Weaning support/advice

[Lavender1029]

DD is 11 months and I’m struggling with giving her foods she needs to properly chew due to my own anxiety so I’m feeling a bit inadequate with weaning. She gags very easily and I just cannot handle it. As soon as she starts gagging I panic and take whatever it is off her and mash / mince it if it’s possible to do so. I’m worried that I’m holding her back from learning how to handle eating certain foods. She’ll be starting nursery at 14 months so I want her to be proficient at eating by the time she goes. I see other babies of a similar age to her eating things that I’ve never given her and I feel almost silly for not trying them.
Recent examples where I’ve panicked - I cut a cherry tomato into quarters and she seemed to immediately inhale it, so I minced the rest of it. Gave her an Ella’s kitchen munchy finger (suitable for 9+ months) this evening with cream cheese on. She gagged quite badly on it, so I took it off her…
She isn’t just on purées but I give her ‘safe’ easy foods: examples - breakfast is porridge, pancakes; lunch can be fritters, something on toast (cut into small pieces); dinner is generally what we have but minced/mashed.
Am I doing ok?? Is anyone else like this or has been like this with their child? Any advice on how to overcome it?

Hey @Lavender1029 It sounds like you're doing a great job, and I totally understand how anxiety provoking it can be! I honestly think they are all different in terms of how quickly they get used to different textures/foods, so just go at a pace you're comfortable with. Would also recommend the solid starts app which is great as it gives you a guide of how to serve all different foods at different ages etc! Also maybe doing a basic first aid course might help so you feel confident in your response if there was a problem. Hope that's of some help, but it sounds like you're doing just fine anyway!

Thank you @Namechange285. I’m probably too quick to compare us to others. I feel nutritionally she’s fine, I put a lot of thought into what she eats day to day. It’s just the format in which it comes that I’m really cautious about. I thought I was being really brave giving her the munchy stick this evening until she gagged! I will look at a first aid course, probably a good idea given how anxious I am.