terrified of choking

[unclejim]

hi i have a 9month old and am having trouble introducing lumpy solids and finger foods,i have tried toast fingers but she just tried to shove the whole thing in her mouth causing me to remove it totally and taking it away,tried a organic biscuit which broke of after a few sucks so again i removed it,have tried soft cheese which she loves but feel im holding her back with my fear of her chocking,she has only just stated getting her first 2 teeth and i didn,t start weaning until 6months,she hates the texture of anything other than smooth any ideas?

The most important thing to do is make sure you know how to deal with a choking baby, this will give you confidence.

Realise the difference between choking and gagging. Gagging is good, it shows that everything is working as it should be. Often they will push the whole thing in but then you will see it come back out again if it's too much.
Stand close but with a big smile on your face so she doesn't pick up on your fears. Eventually you will begin to relax.
I have spent a lot of time with a fixed grin but my heart in my mouth, hands at the ready. We all have. :)

Have you had first aid training? It might make you feel better. I moved from just beyond the car park of a huge hospital to the middle of nowhere when DD1 was 6 months old, and was beset with fears of choking and other potential emergencies. I did a first aid course aimed at parents (organised by NCT I think) and did feel more in control.

Did think of doing the first aid course as i to live in the back of beyond so think i will now thanks,shes my first baby at nearly 40 didn,t think i could have children so am a little nurotic :-)

Hope it helps. First babies do strange things to our heads.

she won't choke

so stop it - you are overreacting to her making a little noise, no big deal - feed her with a more experienced mum around

let her learn to eat

so what if she shoves it in her mouth

if she coughs, she'll cough it out

babies are really good at learning to eat and they need to be left to do it

she won't choke

if she's crying and coughing it proves she's taking in air - not choking

if she really does have something lodged in her throat you pick her up - lay her flat face down along your arm, pointing downwards and slap her back hard

All sorted gave her an organic rusk while we all stood staring at her like looneys,all fine now nurosis over back to calm mum

Thank god it was organic!

made sure i added the organic bit couldn,t be arsed with getting blasted by the p.c pose

I could have written your thread unclejim!

I am in the same boat although in the last couple of weeks things are getting a bit better.

If I give DD lumpy food on a spoon she tries to swallow it whole (like with purees)

However, if I let her feed herself she tends to explore and try and chew. I like you was taking stuff off her. I can't let her have toast unless it is a tiny piece!!

I found biscuits were a good intro, Heinz biscotti in particular...and Organix carrott sticks. Look like massive wotsits. (she did try and put it in whole sideways at first )

Now she has a slice of peach she can hold but too big to fit in her mouth in one go and now she has two teeth, she bites tiny bits off herself.

Poor DD must get confused though..she gets encouragement when she puts food in her mouth herself yet get told NO! when she crawls in the kitchen and reaches out towards the cats food bowl!!

its so nice to hear that little bear some people can be so righteous on here it can make you feel abit rubbish so its nice to hear someone going through a similar journey im now giving my little angel allsorts and loving seeing them explore and get in a total mess,still holding back on the toast thing as like yours she just shoves it in and even sat with an "experianced mum"whos also a nurse we both whipped it out and decided there was no rush oh and mine gets the same confussion with the dog bowl at her nanas

I know what you mean about righteous. DD is a little one and had lost weight at last weigh in. She is VERY active though. Have been told to get extra calories in where I can. I gave her Haagen Dazs ice cream. What? It is not organic???

Try it..fun to watch them shudder, then open their mouth readily for more!!

I've even given mine chocolate. I'm a blwer and the whole point of blw is to give baby what I'm having so it's only fair!

mines tried ice cream she loved it of course

I still am very paranoid about choking, but not just with food - my LO likes to wind himself up so much that he gets a bit hysterical (can't think where he gets that from) and starts to choke! All you can do is give them a few pats on the back, we've had him hospitalised once with it all, but he was found to be ok.

He was initially on vegetable purees & Ella's Kitchen & Plum pouches. If he's not chewing I 'tickle' a cheek and make like I'm chewing - he clicks eventually! Another thing that I think helped was using my finger to feed him & push the food further into his mouth. I was careful not to let him have potato, mushrooms, etc. but now at 7mo has proved that he can now handle lumps - we just went back to purees for a couple of days then tried a lumpy stage 2 boots jar again, and he loved it. :)