Scared of giving finger foods

[TheMouseDancing]

My dd is almost 9 months. We tried BLW at 6 months but I changed to mashed/pureed food as I found it worked better or us.

She now has a good appetite and eats lots of different foods which I mash up for her.

I know she is now at the stage where she needs to be moving on to finger foods but I am honesty really scared to give them to her and panic that she is going to choke, I have given her bits of finger food, for example carrot, cucumber and broccoli but she just bites a piece off and it seems to stay at the roof of her mouth and I then panic and scoop it out.

Does any one have any advice on how to get past this so my dd can enjoy finger foods?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Yes, you need to do a Paed first aid course. She can choke on any food, mashed, purees and proper food, although it is unlikely. If you are worried, knowing what to do will calm your nerves and let dd progress without the fear.

Try your local children's centre, British Red Cross or St Johns Ambulance..

[ElphabaTheGreen]

Firstly, don't scoop it out! That's a major choking risk in itself, as you may push the food back and cause her to choke.

Take baby first aid classes maybe so i) you are confident that you know what to do in the unlikely event that she does choke and ii) you can hear first hand how rare choking actually is?

Get some of the commercially available finger foods like mini rice cakes? Baby food companies are NOT going to open themselves up to litigation so the chances of choking on their 'suitable from seven months' finger foods are going to be pretty minimal.

Spread some of her purées on a piece of toast? She'll suck it down and soften it a bit and also give her good self-feeding practice.

[ElphabaTheGreen]

X-post with jilted!

[TheMouseDancing]

Thanks for the replies/advice.

A course is a good idea, I'm definitely going to have a look for one in my area. I have done 'normal' first aid courses but they only cover babies for a few minutes, so I think it would help for me and dp to do a course specifically for babies.

I have some of the organix finger food in the cupboard, just haven't given her them yet. Will try her with those later and see how she gets on.

Should I try her with some really soft veg sticks at first or is toast better for her to chew? She doesn't have any teeth properly through yet, just two at the front starting to come through if that makes any difference?

Thanks again.

[ElphabaTheGreen]

Either is fine - teeth doesn't make any difference. According to NHS advice, finger foods can be given from 6 months so at 9 months she's definitely ready to try anything! My 7mo DS's favourites are broccoli (especially with cheese sauce), crumpets, toast and banana fingers. He also really likes raw apple cut into very thin slivers (so it's impossible to break big chunks off). We just went to a cafe for afternoon tea and he very much enjoyed a piece of toasted tea cake I recently saw a friend's 8.5mo, who has only two teeth, expertly polish off the leg of a very firm gingerbread man.

She probably will gag - don't panic. If she doesn't gag, she won't learn how to chew. The brain needs the stimulus of gagging to kick start a chewing response. My DS, who invented gagging I think , also throws up every now and again with a particularly extreme gag, so don't worry if she does that too.

Keep calm and have fun!

[TheMouseDancing]

Elphaba thanks for the advice, I would love to see her eat the foods you give to your ds.

I gave her some organix carrot sticks after her tea tonight and she loved them, she even started crying when she had finished because she wanted another one! She did gag a little but I resisted the urge to take it off her and she was fine.

Think I am going to be brave and her try her with broccoli and cheese sauce tomorrow I feel really bad that I have been holding her back

I've also booked on a baby first aid course with the Red Cross for March so I'm looking forward to that.

[ElphabaTheGreen]

Ooh! Chips! I forgot to add - chips are good if you're out, as long as you make sure they're unsalted and cooled down a bit. Nice and stiff on the outside so easy to hold with a nice mushy middle to suck out.

She'll probably be such a pro eater by March you won't need the course anymore

[VisualiseAHorse]

Aww, it's ok to be worried!

I think you do just need to get in there though! My 9 month old boy loves pancakes (made with egg, flour and milk), sometimes I put fruit puree on them. They're good as a starter as they melt in the mouth. I make a big one and just pop in straight on the table for him to rip to pieces.

He also likes toast, bread, cooked pasta (just put straight onto table), ricecakes as well as loads of fruit and veg. And chips :)

The main thing? Don't panic when she gags - give her a couple of seconds, I always go 'come on, cough it up' to my LO, then if you think she's having trouble, give a couple of firm slaps on her back. I found the first few times that it was better when LO wasn't strapped into his highchair (just sat him on the floor on an old towel), so that if he did actually start to choke I could easy pick him up, put him on my arm and slap his back hard. Only ever done it once. But DON'T PANIC. Baby will pick up on this.

[aimingtobeaperfectionist]

Just want to second visualise's comment, try really hard not to panic. A baby's gag reflex is much further forward than ours do they are prone to gagging. This is not the same as choking. It looks awful as sometimes they go a bit red and their eyes water but it really does help them to learn to chew.
I practiced getting DD out of her chair as quickly as possible so I'm not flustered and try really hard to keep calm saying 'cough cough, get it out' so I don't freak her out!

[TheMouseDancing]

You're all right, I do just need to get on with it then hopefully after a few tries I will be much less nervous.

I think it is probably the older generations of my family not helping as when I mention finger foods they look horrified and say it is dangerous rather than supporting me.

I think she will love pancakes with fruit puree so definitely going to give those a go.

Thanks again for all the great advice

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Would you feel better if you tried the finger food when dh was home? It might help with your nerves. How about just getting DH to offer it to her while you are out of the room? Might work for you if you are feeling particularly stressed.

Don't listen to the older generation either, so much research has been done in the last 30 years regarding babies, you are in a wonderful position where you can query the advice from your DM, dmil and HV, read the evidence and make up your own mind

[Minty82]

My DD (10mths today) has always had a mix of mashed/pureed foods and finger food, but lately she's boycotting the spoon and wants to feed everything to herself, so the problem is getting a balanced diet into her entirely on finger food. She loves: bagels (especially with cream cheese), toast, kiwi fruit, cucumber, sticks of cheddar, omelettes cut into strips, vegetable fritters, fish cakes, biscuits (those Heinz baby biscotti that go nice and mushy in the mouth), Yorkshire puddings and her Granny's sponge cake. Just to give you a few more ideas!

I know what you mean about how nerve-wracking it can be, but they cope fine, and a big plus side is they get on with it while you can do the washing up/have a cup of tea, and it turns the whole thing into an extension of playtime. Certainly being able to give her something to nibble on while you get tea ready, if you'd rather not do a whole finger food meal, is brilliant.

[karatekimmi]

I am the same, I get so nervous but I just try to trust to get over it!! Great advice no?

The carot fingers and the sweet corn hoops (both organix I think) are like skips - they melt easily.

It will get better, we had eggy bread for lunch and he loves feeding himself. I wouldn't have been able to do that a couple of weeks ago.

Good luck and get on with it!! It'll be fine!!

[TheYamiOfYawn]

Minty, by 10 months, ptettuuch every food can be a finger food. Chunks of bread or mash soak up very wet foods (and mash is good for holding peas together before they get really good at the pincer grip).

[TheYamiOfYawn]

Pretty much, that was supposed to say.

The Organic crisp things are very good if you are bit nervous about finger foods.

[TheMouseDancing]

Jilted, dp is quite nervous too but I do feel much better trying her with different foods when he is at home so i'm not on my own with her. He is coming on the first aid course with me so that should help too.

Minty, thanks for the ideas, I think she will love all of them, I am going to keep giving her mashed food and just adding a bit of different finger food each day and see how we get on. I gave her broccoli and cauliflower florets yesterday, she had a chew on them and then threw them on the floor

Karate, glad to hear its not just me, I can't believe how stressed I get myself just over feeding her