7.5 month old and finger food

[mollythetortoise]

i often see it recommended on here to offer babies toast and bits of pasta. Atm i am just giving my ds puree's, he has two bottem teeth but still wouldn't he choke on toast etc? when people recommend pasta , do they mean tiny soup pasta or normal adult sized pasta? I recall vividly my dd choking on something at about 10 months and me slapping her on the back upside down in absolute panic! aren't 7.5 month olds too young for finger food??

Hello! I'm so glad you've posted this. Our ds is the same age, and still on puree. I'm terrfied of him choking, and he gets really pissed off if we even try anything vaguely lumpy. But, the HV told us he should be eating pretty much everything we eat by now. It seems a bit of a massive leap to me, especially as hje has not teeth yet anyway. Mind you, she also told us he should be sleeping through the night lol

No, the NHS recommends finger food from 6 months plus, and many babies, mine included, were weaned on no purees at all. However, I can understand your nervousness if you've had a scary choking episode with another child. Aitch's blog has quite extensive discussion on this. Pasta - I gave adult pasta from 6.5 months - spirali, as it was easy for her to hold. They have very hard tough gums and can gum things down with remarkable efficiency.

I didn't give my ds puree until I needed to on holiday at 7.5 mo - until then he'd only had food from our plates. Slowly give it a try, ds didn't like bread or toast or pasta to start with (5.5 mo)but pasta's now his favourite (1 yr) - I found sprirals easier to start with but now he has penne or spaghetti. If he can pick it up and put it in his mouth then (generally) he's ready to eat it (IMO).

just wanted to come in and offer my opinion before this turns into a baby led weaning vs purees battle. Having seen and pretty much done both, in my opinion a mix and match approach is fine. There is no point giving them toast etc if you will be petrified the whole time. Why not slowly make the purees a bit lumpier and try things like mashed potatoes, purees with couscous in etc. Then start chucking in the odd bit of soggy toast or a piece of normal adult pasta very soggy and overcooked and see how you get on. Rigatoni or penne works well.

Barba - good point - even if the baby is very likely to be fine, they do need calm parents to have a pleasant eating experience, so if a very graduated approach would help the parent, it seems sensible.

DS is 10mo and still only has the two bottom teeth through, but has been having finger food since 7.5mo -- we had a go at BLW at 6mo but after a couple of scary incidents involving carrot, decided he wasn't quite ready so we went with puree/mush for a few weeks first.

The first finger foods I tried were toast and those Organix carrot stick thingies, they practically melt in the mouth so good for increasing your confidence!

you can always try finger food at first,that is less 'hard' than toast or pasta, such as pieces of banana that your ds can gum in his mouth until it disintegrates. You have to be prepared for some mess though

thanks everyone.. will try the graduated approach i think.. second time round i seem to be more nervous about food than i was with my dd!

My DS is nearly 7 months and I weaned him the 'old fashioned' way on purees. He has recently started trying to grab things on his big sister's plate, so I now tend to give him mashes/purees for his meal, followed by pieces of what she's having eg soggy toast, cooked carrot or broccoli, scotch pancake, etc. He has no teeth and gums/sucks away happily while she finishes her meal. It's amazing how much he can eat with no teeth!

He has also had those Organix puff thingeys and rice cakes, and also organix soft rusks and Farleys hard rusks.

Tbh, I'm no expert but imho the best thing to do is whatever you are comfortable with. I'd say don't rush into giving your lo things if you aren't happy with it.

Bits of pear are good too as long as not too ripe - they can hold and suck them but they pretty much dissolve in the mouth. Bananna too. Can also get Organix fruit pots with a few lumps in to try.

I've never quite understood the purees OR BLW thing really, I mean as an adult I have had porridge, soup and smoothies this week as well as pasta, fish, cheese, chocolate, crisps etc etc.

I think as long as you don't overdo the pureeing or get stuck too long there without them also getting used to lumps and finger food you should be fine. I am planning to do a bit of both with my second baby when the time comes. Won't bother with the baby rice thoughI don't think!