Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Flip

Original poster

Which are the real choking risks for a 6 month old baby?

25 replies

colditz · 24/10/2006 09:28

Apart from a tendency to sling scraps in the baby's general direction, my weaning skills are rusty. I was crap at it for ds1. I let him eat far too much lumpy, adulty food, and he developed a taste for strong food.

And it seems ds2 is following the same path! I have lots of virtuous little bags of root vegetables in the freezer. He won't eat them. He prefers to maul entire potatoes off my plate while I bicker with ds1, to squish coley between his fingers and rub it into the cat, to provoke 3 year old wails of dismay as he plunges his grubby little fingers into a plate of icecream... you see the pattern.

So, what should he be eating, texture-wise? And more to the point, what shouldn't he be having>?

OP posts:

LadyOfTheFlowersAKA2Babies0Bum · 24/10/2006 09:31

at 6 months, the start of weaning, isnt it stuff like this?:
mashed banana
pureed carrot
mashed potato
etc.
very smooth, plain-ish stuff.
nothing too strong

TheBlonde · 24/10/2006 09:33

apparently hot dogs and grapes are high risk ref choking

Original poster

colditz · 24/10/2006 09:33

Oh.

He won't eat it. He spits it out and screams until I hand over some toast (well he did this morning)

i am very strict about salt - I don't salt any food anyway, until it's on my plate.

OP posts:

TwigTwoolett · 24/10/2006 09:35

wouldn't worry .. if he seems to be managing he probably is

don't give him anything like a whole grape

allow him to dislodge any food through coughing

do you remember how to deal with choking in the very unlikely event he starts to choke??

MrsBadger · 24/10/2006 09:36

unless you have an allergy issue, I think from 6mo just about anything goes for both food variety and texture, except things like too much salt and, um, seafood, and choky things like grapes.

really.

I'd carry on regardless and call it baby-led weaning

NotQuiteCockney · 24/10/2006 09:51

What's wrong with a child developing a taste for strong food?

It sounds like you're doing fine. If he doesn't want mush, don't give him mush. Whole nuts are bad for choking, so are whole grapes, things like that. Lumpy food generally should be ok, and imo, I find most babies spit back out the stuff they can't deal with.

Clary · 24/10/2006 09:57

Agree with others, things like whole grapes, cherry toms etc are best avoided. But mushed up banana is not necessary for a 6mo anyway. Let him have what he wants - bits of cheese, toast, dry cereal, cooked chicken, fingers of veg, fruit.
Avoid honey, shelfish, processed meat, anything ready made that you don?t know the salt content of (sausages etc) and you should be fine.

Bozza · 24/10/2006 09:57

colditz I would actually be pleased with a child with a taste for strong flavours - if that meant chilli and garlic and things like that (ie not salt but you have explained that one away already). Certainly think there is nothing wrong with things like potatoes and coley - in fact I would encourage them.

LadyOfTheFlowersAKA2Babies0Bum · 24/10/2006 09:59

you're braver than me clary!

TwigTwoolett · 24/10/2006 10:02

2babies0bum

my kids have always had strong tastes .. chilli, garlic, pickles, satay, mustard etc

Clary · 24/10/2006 10:11

Why braver?

Recall by the time DS2 was about 8mo, fed up with chopping up and spoon feeding him carrot etc, I just handed him his Christmas dinner on a plate and said, oh, get on with it. He did. Hurrah!

(my kids like strong stuff too - samosas, olives, anchovies, capers etc etc)

NotQuiteCockney · 24/10/2006 10:13

I had no choice about offering mush. I tried to give DS2 mush at 6 months and he refused it all. He was pretty happy with finger foods. To this day (he's 2 now) I have never actually fed him - he just won't put up with it.

Original poster

colditz · 24/10/2006 11:10

ahhh, thanks all. Hotdogs isn't something we eat anyway, so apart from that, nothing round?

OP posts:

Bozza · 24/10/2006 11:56

Clary DS was like that about his Christmas dinner although he was 10 months by then. My MIL was wanting to make him something special but I pointed out that he would be perfectly happy with a standard dinner but would eat it with his fingers. Although cunningly enough he was happy to be spoonfed Christmas pudding.

Clary · 24/10/2006 11:58

Oh Bozza it was such a breakthrough. I can honestly say the only bit of babyhood I really did not enjoy was mashing up vegetables endlessly. How wonderful to sudenly be able to give him the same as we were having!

Bozza · 24/10/2006 12:44

I think my MIL was a bit put out though at not being able to lovingly prepare a special, seasonal bowl of slop for her first grandson. But I thought it was great that I could just sit him in a booster chair next to me and get on with my own lunch.

LadyOfTheFlowersAKA2Babies0Bum · 25/10/2006 12:21

thanks twig.... again... x
clary, ds1 is 15m and still likes to choke whenever he gets the chance!
he inhales his food like his father...

AlfredAitchcock · 25/10/2006 19:24

it sounds to me like you are a natural baby led weaner... \link{http://www.babyledweaning.com/here} is a link to a blog i write where i and other lovingly (geekily) detail the foods that our babies eat. no mush. honestly, coley and potatoes is right up our street.
i do give grapes, but i cut them and squash them inside-out a bit. a paediatrician told me nothing red before a year and i have more or less stuck to that. but that does not count red meat by the way, nothing DD likes more than a chunk of steak to chew on.

littlepiggie · 25/10/2006 22:07

oh i love blw.
Went to my mums for tea, we had home hade turkey burgers, roasted sweet and white potatos, carrots, colli, brocilli, and so did Harry. (so much for bland food, burgers had garlic in)

AlfredAitchcock · 25/10/2006 23:57

oh that's brilliant news littlepiggie. good that harry is still wolfing things down, fingers crossed that means the bleed was a one-off.

littlepiggie · 26/10/2006 00:00

I hope so, he has been sooooooooo happy today, but has been sick after every bf even with gaviscon.

AlfredAitchcock · 26/10/2006 00:08

my friend had a baby with bad reflux, it was so difficult. he's one next week and totally, totally over it. has been for the last few months but it took a while... i do feel for you, it must be hard to watch.

fluffyanimal · 26/10/2006 08:27

Aitch, out of interest what counts as nothing red? Do you mean strawberries etc or does it include red peppers? And why nothing red? Thanks!

megusta · 26/10/2006 12:34

am doing BLW and i s going really well so far. much better than the mush. but had horrid experience with an apple yesterday. ds choked on an unexpected lump and vomited ALL OVER everything. two meals and pints of breastmilk on the sofa, exersaucer, carpet..... me in tears, him in tears etc... so no more apples for us for a while.

AlfredAitchcock · 26/10/2006 17:29

i personally think apples are pretty dangerous actually, they're what caused the only serious choking incident dd ever had. i nearly died of fright.
some people say to grate them, some to steam them, i just avoided them until such times as she got her two bottom teeth and could be handed a whole apple with one bite (mine) out of it. she then just grated the apple off with her bottom teeth so wasn't in any danger.

and my paed pal was pretty enigmatic about the red stuff. he works in a&e so i think he's super cautious, the red conversation happened when i was going to give dd a raspberry at 8 months. he said no strawbs, no tomatoes, but i'd already given her some red pepper (that she hadn't liked much). i've given dd cokked toms in spag bol or whatever, but no raw yet. if it was difficult to avoid i wouldn't bother, but there are plenty of other things to give so i'm following his advice at least for the next while.

Flip