Was pitta bread safe to give to a 6 month old as a finger food today? Had a choking scare today!

[LetticeKnollys]

My DS is 6 months, I started him on solids at 5.5 months. I've been giving him purees and mash, offering finger foods and had some success with gumming off and swallowing bits of soft fruit.

Today I was having pitta bread with houmous and some strawberries at lunch time, and offered my DS some in baton shapes.

He was doing really well with the pitta bread, the best he's done so far with finger foods, he got half way down it really well taking little bites and swallowing.

I was just allowing myself to feel smug about how well he was doing when suddenly he nommed off a huge bit and started gagging or choking! I'm not sure which, he looked like he was trying to hack it back up again, he was red in the face not blue. I immediately started patting him firmly on the back, it cleared quickly and he started crying but calmed down straight away when I gave him a cuddle.

It didn't seem to deter him because when I sat him back down to offer him some puree he was reaching out trying to grab the strawberry I had put on his tray. It deterred me though! Now I feel really nervous about offering finger foods.

I know that gagging is normal, but the lump of pitta bread that he coughed up was all gooey and big, I don't see how air could have gotten around it if it had gotten stuck further down.

Shouldn't I have given it to him? When does gagging become choking? I think he choked but just very briefly IYSWIM. When do they stop gagging/choking so easily?

Watching as funnily enough that's the first thing we had an issue with...gagging or choking not sure. Haven't given him pitta since!

We did BLW with DS and for the first few months he gagged on literally everything. He was even sick a few times when things hit his gag reflex!

Your heart stops every time but you have to trust that they will bring it up. Generally, if they are making noise, they are gagging and will bring it up, if it's silent they are choking and you need to lift them up, turn them upside down (almost) on their back and you should administer some strong smacks to their back, if it's still not out you need to move to chest/abdominal compressions. There are some really good instructional videos online for baby/child first aid. I've never needed to do it, just familiarised myself with it when we started weaning.

DS had lots of pitta when he first started and learnt fairly quickly to give it a good old gum first!

Good luck, they are surprisingly good at eating when they try it but it is nerve wracking!

Sorry, typo there, when you turn them upside down they should be facing down face to the floor- the way I've typed it sounds like they should be facing up!

Without seeing it, that sounds like gagging not choking. They are completely different things, not part of the same mechanism. Gagging protects them from choking, as it ejects food forwards to try again. Their gag reflex is farther forward on their tongues than an adults so they can gag more.

It is hard not to worry but gagging (even quite dramatic gagging) is part of the process of learning to move food around in their mouths.

Okay, thanks for your reassurances! I will try to woman up about it.

I wouldn't give pitta because even though it's a finger food it takes a lot of chewing. It's not something that breaks up easily in the mouth. Often it just goes into a soggy strip that is hard to swallow.

Gagging is very scary though! It'll happen a few times, mine even had a phase of making himself do it (don't ask me why)

You might find, like I did, that some foods they just can't have. Some foods my friends babies were fine with but mine, NOPE.

agree it sounds like gagging rather than choking.
DS does blw and to start with he coughed most things up as he got used to food in his mouth and moving it round.

I'd say if they r making a noise try and leave them to deal with it themselves. They hav a more sensitive gag reflex than us and its much further forward.
Choking is silent so thats the time to worry.
Also agree with the suggestion of a baby first aid course. we did one and you do feel more confident.

Roast might be an easier option for now as it breaks up more - pita bread is quite hard to chew up.