Scared of giving baby whole pieces of food.

[sallykins123]

Hi,

My DD is nearly 7 months and I weaned her early at 4 months. She is a brilliant eater and has never turned away any food I've given her, she eats such a varied diet. But its all pureed at the minute, and I was going to start hand blending her food so its slightly lumpy now.

I go to baby group and literally all of the mums there give their babies pieces of banana to chew on, apples, pieces of meat, biscuits, cheese etc and keep saying I should do this as she needs to develop a gag reflex etc. I tried her on some banana and she bit into it and a massive lump of it was floating around her mouth loose and it scared the absolute life out of me as she wasn't gumming it, she just kept swishing it around her mouth. The same happened with a soft piece of biscuit, I just don't get how babies can be ok with it.

I want to try to give her stuff but I am so scared!! Also my mum is quite old school and is telling me not under any circumstances to give her things to chew on yet as she's too young and has no teeth, she says back in her day you just didn't do that etc, so that of course has worried me even more.Do i really need to be worried about choking etc. Like with the banana, i just didn't see how she would mush it down in her mouth.

[techgirl]

They chew with gums, do need to learn this and spit out a lot which is all practice. Choking is rare but best idea is to learn what if they do-look online or ask HV if there's a local baby first aid session I found this very reassuring with first baby.

[jaykay34]

My eldest two are teenagers and with them, the advice back then was to wean at 4 months and puree everything - so I was very wary when it came to giving them chunks. In fact I think they were about one by the time I plucked up the courage and even then I started giving them the tiniest pieces and very soft food.

My youngest (16 months old now) didn't wean until 6 months and hated puree so has always had chunks. He's been fine with it and is an amazingly good eater - he eats what we do. He's had the odd gagging incident but not many. My mum was very wary about it, but she's quite amazed by the variety he eats and is now a convert.

Don't panic too much about it, as long as you are there to supervise, your DD should be fine. Yes there may be times when she gags - especially as she will be accustomed to just swallowing her food - but there's a difference between gagging and choking. You could start with giving her tiny pieces, and then gradually building up that way.
Don't worry too much what other people say, do as you feel comfortable - I've weaned my children in completely different ways and none of them have swallowing or chewing problems ! The general advice has changed so much in the gap between my children that I don't think there's a wrong or right way - just common sense and your intuition will be the biggest lead.

Good luck

[CultureSucksDownWords]

Tiny pieces isn't a good idea, as the baby might try to suck them down like they do with milk/smooth purée. The best size/shape is a baton a bit longer than the baby's fist, so they can easily grab it and still get some in their mouths.

Gagging is absolutely fine, it's part of the process. It's noisy and babies are usually fairly happy when they gag. Choking is silent and very different.

Your mum is giving you very out of date advice on weaning. You don't have to do as she says, especially as knowledge has moved on a great deal in the last 20 to 30 years. They really don't need teeth to chew, their gums are more than hard enough.

[Hellochicken]

What about a slice of a piece of buttered toast?

This was one of the first things my daughter had, she is 7 months now
It is too big to fit in her mouth so she just gums the side and just gets crumbs off at a time. I have to say this is one of her favourite activities!
I suppose I am kind of the opposite re:weaning, I dislike blended food, it reminds me of nursing homes! I did blend some soup but only for the first few days. I only started at 6 months though.

She has mashed veg, readybrek, a mini yoghurt, toast and sticks of cheese most days, some breakfast "hoops" for a treat. Sometimes scrambled eggs. I think I should do a bit more variety.

I only give her banana or oranges in a baby feeding net thing because
Bananas - slip out of her hands and she doesn't gum them well
Oranges - are a bit stringy and I'd be worried she would choke.

[Hellochicken]

She does gag occasionally, but has never choked. i meant to write above that I do worry about choking, so I reckon her practicing as much as possible when I can closely supervise her, kind of reassures me, as I will soon have to leave her to eat with other people (when I'm in work).

I also check her mouth before taking her out of chair as she can sometimes store a bit of food in there, her cheeks are so fat it's not always obvious.

[spillyobeans]

Ive had a horrible experience with blw to be honest. My lo doesnt nibble or gum or chew at all. He bites off huge chunks and just swallows and has nearly choked twice - not gagged. He eats mashed food or food that is chopped or only very slightly blended with small chunks which he is great with and doesnt gag at all. He holds his own sippy cup and sometimes hold his own spoon. He is approaching 8 month. He loves toast but if i give him a slice he bites off a huge chunk so i rip small bits off, big enough for him to grip but small enough that i would be happy that if he just swallowed he wouldnt choke.

I love the idea of blw, but i think like alot of things to do with baby, you have to see what suits your child and what works for them. I would rather my lo didnt eat huge chunks until later than desired but didnt choke, which can be very very serious

[noimaginationatall]

What about buying one of those feeding things where you can put chunks of food in and they have to chew to get it out but it only comes out in small pieces?

[orangebird69]

I'm petrified of the whole non pureed food thing. Ds had 6 teeth at 6 months and if I try BLW style food he is literally biting off more than he can chew and is violently gagging to the point of throwing up. It's quite distressing. I'm sticking with purees and melty kind of foods for now. I'll up the texture slowly. He will eat anything though which is good. Nothing has been refused yet.