all the other moms out there in my same situation what foods work for me and my baby, and how to make them. You can make these ahead of time and store them in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

Foods that you don't need to cook and are portable

All of these are great cut into small pieces:

• Bananas: 6 months
• Avocado: 6 months
• Peaches (not the skins): 6 months
• Strawberries: 9 months
• Blueberries: 9 months
• Sprouted bread (if just starting out you may want to soften this with water): 10 months

Foods that are good boiled (cooked very well) and cooled completely

You want to make sure these are cooked very well so that they are very soft, and cut into small pieces:

• Carrots: 8 months
• Sweet potatoes, peeled: 8 months
• Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled: 9 months
• Apples, peeled: 8 months
• Broccoli (cutting the stems off): 12 months

I also served a well-cooked (not overcooked) egg yolk once or twice a week. Once my baby was around 10 months old, my doctor said it was OK to feed him egg whites as well. I still usually only give him an egg twice a week at 12 months.