Easy, Non Messy Finger Foods for 14 Month Old

I have a 12 month old and he loves wholegrain blueberry waffles. they are healthy and not messy. He also eats cold chicken and homemade sweet potato fries. I cut up a few sweet potatoes into fries and spread them on a baking sheet. Then douse them with olive oil (so healthy!) and a little bit of Seasoning salt. Then roast them in the oven at 375. I check and stir them up every 10 minutes until done. He loves them. they aren't messy and very healthy.

Hope that helps!!

Waffles or Pancakes make great finger foods. Just make them ahead of time and cut them up. No need to keep cold! Bananas, pretzels, bagels, cheese, Pop Tarts (I know..they're not very healthy), granola bars, cold chicken, just to name a few things. He can eat anything you eat, just cut up smaller. How fun that he gets to go boating every weekend! :)

Editing to add: Cheerios! Or any other dry cereal. We take the multi grain ones with us wherever we go. I have a bowl of them in the diaper bag. They're so so so good and have saved me in a pinch too!

You might want to look into getting a food dehydrator. It can help you with making great snacks for your family. My family loves it: fruit roll-ups (you can just puree fruit and don't have to worry about adding sugar. it is sweet enough), apple chips (my girls are eating them right now), beef jerky, veggie chips, etc. So many great snacks that last a long time and don't need to be refrig. Would be great for boating, camping, outdoor activities. You can also make fruit roll-ups without a dehdyrator. You can do it in your stove, just google "making fruit roll-ups." sometimes you can also find recipes under "fruit leather." Sometimes I grind flax seed (or any type of nut or seed) and mix it into the fruit puree. Adds protein and healthy fats into their diet.

Also, I can get my little ones to eat carrot sticks if they have something to dip it in: guacomola or hummus. Both so easy to make yourself. but might be a little mess for the boat. guess it depends on the type of eater he is!

You can also find healthy hot dogs. Applegate, Boar's Head, or Shilton's makes healthy hot dogs. no nitrates, no perservatives, etc. My girls actually prefer these over the "traditional" hot dogs you buy.

You can try making your own chicken nuggets. use chicken breast (dice up), dip in a sweet potatoe puree, then roll in whole grain bread crumbs with spices of your choice. You can bake or pan fry. I pan fry in a healthy oil. I make a whole bunch at a time. Then I freeze the leftovers. I take a few out at a time and reheat in the toast oven. The whole family enjoys them.

Does he like pickles? I'm so surprised but my very picky-eater 2.5 year old love old-fashioned kraut (fermented which has the healthy live bacteria like yogurt has). Not sure if you can buy it in your area, but easy to make. I add dill to it to taste like pickles. My daughter calls it her "special pickles" and wants to eat it at every meal (seriously every meal. even with her pancakes!). She is eating a veggie and healthy digestive bacteria. Doesn't make her gassy like the jarred kraut you find in the grocery stores. You can google on how to make your own kraut or fermented vegetables. Easy finger food for them. My other daughter loves fermented beets or cooked beets!

Just try things that you might think "there is no way my 14 month old will like that!" I've been surprised on foods they like, even if it isn't something I like.

Jello squares, they are wonderful. We used to call them Knox blocks. Once they set they can be a room tempreture for days and stay in the hardened form. You can cut them into shapes. The softer granola bars are good too. Pickle slices, carrot sticks, celery pieces with peanut butter or fruit flavored cream cheese (at home) stuffing it.
We learned if we mixed veggies into things like stew, macaroni salad with peas in it etc. helped.
Hope at least one of the ideas helps.

Looked around a little and here are some possible foods to try.
avacado
whole grain tortilla chips
rice cakes (my kids LOVED them)
celery with peanut butter
raisins
ravioli without sauce
cucumber
melon (if you cut these into strips like carrot sticks instead of chunks it's easier for little ones)
whole grain toast
scrambled eggs

you could also look into muffin tin meals (google it) it can help even the pickiest of eaters try new things and eat better.

My sisters daughter turned into a picky eater around that age too. We would give her a toothpick that she could eat with and she thought that was neat to poke the food and eat it that way. We also used the plastic toothpick swords and other fun ones and she really got a kick out of being able to pick out her own toothpick for the meal.

Hi K.,
All of my little ones and the kids I babysit LOVE a salad topper called "snapea crisps". They are essentially baked pea sticks that are sold as a topping for salad but my kids adore them plain, they are dubbed the green french fries by my kids. They are decently healthy and a way to get in some veggies as the first ingredient is..peas! I get them at Trader Joes in the snack aisle, not sure if any other health food stores have them, you can also order a case through Amazon. Also my kids love soy crisps and rice cakes. The soy crisps pack in the protein just looked for a kind not loaded with salt(my kids like apple cinnamon and barbeque best)
Also look into the book "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeild, it is full of snacks to make(muffins, meals, desserts) that you can hide those pureed veggies in and if you start them on this food early on they will be none the wiser!
Good luck, I am looking forward to reading other responses!