BLW and gagging/choking

[itisnotacompetitionyouknow]

DS is 6 months old and we started BLW properly last week. He shares meals with us 3 times a day, and he seems to have taken to bringing the food to his mouth quite well.

However, yesterday we had two gagging/choking (I add choking because it seemed more like choking than gagging in my opinion) incidences. First time he choked on a piece of cucumber, and later on he choked on a piece of pear.

In the first incident I could see a big piece of apple on the back of his tongue and it actually quite panicked me when he started gagging because I had visions of it getting lodged in his throat. Second time didn't seem so severe but he ended up leaning forward and being quite sick.

It has made me doubt whether I'm doing the right thing... the (probably biased) literature states it's safer than spoon feeding, but is this really the truth? Will these gagging episodes reduce when he gets more used to the food? Any tips anyone would like to share?

Gagging's very common. I don't think we gave DD apple or pear until later on just because I was a bit worried about chunks breaking off and her choking on them.

She still has a splutter if she stuffs too much food in, but it does get better!

TBH any incident like that would completely freak me out, I know of a baby that died after choking on a piece of apple.

Why don't you compromise and do some baby led weaning with soft veg and things that are less of a choking hazard, topped up with some softer, mashed up baby food?

Maybe hold off on the hard foods for a bit?

I didn't BLW with either of my DC so don't know much about it but they did eat toast, cooked carrot and brochili etc as well as what I spoon fed them so you could do that instead of the harder foods, I wouldn't give an uncooked pear or apple to a six month old baby tbh.

Feel a bit upset that I've fed DS apple when it's obviously a choking hazard...
Me and DP have read Baby-led Weaning by Gill Rapley from cover to cover and she mentions several foods to avoid for choking reasons, but not apple! In fact the only things she does really mention are nuts, gristle on meat, and small fruits like grapes and cherries.

Don't be upset at all - I only didn't give it because of my own paranoia, nothing that I remembered from the Rapley book.

A baby can gag on any kind of food, even a bit of carrot or breadstick could break off but you can't not feed your baby anything at all in case they choke.

Knowledge of paediatric first aid is helpful so you know what to do if a baby chokes, but that's useful for anyone to know :)

I did a combination of blw (although I knew it as 'finger food'!!!) and things like apple and pear would cook with a little bit of water and mash up, my dd loved them. Im not sure what the benefit is of just finger foods is but fwiw my dd loves her food and eats a wide range of different healthy foods to this day and she is now 5yo!

my baby got a piece of apple into her throat as well but I picked her up and patted her back, she coughed and it immediately came flying out. Since then I did stop feeding her raw apple though, today I boiled apple and mashed it and put it on a spoon and let her put the spoon in her mouth herself, she liked it.

other than that i give her cucumber but always replace the stick when it looks like a piece is ready to fall off and also banana and bread (usually the crust is too hard to break so when she chews only breadcrumbs go into her mouth).

So if you're worried I think it is a good idea to start with softer foods and then slowly move to more solid foods when you feel more confident.

I would start with softer things, and things that will dissolve in the mouth - haven't been brave enough to give ds apple yet at 8 months!

Bear in mind as well that their gag reflex is a lot further forward in their mouths than an adults is, so they often gag on things that are still on their tongue!

I've had several gagging incidents where ds has thrown everything up. He choked on a bit of rice cake this weekend and I had to tip him upside down and bang him on the back. Might be worth doing a baby first aid course so you feel confident you know what to do?

Did Emergency Life Support for Babies and Infants at the Red Cross yesterday - fantastic training and I would recommend that anyone with a baby or child does something similar. The Red Cross have online learning resources for First Aid for babies and children. The stuff on choking is here
childrenfirstaid.redcross.org.uk/choking/

LO gagged/chocked on oatmeal the first few times we offered it. My Mum had told me fine oatmeal would be better than whole oat porridge as it as smaller bits but actually we found the opposite - it's a lot more chewy and she never had any problems with whole oat porridge. She did gag a bit on some Lancashire cheese that was a bit crumbly but as she's got older and we've introduced harder and more brittle things like apple it's not been a problem. Initially we gave her mostly softer foods like roast vegetables and soft fruits, then once she started to really get the hang of chewing and swallowing, we tried some harder foods. Her gums do see harder now though at 30 weeks than they were when we first started weaning, which must help her to eat harder foods without gagging/choking.

I'd definitely recommend doing the first aid course whatever method you're using to wean. I did one free at our local children's centre.

The NHS recommends starting finger foods from 6 months even if you're using purees, so gagging/choking isn't a BLW issue really. The gag reflex does move backwards over time so it becomes less sensitive whatever you do.

DS gagged 'mildly' a lot at first (not sick) but it did get a lot better as he got used to food. Now at 15 months he occasionally still gags on things like apple, but it's pretty rare.

We have done BLW with my dd and she often gagged especially at first but only for short periods which were immediately followed by a big smile and shovelling more food in her mouth! Babies gag reflexes are quite far forward so it takes a bit of getting used to but we have found if we just leave her to it she sorts it out herself. She is now 7 months, rarely gags on anything and seems to eat anything.