to only give purees to 8mo DS

[ElectrifiedTrack]

DS was weaned at 5mo and started on finger foods at 7. Had a lot of gags (every other day), the odd cough and splutter. Then last week he was tucking into some veg strips and started to choke. Badly. He was silent, growing purple, eyes bulging for a good 30 secs-1 min while I did very strong back blows (TG for reading up on this), then finally brought it up. It scared the living shit out of me.

Since then I have only given him lumpy purees and the odd baby biscuit/those dissolvable puffs etc. I really really can't go back to finger foods. Not at the moment. I feel I know my child and he just isn't ready. Is this going to harm him? I really honestly just cannot steel my nerves and get back on the finger foods yet.

[Mrsjay]

puree causes speech delay really REALLY no I think some people need to stop googiling information cos it isn't always right,
DD started saying words at 10 months all her little friends who were fed puree spoke fine speech delay is caused by all sorts of things but define speech delay

[crazyhatlady]

Well if it says so on Google diva it must be true! Like I say my ds was talking months before he could chew without vomiting. Lots of his peers who were eating adult food at a young age had speech delay so there goes that theory.

[valiumredhead]

Children have hard gums to chew, it's not the teeth they need to eat proper food (according to dentist I used to work for)

[valiumredhead]

My ds was too crazy

I can't really remember a time when he didn't talk, it was so early. Very wearing at times

[Lesbeadiva]

Crazyhatlady, it's not purée food that causes speech delay, it's the lack of chewing that does. Google it. Children can't eat "real" food until they have teeth obviously but it is the chewing action that helps speech. My dd was too talking in sentences before she had all her teeth, so wasn't quite tucking into a steak. We are talking the presence of lumps in food that need broken down, not the ability to chew down a raw carrot

[crazyhatlady]

Pureed food causes speech delay!! That's funny coz my ds was talking in sentences before he was able to eat 'proper' food. Really wish people wouldn't post on topics they have no experience/knowledge of.

[ihavenofuckingclue]

Op, just take it slowly. It can take a while for them to learn.

I am sure your child will not turn out to having any eating issues, as you seem to want to tackle it. My sil didn't. She was so scared it became a real anxiety issue.

[Lueji]

There is a middle ground.
It doesn't have to be purees or finger foods.

Veg stalk are probably not the best, but bits of cooked carrot, etc should not be a problem.
You should be able to give rice and small pasta and slowly build up.

[ihavenofuckingclue]

Sorry YOU said that ihave

Actually valium I didn't. I am talking extreme cases ( this is a problem with my 8 year old niece) where lumps are introduced at all leading to severe anxiety issues when the child is older.

I didn't say any child fed on purees will not be able to eat lumps. I didn't blw. I kind of did a bit of everything.

The OP is , quite rightly, terrified. But she needs a plan on how to overcome it. What if her fear doesn't go and she is still feeding her child purees at 4?

Of course at some point she has to allow her child lumpy food.

[midseasonsale]

can you use a cheese slicer or potato peeler to create extra thin slices? Or get your mitts on the cheese grater.

I did purees with my eldest and it was cleaner but more hassle generally. The other two boys we did BLW and it was brill despite the mess. We could all eat meals at the same time.

[ElectrifiedTrack]

Oh way to freak me out Wonderwoman! (and Cogito upthread)

Thing is DS has had fingerfoods, and you'd think he'd be getting the hang of chewing, but no. He can bite off bits of anything a bit firm with his three teeth, but barely ever seems to be properly chewing, just a bit of a swizz in the mouth then big gulp and sort of wince as he tries to swallow the too-big thing. That's clearly what happened last week. I need him to learn how to chew, though, obviously, and worried my reluctance to push on with finger foods will cause him problems.

Do think I'm going to go with the gradually lumpier feeding for now though. Posters who have said they had choky DCs, when and how did you eventually get them onto proper fingerfoods?

[FuckingWonderwoman]

DD1 had a friend who, at 11, would not eat food with lumps in it. Because she had never chewed, she needed speech therapy and her speech, three years later, still isn't clear.

That's 11 years, not 11 months.

[Mrsjay]

Sorry, that was to Mrsjay.

I posted and didnt read on oo didnt i get a red face I have nothing against any kind of weaning I do have a problem when parents follow something so rigidly that if it goes a but pearshaped then the parent is upset, IYSWIM

[whatsforyou]

Whoops! Messed up with the smileys and scoring a bit

[whatsforyou]

A lot of BLW bashing going on here and this isn't even a thread about it
Just to add my tuppence worth, I BLW and loved it, no way could I be arsed pureeing and the jars gave me the boak.
My DN was 'traditionally' weaned which mean puree and finger foods from six months.
Both are happy healthy little boys
Suggesting finger food is not pushing BLW, it is following NHS guidelines and I have seen many 1 1/2 -2 1/2 year olds who still will only eat mush as they weren't offered finger foods.
But back to the OP, poor you - I had lots of gagging but no choking thank goodness, and I do think I would have been very wary about offering 'choky' foods for a while
Oh and Feckoff I always take a mat for the floor and plenty wipes to clean up whenever we are out so no mess or smugness from this BLWerbut have often had to spend ages cleaning soup, petit filou or other puree type food off a highchair before using it [grin[

[YoullScreamAboutItOneDay]

Sorry, that was to Mrsjay. Not laughing at your choking babies BigBird

[YoullScreamAboutItOneDay]

Hee hee.

[BigBirdisSaved]

yeah, I had two chokers/gaggers, honestly they were able to choke on just about anything including purees and soup. I just mashed everything with a fork or chopped it small enough that it made it hard for them to choke on it. Picking up one pea or cheerio at a time is excellent for practising that pincer grasp and mine were happy to have a combo of me feeding them with a spoon while they tried to pick things up. When they were little and couldn't pick small things up they liked to suck on a fist of mashed banana.

[Mrsjay]

oopsie well I did say not everybody was saying it was pretentious

[YoullScreamAboutItOneDay]

mrsjay - I think she was talking about my response to Feckoff's post re mess.

[Mrsjay]

kalis i dont think anybody said BLW was pretentious or 'new age' people have been joking about about this new fangled BLW but I really dont think many were serious

[Kalisi]

^^what youllscream said.

[YoullScreamAboutItOneDay]

Ah yes, and to prove my earlier point, a post to show that judging of BLW happens just like that of not BLW. Just another reason to do what suits you and your family.

[FeckOffWithYourXmasBollocks]

You know what BLW is? It's an excuse to take your child out in public and let it hurl food all over the place! "Ooh, I'm sorry about the mess, we're BLW"! Ok of you're going to clean up behind yourself, otherwise a total PITA!

[crazyhatlady]

Yanbu. My ds had severe reflux/gagged really easily. Even the tiniest lump would cause projectile vomiting. He didn't start on 'proper' food until 18 months. He's 4 now and eats anything and everything. don't worry about delaying, won't do any harm.