7 months: how small do pieces of food need to be to avoid choking?

[Zinger]

Do I need to mash peas and sweetcorn until he starts chewing? I remember reading some guidance about how small pieces of solid food needed to be at this stage - think it was in that "What to Expect" book but I can't find it now!

Buy 1 jar of baby food for this age and see how small they chop it. I'd definitely be cutting it up very small.

Haven't got the book sorry, but at 7 months I would squash/puree these things still. If he is starting off on finger foods try softer things first or things that go mushy when wet (banana/bread stick/rice cakes) I remember peeling grapes for both of ours!!

see what he likes. as long as you keep an eye on him you can try him on more "dangerous" stuff. I was gobsmacked when brother in law passed my 7 month old with no teeth, a corn on the cob. but he loved it. now he has two teeth and gets it regularly. but main meal is still mashed (to get more in quickly!!!)

The main thing about peas, beans, sweetcorn or raisins that have a tough outer skin is not so much the choking risk as the fact that their little digestive systems can't process them if they're not mashed/chewed. So if you feed them to the baby, you'll find they emerge unchanged in the nappy. Nice.