Fear of LO choking

[Catabelle]

Hi,
I'm trying to introduce finger foods to my DS but the first time I did it he bit off an enormous chunk and then got it stuck. It frightened the life out of me!! It only took a small pat on the back to dislodge the chunk but it's put me off trying stuff now. I know I need to let him feed himself but does anyone know how to avoid this happening or do I just need to let him experiment and figure it out for himself?
Any suggestions?

How old is your DS? Is he sitting upright when he eats? If so I'd let him figure it out himself. Try not to get gagging and choking confused, a bit of coughing and gagging is normal and just them working out how to move the food around their mouth. Try to relax and not look stressed, and eat something at the same time so he sees what to do. Don't poke your fingers in or slap on the back unless it is proper choking i.e. he can't breathe. They can figure out what to do pretty well on their own. What food are you offering?

See here for choking and modified Heimlich manouvre for babies and infants:

childrenfirstaid.redcross.org.uk/

And you could see if you can find a first aid course for babies and infants in your area. I did one and I feel so much more confident.

Thanks guys. My little man is 6 mths and 1 wk and sits pretty well unsupported. I think it's probably more fear on my part that's the problem. I may just need to chill out about the whole thing. I just wasn't expecting the whole gagging thing and it freaks me out. If I'd known before hand that it was normal then I probably wouldn't have panicked so much. I've been trying sticks of steamed carrot, green beans and chunks of banana so far. Is there anything else you would suggest that's easiest for them to start with? I guess I just need to persevere :)
Cheers for the first aid link, that's really useful.

Try some roasted big chips of sweet potato, parsnip, courgette, anything really. But roasting tends to make it 'mushy' but with a crust iyswim. Big pieces of mango or melon (keeping skin on helps). Or try nectarines/plums/peaches etc whole. Or even whole apples/pears just take a bite out of them yourself to get them started. Steamed brocolli is good too.

I do find that small stuff tends to just snap into little pieces i.e. carrot/baby sweetcorn. So go for bigger pieces he can gum on.

Sorry did the link wrong, try again here.