Choking on finger food

[nessmay]

I started weaning dd at 5.5 months. She's been happily eating purees for over a month now, so I've been trying to encourage her to feed herself. Every time I give her finger food it just goes straight to the back off her mouth and she starts to gag. I always have to grab the food and take it out, as I'm terrified she'll choke on it. She does the same with the spoon (and her fingers after a feed often making herself sick).

Does anyone have any advice on how to encourage her not to do this. I know quite a few people blw so I'd be interested to hear your thoughts x

Gagging and choking are not the same thing.

Choking is when no air can come out, they turn blue etc. Gagging is part of a baby learning how to move food around their mouth and their own way of dealing with something that moves too far back. Babies have a very sensitive gag reflex precisely to stop them choking.

It is a bit terrifying but if you can, don't fish out the food straight away - let her get on with it. Making exagerated chewing faces at her might help. And obviously follow the usual safety stuff (don't ever leave her alone with food, don't give hard foods like whole nuts).

That is the blw point of view

I second albrecht - it's not really choking, it's gagging. DS is 9 months and still does it sometimes when he tries to stuff a big piece of food in his mouth without chewing. It's very scary when they gag, but i's all part of them learning how to chew and how to move food to the back of their mouths. DS never needs help to get it out, he kind of regurgitates it back into his mouth, chews and tries again :)

I never leave him alone with food, just in case, but so far, I've only had to fish out food once (bit of french bread).

Thanks Albrecht. After I wrote the thread I thought they weren't really the same. I'm sure its a worry for a lot of mums doing this for the first time (or any time). She does sometimes gag a little bit when her food has been a bit lumpy, she's never ended up choking.

I will try again!

Thank you for speaking on behalf of the blw's