Weaning help

[LittleNettle]

My baby is 8m now and I have been weaning for the past two. I am struggling with it though.
I am so terrified of her choking and have run out of food ideas.
I feel like I am failing as a parent.
Any advice?

[MyBreadIsEggy]

Are you doing BLW? Or traditional weaning with purée and mashed foods?

[LittleNettle]

Traditional. I am so scared of choking!

[Orangebird69]

Sounds like you're BLWing? You don't have to. Do purees if you feel better about it. BLW didn't work for my ds. He had 6 teeth by 6 months, was biting lumps off, gagging and vomiting. I hated it, it was an awful experience. I just upped the texture of purees over time. He's 14mo now and eats everything now, very very well. No more gagging and vomiting. I'm sure someone else will be along soon to tell you it's ok, they won't choke, my snowflake was chewing on fillet steak at 6 months blah blah blah. Do what YOU are comfortable with. Good luck x

[Ohdearducks]

Mine is 7m and I'm running out of ideas too. I'm spoon feeding and offering finger foods along side.
So far she likes;
Cheesy carrot and potato mash
Soft carrot sticks
Cucumber stick
Plain pasta (spiral types easier to pick up)
Broccoli and cauliflower florets
Chopped cherry tomatoes
Ripe pear chunks
Mashed banana and pear
Parsnips and carrot and apple steamed and mashed
Tried strips of chicken breast today but wasn't to keen.
Also not keen on shepherds pie or peas

What have you tried so far?
Also don't be so hard on yourself! It's hard enough without beating yourself up.

[MrsGB2015]

Have you tried the annabell karmal books? They have useful ideas in there

[MyBreadIsEggy]

Remember, gagging is not choking. Gagging makes noise whereas choking is silent. Gagging is a natural preventative against choking.
Babies gag reflex is very high up in the throats for that exact reason.
My DD is 20 months now and I am still nervous of choking, even though I know it's very unlikely!
Also, babies who are BLW are actually less likely to choke than those weaned on purée. BLW teaches the baby to chew before they learn to swallow afterwards - hence why most BLW babies don't actually eat very much at first! With purée weaning, they learn to swallow food first, so when you introduce lumps, the probability of baby trying to swallow without chewing is higher.
What foods have you tried so far?

[BertieBotts]

What do you normally eat? You can give her modified versions of that. It doesn't have to be hugely different and varied all the time.

[LittleNettle]

I have tried mashed/pureed veg - potato, parsnip, carrot, butternut squash, broccoli, corn, pepper etc.
Also fruit pureed - apple, pear, blueberries, mango, banana (although seemed to cause an itchy mouth for her?)
I attempted soft boiled carrot sticks and melon fingers but got goo nervous of choking I took them away so since have stuck to puree...

[BellyBean]

Have you researched the difference between gagging and choking? There are useful videos on YouTube. You need to educate yourself to alleviate your fears.

[Ohdearducks]

Definitely do what ever you're comfortable with, it sounds like you've got lots of variety in there, I might try blueberries and butternut squash next week.
If you're struggling it may be easier to do as another poster suggested and just offer a small portion of your own meals (if suitable) mashed with no salt or added sugar.
Is your baby taking water? I'm really struggling to get my DD to drink it.

[sanfransokyo]

Ella's kitchen have a great cook book with loads of recipes you can cook and then blend or mash.

[LittleNettle]

@ohdearducks - butternut squash is great and blueberries are yummy but messy! JI stewed and pureed them to make sure there was no skin left.
My baby is great at drinking. I use a 'munchkin' cup that I find great and easy to use - uk.iherb.com/Munchkin-Miracle-360-Degree-Cup-7-oz-207-ml/63943?gclid=Cj0KEQiAhZPDBRCz642XqYOCpb8BEiQANUcwTwQ58CtnC-ZhboibL0DQi4xrETXlcoZm4Qj2c2GEz28aAvdd8P8HAQ

[Ohdearducks]

Thanks for that link I've now ordered one! She hates her cup with a spout and keeps grabbing open cups and covering us both in water! Hopefully she'll be happy with munchkin.

[addstudentdinners2]

You need to be giving lumpy foods and finger foods or your baby won't learn to chew properly - this will actually increase her risk of choking.

It's quite normal for babies to gag on finger foods - this is very very different to choking.

My baby is a month older than yours and while we do mostly traditional weaning, lunch is always finger foods and he has never choked though at the start he used to gag loads.

Today he fed himself bread, apple, cheese and satsuma and was spoon fed a very lumpy mashed up stew of potato, carrot and meatballs.

[addstudentdinners2]

Also fruit pureed - apple, pear, blueberries, mango, banana (although seemed to cause an itchy mouth for her?)

There's absolutely no need to puree any of these - they're all perfectly acceptable finger foods.

[LittleNettle]

@addstudentdinners2 what would you suggest for finger foods to start with? Do you just go for it and put some foods on a plate and let your lo eat?
How big do you make finger foods?
Does your baby have 3 meals now a day?

[Caterina99]

i did a mix of finger foods and purées. Give a couple of ounces of purée to get some food in and then some finger food for them to explore.

we did strips of cooked veg, cheese, toast, roast chicken, pasta (tubes went down well) soft fruit like banana and peach, peas, cheerios, breadsticks etc. Blueberries are great - just chop them in half if you're really worried about choking. Dont make the pieces too small so they actually take a bite and chew rather than putting the whole thing in their mouth and trying to swallow it.

Also I'm in the US so I'm not sure if they have these in the U.K. But DS had specific baby finger foods. Little puffed rice things and wafers that melt in the mouth so they can't choke. They are much more into purees here though and thought I was weird giving DS "real food" so early but he did fine.

[addstudentdinners2]

Yes he has three meals a day now. Always porridge for breakfast with fruit sticks (same size as a chip), mid morning snack, lunch (usually a sandwich with some small pieces of cherry tomato, pepper sticks followed by a yoghurt), mid afternoon snack and dinner.

You can give anything you want as a finger food! I think the first one I gave ds was some banana. Now satsuma is his favourite, and bits of cheese

[addstudentdinners2]

And organix snacks as cat mentions - the cheese starz and carrot puffs are a hit here