finger food - scarey or what?!

[ionesmum]

We saw our nice hv today and she said that as dd is happy eating rice cakes we should introduce more finger-food. She then told us to expect dd to gag a lot, and also said that she may choke! She showed us what to do if she does but quite frankly the thought of it terrifies me. I don't want to freak dd out by panicking. Is this normal? How did you cope? Are some foods more likely to do this than others?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I do appreciate it, I must sound completely neurotic!

Ionesmum, the only thing I can say is that I have raised two children through this stage and never had it happen. Ds (first child) we watched very carefully, whereas dd pretty much got left to her own devices. Both survived. It can happen, but that doesn't mean that it will. And think how much fun your dd will have trying out all those new tastes and textures.

It seems like when they are starting to try solids they dont always mush the peices in their mouths soft enough before they actually swallow. Has your dd tried cherrios yet? That one always seemed to gag my kids when they were babies. Its one of the most common finger food snacks introduced first it seems. Try and give foods that dissolve faster. How old is your dd? I know you have mentioned it many times I just was not sure. You can get those little breakfast fruit bars. Their soft and can be cut into tiny peices for snacks.

Ionesmum, I also wanted to say that you dont sound neurotic and even if you did its ok. A baby choking is probally one of the scariest situations to be in. When my first child was 16 mo we were in a department store (Kmart). We decided to have lunch. I gave my son some chicken noodle soup with what I thought was soft enough vegetables and he started to choke literally. I freaked and my mom freaked out loud. A kind person also having lunch grabbed him out of his seat (cant remember if it was a the heimlick or smacks on the back that realeased the food) and managed to get the food out. I was so sick afterwards.

Yes, my ds gagged loads when eating finger food. That is 'normal' (!) It is scary starting this stage, but you have to grasp the mettle as it were, and go for it. Your dd can't eat puree forever. All you have to do is keep an eye on her and don't leave her alone whilst eating.

My ds has a habit of getting bored of biting bits off his food, and shoves a huge piece of sandwich (or whatever he is eating) into his gob at once. He has, on a couple of occasions, got into difficulties. I usually wait a second to see if he manages to clear the food, which he usually does, but once I had to stick a finger in to hook the food out. He has never actually started to choke properly, and I know that I would panic if he did, but I'm sure that this is rare.

It sounds like you are very much like I was/am, i.e. a bit of a worrier! (Not meant horribly). I start each new stage worrying myself silly, and by the end of it, I wonder what I was worried about! My next concern is potty training

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Thanks for all the advice and reassurance. I already give dd lumpy food so hopefully she won't find finger food too strange. It's really kind of you to take the time to reply.

Ionesmum, my DS1 never choked on his food but one day I put him in the highchair to give him his lunch and something just didn't seem right about him. Next thing he went a bit red in the face and started choking, I took him out of the highchair, turned him upside down over my knee (not even sure if this would have been the right thing to do) gave him two or three hard slaps between the shoulder-blades and he coughed and spat out a small bit of cardboard. If your DD doesn't choke on food there is every chance she might get her hands on something else. Try not to worry about it too much, I think instinct just takes over and you automatically know what to do.

No you are not neurotic at all, it's something we all worry about especially at that stage!

Thanks, Demented. What you did was exactly how the hv showed us how to deal with choking, you obviously have a fab maternal instinct!

My 10 month old daughter is really good taking in her finger food and loves to feed herself. The problem is I don't know how much is enough (I am paranoid that she starts waking up in the night hungry!) and she just won't let me give her anything on a spoon - not even if she has her own spoon or her hands in the dish. I tell myself that she will eat what she needs and there is alway the milk before bed but sometimes she doesn't finish that either. She drinks less milk than the recommended amounts already and is quite little for her age... (fret, fret)

CP, my dd is cutting back on her milk and I'm worried too, she's okay with her weight but I worry about keeping her hydrated as she doesn't drink water or juice. On the finger food front, I've tried dd with it sice posting here but she'll only eat rice cakes - anything else she only plays with!

CP I would just keep giving her finger foods until she's really not eating them just playing with them which will probably signify that she's full. I guess that she will probably play with them/explore all along but hopefully you should be able to gauge when she's bored.

Don't worry about her not letting you feed her my DS was like that. And after all just about anything can be a finger food (DS has currently regressed and so shepherd's pie and brocolli was tonight's finger food ). I clearly remember having to explain to my MIL last Christmas (when DS was 10 mo) that yes he would eat a full Christmas dinner so long as he could use his fingers and it was put directly onto his high chair tray. And he did!