Sweetie there is no reason why you can’t even try him on some now and just see how he goes with close supervision. Generally though, I would think he’d be ready for some real finger food around 9 months. He may go through a stage where he will refuse to take anything from a fork or spoon and then you’ll know it’s time to try some foods he can feed himself. It’s great for hand and eye co-ordination too. Try him on some grated cheese first, just a small amount and see how he goes. There are also some milk arrowroot biscuits put out by “arnotts” that are great for babies as the biscuit goes really mushy in their mouths once the saliva hits it. With fruit, don’t give wedges of apple just yet as they do tend to get a bit chunky when they break off and are actually hard for babies to chew even with teeth so try grating some apple first. My now 16 month old, LOVED it and couldn’t get enough of it along with grated cheese. Pass on the bread for a little while until he’s a bit older, maybe around 10 months and then try giving him some toasted bread that he can hold and then maybe some sandwiches. He’ll guide you as to what he likes and dislikes. Don’t be afraid to try anything and if there is something you are unsure of, offer very small amount and supervise him closely, he’ll be fine though. Make sure you offer new foods a little at a time to watch for any food allergies but if there is no really food allergies in the family, then he’s got a good chance of having none himself. Good luck and have fun, he’ll make a fabulous mess and he’ll have fun getting some in his mouth all by himself which will make him really proud of himself. xx

Edit: I’ve just noticed your additional comments about thumbs down and have noticed it too, obviously someone is bored! Don’t worry about it sweetie, where here to give advise, I don’t care what people do about thumbs up or down, means nothing to me just as long as I am able to help where I can. xx