Safe way to give bread!

[Mjtay]

I know this sounds silly, and am a complete baby when it comes to choking. But blw isn't for us as I'm a food phone clean freak, and as soon as I give my DD something to eat she drops it. But will have a go if I hold it! I let her taste my bread today and was happily sucking away on it. A bit broke off and she gagged. I know choking Is different to gagging, but scares the life out of me! How is the samest was to give he bread, and when do they learn to chew, rather than suck and swallow?! Xx

Food phobe! Not phone. Damn iphone! X

Safest way to give her bread. Grrr! X

toast it and cut it into fingers - less likely to stick to the roof of their mouth

Ahhhh thanks. It was toast I gave her, but she still gagged when she got a teeny but off xx

The gagging is her safety mechanism working. It's her ensuring a piece of food that is too big doesn't go into her throat. As they get older the reflex gets further back.

Maybe get a few mats you can chuck in the wash. Keep it under her high chair so it lands on something clean then you could give it back to her.

Gagging is fine - they learn to manage it. Ds is only 5 weeks into weaning but can eat a Dairylea or hummus sandwich and it's quite something to watch. He gums it, spits it out, picks it back up and repeats that until he can swallow it. Doesn't bother him in the slightest.

Hi
I just wanted to post because I felt the same way as you initially - blw really freaked me out so I went the way of purees. However, my DD moved on really quickly and she really surprised me. I did see her gag and cough on things, but it became reassuring as she would ALWAYS cough up or spit out what she couldn't handle.

While I still do a mix, I'm gradually easing off the spoon feeding and upping the finger foods. My DD can handle a cheese sarnie, babybell cheese, various fruits and veg. With the sarnie she will initially stuff huge bits into her mouth but spits it out and picks it up until she can eat it.

It IS scary at first seeing them gag - but they learn really quickly what they can handle.

Pitta bread is great because it breaks up easily, as does pumpernickel, and is easy to spit out if you take too big a mouthful.

FIVE weeks ?!

Five weeks into the weaning process he's not a genius and I'm not a mad early weaner!

Aaah! I thought I must've read that wrong!

Haha!! Awww thanks guys. She's just not even contemplating chewing. She sucks everything, so if it breaks off it goes straight to the backbof her throat. She did it again with a bit of banana today. Eek. She even gagged on some potato purée last week, and actually vomited on her highchair :( I felt awful xxx

Gagging is good. Thats how they learn how to chew. Its a natural progression for them to make.
As long as your about when she's having a good sook just let her be. My DS gagged quite alot but it never bothered him. He happily does a combination of mash and finger food. Still gags at times, as he tends to stuff a lot in at once

Is your LO over 6 months, only it's not advisable for under 6 months to have gluten?

Perhaps it might be a good idea for you to do an infant first aid course so you can be confident you know how to resuscitate in the unlikely event of baby choking.

I can only stress that the gagging is part of the learning to eat process although I appreciate it can be stressful. Although BLW is not for you, it might be helpful to read about it simply because it explains the process if you know what I mean. There might be some tips that are useful for purée feeding too.

www.babyledweaning.com/some-tips-to-get-you-started/