7 1/2 month old and starting finger foods

[Werdna]

Are 7/ 8 month olds supposed to start taking finger foods? I've been trying to give my dd purees with more lumps, but she always gags at it. She has no teeth yet - how is she supposed to chew?

babies gums are very very hard, let her have a gnaw of your finger !!

give toast finger or rice cakes or chunks of steamed veg such as carrot, which are easy to hold and chew on

Neither of my lo's did lumpy purees so we went with purees alongside finger foods from 6 months - we then phased out the purees and let them feed themselves. Their gums are really hard and good for mushing soft foods so why not try some and see how she gets on.

Thanks for your message. I guess she does has a strong chomp already, but if she can't break toast fingers/rice cakes with teeth won't she choke on it?

she will be able to mash it with her gums and saliva does start breaking the food down too

they use their gums and saliva to make the bit of toast/rice cake mushy and then they can swallow it easily (with a few gags to start with!)

Just gave her a Farley's Rusk and half of it was gone in a minute!! Had no idea she could do that.. Thanks for your advice : )