Phoebe & Allyson wrote:

> She has no pincer grip, so finger food has to be in big enough chunks to stick
> out of her fist. She's not a big fan of texture unless it's a finger food or
> she can take bites off it while someone else holds it. I think she'll be able
> to gum up cooked barley if she likes it. The goal isn't to get large quantities
> into her; just some every day.

Barley is, for me, pretty tough. Gerber, as I recall, has one of those
instant cereal flakes made of barley. By nine months my guy, an early
eater of non-milk, got soft cubes of cooked veggies in a paste made of
such instant cereal mixed in with a little Gerber organic cauliflower
and brocc. paste (his favourite, now he won't touch it). If I were to
try and give barley in a non-instant flake to that age group, I'd "chip
it" (grind it very very coarsely) in a grain mill and cook a long time
in broth, even pressure cook it. Our "natural groceries" (those slick
huge things that grew out of the food co-ops I used to us back in the
70's) have rolled barley, like rolled oats. For baby I'd use pearled not
"pot barley". I find that tends to make even adults windy.
blacksalt