BLW wk2 - should there be this much coughing and gagging?

[Nyunya]

Just started BLW with my LO - this is week two.

Every time she has something vaguely 'slippery' (pear, mango, steamed squash, kiwi, banana) she gums a bit off and then looks a bit shocked/slightly confused whilst she moves it around her mouth, then comes some coughing and gagging, she goes a bit red. I can see the little morsel of whatever it is at the back of her mouth, usually on her tongue and she's breathing so I know she's not actually choking, but its pretty disconcerting and fairly unpleasant for me - not to mention for her!

I'd really like to carry on with blw, as it just seems more fun and sociable for dd, but I'm finding myself not enjoying it much!

Am I doing something wrong? Any reassurance/advice would be very helpful!

How old is she?

Perfectly normal for them to gag for a while! Learning how to manipulate the tongue to move the food around the mouth, and how far to push it in is all part of the weaning process.

Even if you were doing 'traditional' weaning with puree, you'd probably find that your DD would gag.

Don't worry.

That's BLW for you but after a while they get good at it.

Hi figgy, thanks for your reply.
She's nearly 27 weeks, she's showing all the other signs too - sitting up unaided, accurately getting things to her mouth, interested in what we put in our mouths etc (and also mmm...mmmm...mmmm-ing when she first gets the food to her mouth)

She has managed to swallow little bits of broccoli and also when she's had bread I usually find some crumbs in her nappy. We gave her orange the other day which she loved and just sucked and sucked it for ages: there were little fibres in her nappy the enxt day too, so she is getting some stuff down, but its just the more lumpy stuff that seems to cause her a bit of trouble!

Cross-posted with you both fliss and emma, thank you also for your replies. I know from reading that its normal for them to gag a bit, but it just feels a little odd!