Can't get on with finger food!

[mum2aidan]

I have been trying my 11 month old son on finger food for a couple of months now but he can't seem to get the hang of it. I give him specific baby foods, like Heinz biscotti (for babys 6 months+) and Hipp biscottes (10 months+).

He tries to put too much of it in his mouth at one time and even when he bites off small lumps he chokes alot more often than I think he should. It distresses him and I usually have to get the lump out with my finger. I get really worried sometimes but try not to show it because I'm scared he'll go off trying new things.

A family member says he should be ready to sit down at the dinner table and have a small portion of a normal meal when he's 12 months old. I don't think he's anywhere near able to do this yet, anyone else having this problem or have any advice?

Thanks!

Is he actually choking or just gagging?

Try him with pick-upable chunks of cooked carrot etc instead of biscuitty things DD used to do quite well with peas and sweetcorn. Look at the babyledweaning site (babyledweaning.com I think) which will have other finger food ideas even if you're not doing that sort of weaning.

I had trouble with lumps with my ds too and I don't think he managed them til he was about 13 or 14 months. It taught me that they do progress at their own rate and he won't be eating mush when he goes to school. Take a step back for a week, then try again. eventually he will get the hang of it. Just nod politely to others saying they should be doing this and that, there really is no rush.

Oh, and he can sit up to the table and have a portion of the family meal now. There's no magic age for this. DD has had family food pretty much since 6 months,

try wetter mushier things first, like the cooked carrot soupdragon suggested. i think dry biscuits are pretty tricky for a first attempt with finger food. lightly toasted bread would be another good one. also have you tried any fruits? cut a peach in half and let him have a go with that.

I found that dd just snapped the biscuits off and whatever size was in her mouth she either moved round a bit or tried to swallow. (sometimes choking) So stopped them for a bit for my sanity as much as anything. I did a pan load of veg , carrots, zucchini and cook them really well and gave them to her in bits. ( then use the vege water for cooking the pasta in !) Then when she started to show signs of chewing more I slowly gave the biscuitsback ..I did start of giving them in small bits at first. Ok she is now 14 months but she chews things up and takes 'smaller bites' . But still crams things in which she loves. I found with eating our food that gave smaller tasters as we ate something new . Just did it slowly at her pace , no rush I find that there are no definite time scales that you have to do anything..Just as you feel right you are his mum ... ( Hides incase have offended BLW Mumsnetters!)

Why are you trying baby foods? Sorry I may be being dense here but what is wrong with real foods? My DD (nearly seven months now) will happily eat toast, bread, breadsticks, veggies, fruit, anything finger food sized (she had canapes yesterday - she's a posh baby). Anyway, the thing is, those baby things turn to mush too soon and your baby may well be thinking: is this a drink, or a food and gagging because he's confused.

Thanks for all your advice, will definately try giving him cooked veg! Just assumed the biscuit baby food would satisfy his hunger more than fruit or veg! Have tried him on toast and some other foods but he does the same with them.

Thought it would be better to give him foods he could take bites out of and chew rather than foods he could eat whole (like peas and sweetcorn), am I wrong about this?!

I don't know if it's choking exactly, he's gagging and the food is getting stuck so I would say so!

Don't worry - they all go at their own pace. Just keep offering different bits of fruit, veg and meat and he will get there.

Try different sized finger foods. One of my twins like a big chuck of vegetable, bread etc to cram in her mouth while the other likes food broken into little bite-sized pieces. Took me a while to figure this out but it's just through watching them. Mine love watching people eat and I find if you sit in front of them and eat at the same time they copy you.

mum2aiden, I have posted about this before because my son is thirteen months and he still has trouble with finger food. He will vomit everything up, and I dont mean just gagging, I mean the entire contents of his stomach seems to come up.
Anyway, I started giving him a whole rusk in the morning to chomp on and at first he just vomited but then he started to get used to it. He is now much better with lumps and is vomiting less frequently.
Ds1 had no problems so it just shows that they all go at their own rate.

i think biscuits might be too dry. try with more moist food. ds first finger food was toast with butter on. he didn't get on with really wet stuff like banana or apple cos it kept slipping out of his fingers!