Blw- choking hazard

[racmun]

Dd is 7 months i've been feeding her purees but after grabbing a piece of ds' toast this morning I decided to try her with some cucumber and carrot sticks and she really enjoyed it. I then ventured onto a piece of pasta but she just ended up with quite a large piece in her mouth which I fished out as I was worried she was going to choke.

I can't see how it's safe? Surely there is a huge choking risk?
Can anyone reassure me that it is safe as I would like to do it this time round.

Thanks

That's not what Ice is saying Salty. S/he is saying that it makes more sense to introduce hard foods early, so that the baby learns to chew and swallow while protected by the gag reflex.

I would expect there to be more choking instances with puree as the majority of babies are not weaned blw style. So the sample size wouldn't be comparable.

Also if you ask a A&E Dr toy would only hear about the most serious choking incidences which couldn't be resolved quickly. I exist they would have lots of tales of grapes for example.

I really want to do a research project involving blw because the is very little research out there.

But then what would we argue about on MN ducks?!

Rooty - oh I'm sure we'd find something

Ducks - I disagree. Choking happens at various ages, but it's pretty much always on something hard. Not on the first thing a baby is given, and it makes no difference what they're 'used to' when a grape or peanut just goes down the wrong way. BLW is brilliant but it's not a fucking panacea against choking

salty All I was saying was exactly what Rooty said I was saying...

Of course more choking happens on hard stuff than purees...but does more of the choking on hard stuff happen to children who had purees first rather than straight onto finger food (averaged for relative sample size)? I don't know - but I would guess that it does.

There is also an evolutionary argument...what with blenders not being generally available in human history...

If babies have a reflex to stop them choking when they first learn to eat solids, it makes sense to introduce solids at that point. Waiting till after they loose that protection, then starting them on solids doesn't seem like a good idea.

So I guess either BLW or NHS recommended purees plus solids from 6 months work well. Feeding kids purees till they loose their protection or become over confident in shovelling in puree is the only thing I think is a bad idea.

Racmun-I'm not doing blw but I've being giving ds finger foods since six months. Hes 7 months now. We had a few gagging incidents (but no more than on thick purees). He figured out fairly quickly if he shoved in a cucumber stick too far that he would gag. Now days hes fairly good at moving food around his mouth, and if its too big a lump he will push it out with his tongue. I just supervise him while eating and make sure there's no food in his mouth before he gets out of the high chair.

There was a woman sentenced recently for force feeding her baby purée. The baby aspirated it, got pneumonia and died

Just go with what feels right for you.

I was too terrified with dd, everything was mashed to within an inch of its life, no finger foods given at all until she was one.

A few months on now and she eats literally everything

I loved the idea of blw but in the end just couldn't cope with the stress of watching dd gag. I think it depends what you feel comfortable with.

Nottingham university did a substantial piece of research on blw. Came out a couple of years ago I think.

I blw-ed both of mine, the first over 9 years ago when virtually no-one had heard of it. Yes, there was a bit of gagging, and no there was no choking. I did an infant first aid course just before I started to blw each of mine, mostly to give me confidence and tell the difference between gagging and choking. Never needed to use the skills for weaning fortunately. Never puréed anything. Dd2 was born in Asia so stuffed herself with soft mango, steamed rice and tofu....

Interestingly, I have one very fussy eater (who is nearly 10 and still fussy) and one who will eat anything.

Yes I was only considering incidents of babies choking salty

gallic there is some research but it is mostly limited to feasibility (which I'm fairly convinced about anyway as I did it 3 times).

I tried blw as it seemed to be the done thing - nct and midwives told me to. But my DC didn't respond to it well at all. Rather than bring food forward he would gag and gag and then throw up. It was horrible watching him. He would get so distressed. As people kept telling me this was normal and he would 'learn' I persevered for a bit. He didn't learn.

It wasn't natural for him at all. I think every baby is different but blw is definitely not suited to all babies. The only health care professional I spoke to who wasn't a blw advocate was a First Aid instructor who'd dealt with choking babies. She said do what you like but dont be pressurized to rush a baby who just isn't ready for it.