how to teach my 10mo to chew her food ....

[itispersonal]

Dd has 2 bottom an 2 top teeth are coming thru.

At the minute whenever she feeds herself she does not chew her food, just bites and swallows, which is causing her to then gag. I have tried to cut the finger food into smaller pieces but when she either put more on the food into her mouth and if I give her 1 small piece at a time she does bites and swallow or big pieces where she definitely has to bite and chew.I tried to demostrate chewing when I am eating with her and also when supervising doing over the top chewing motion but she just laughs.

It is just her learning to eat and cope with teeth and will pass? Or should I slow her eating down to try and make her chew, chew, chew

It's something they just have to learn for themselves I think, so just keep persevering with it. You might find that larger bits of food work better then very small pieces. So, toast fingers, strips of omelette, vegetable batons, fruit wedges etc.

She'll get the hang of biting bits off soon, and she'll learn by copying you. Keep eating with her and let her see you chew, although I don't think you need to over exaggerate it.

Also, gagging is part of learning to chew and swallow, so try not to worry about it. Just let her sort herself out and then carry on.

BrightonBell is right, the gagging is their automatic response to something covering their air hole. They gag to make sure it doesn't get blocked and to prevent themselves choking, but they are not actually choking IYSWIM. I presume your child is already used to lumpy foods already so just take it easy but persevere and soon enough they will get the hang of it,