18 month old chews up harder foods but won't swallow them.

[mrscog]

I weaned DS at 6mo, didn't really do BLW as he didn't like touching the food and I hated the gagging. As he was so old though I didn't do purees as such and I went straight to soft lumps and then introduced finger foods (toast, cheese etc.) at 8mo with success.

If it's a warm 'soft' (the meals are much much lumpier than when I started - I basically take what we're having and cut it up in to smaller pieces so he can spoon feed himself) meal then he'll eat pretty much anything which is good.

However, he's never got in to raw fruit and vegetables, which worries me slightly - not even super nice things like strawberries. He will chew up an apple slice or carrot stick in to little pieces but then won't swallow them and spits them all out. I have seen him eat some banana on occasion, but that's about it.

I feel slightly bad that it's my fault for not doing BLW, and when we go out with other people's babies they tuck in to blueberries, carrots, cucumber and I have to brandish organix oaty bars or cubes of cheese. DS is very light for his age (9th centile) so I'm not worried about these being too calorific, but will he ever be able to eat healthy snacks of fruit and veg?

My DM tells me I'm over worrying and that in the 80's when we were raised people just didn't stress so much over such young children eating raw veg etc and that it's great that he'll eat pretty much anything that's cooked. Is she right?!

Yes I think she's right. If he's eating healthy meals, I wouldn't worry.
My ds is 2.3. I also didn't do BLW as he was a gagger and we just weren't getting anywhere. He's still got texture issues now, although never gags anymore, just declines the textures he doesn't like. He prefers wet stuff ie casserole or anything in sauce / gravy, and dislikes dry food such as pizza, nuggets etc. He also spits out some solids. Especially carrots and apple but I tend not to worry. He will eat limited fruits and I make him fresh smoothies which he loves so get around that one. As for veg, he loves casserole of any description so I put in as many veg as I can. He's got chicken casserole tonight and I've added mushrooms, beans, lentils, carrots and leeks.
I used to really stress about his dislike for dry food and went to the gp and hv loads of times. There's def nothing wrong with him, they've put it down to a sensitive gag and just preference. I try not to worry now. We all have likes and dislikes and that's just his. I've seen an improvement month by month and is trying new food more so I'm just trusting its heading in the right direction.

Thanks jakey. As a prime example just after I'd posted this DS grabbed an apple out the bowl and 'ate' the whole thing - took bites, chewed it up then spat it out rather than swallowing! I'm sure he'll get it over time. I'm sure I didn't eat salady type stuff until I was about 7 or so then just decided to go for it to look grown up drenched in salad cream for a while.

Ds did it with a carrot this afternoon!
I've thought about stopping him having them because I don't like to encourage that behaviour but on the other hand I'm always hopeful he may actually eat it someday!

I didn't do BLW because frankly I couldn't see a 6 month old managing raw carrots. The one time out of curiosity I gave my daughter a thin stick of carrot she gagged right away.

Anyway, my daughter is 18 months old and will chew small pieces of meat (slow cooked and very soft) but not swallow them either. She will also take bites of banana and not swallow, but keep on taking bites until she gags and pukes.

I got around this by peeling one side of the banana and using a spoon to scrape bits off the banana. She was enthralled and wanted to use the spoon herself. She must have discovered that she could mush up banana in her mouth quite easily this way and since then she has been able to take bites of a banana, chew and swallow properly. I did the same with apple and pear, using a spoon to scrape off bits of flesh. Somehow she's discovered that these things can be eaten in smaller sizes than a full bite, so she makes smaller bites.

I'm not going to worry about the meat issue as I can blend a little or get that stewing steak to go all flaky in a sauce.

As an aside, my daughter adores nectarines and peaches because of the soft flesh which doesn't break off in huge chunks in her mouth like apples and underripe pears. Try those? Skin off first though, although like my daughter he might learn to use his lower teeth to skin it himself!