Finger food problems

[flipster]

Hi there - my DS is 6.5 months and I started him on purees at about 5.5 months. Having looked seriously at BLW and puree options I decided on purees and have introduced finger foods over the last 2 weeks following each puree meal. Unfortunately on a couple of occasions, DS has gagged badly. After not being able to breathe for a couple of secs, I've given him a solid pat on the back and all the food he has eaten comes pouring out - more to my distress than his, it has to be said.

I am reticent to try finger foods again for a while as it seems DS is just not ready. Anyone else experienced this and if so - how did you deal with it? Seems a lot of babies just adapt seamlessly from breast/bottle to chewing - but my DS is clearly not one of these!

what was the finger food?

one was a rice cake, the other was a very steamed-to-death stick of carrot. DS has successfully eaten some rice cakes and some steamed veg and peach etc before (although sometimes with a bit go coughing), but I am worried about continuing to try something he has obvious difficulties with.

Not sure what age bicci pegs are reccommended from - but this would help chewing without being able to get too large a piece down (which is probably the reason he is gagging at the moment if my ds was anything to go by). We found hand mashed banans great as there was a bit of texture but it still slid down very easily (and he loved it). Hope all goes well!

I think the gagging is how they learn to eat solid food. DD gagged when she first started, 3 weeks ago, but now never seems to gag at all.

You all seem so confident. I am really scared of ds actually choking- are none of you worried about this? I get so freaked out about that coughing/gagging thing I am shying away from finger foods, even though he loves them. Can anyone help?

I waited till ds was 9mths before introducing finger food, he just didn't put anything towards his mouth before then!

But also I don't feel that he was ready to cope with it anyway.

He's only been having finger food (as well as mashed food) for a few weeks now and he is getting better, ie. less gagging chokeing ect. But I would say don't rush it. I know they have to get used to it but I think 6.5mths is a bit young personally.

Ds has only actually choked a couple of times - being able to extracate from high chair speedily, put face down over knees and firm pat on back did trick - don't panic, just make sure that you can work harness for highchair quickly if its new.

He did gag on and off, and as flipster suggested, everything else comes up too (which isn't nice for you to clear up, but doesn't seem to worry them much) - if you don't give them the chance, they won't get used to doing it and you'll still have same problems later on.

Charliegirl, go for it - make sure things are not too large or too hard to start with (or do reverse, give large, hard things that its difficult to get bits off) and let him get on with it. Just be there in case!

blardy hell, wish I wasn't such a nervous fiend. Having a baby will be the death of me!

I did a thread on this when ds was about 7 months (he's nearly 1 now)... I really sympathise with the anxiety over gagging. I often had to leave dh supervising mealtimes to stop myself running over and thumping ds on the back every time he pulled a face!

I suppose in theory they can choke on anything, but at the beginning I found it much easier (for myself!) to give him big chunks of soft foods rather than chip-shaped stuff. Anything that melts in the mouth and that I figured would break up easily with a good cough. Aitch's blog is good for recipes. I wasn't brave enough to give rice cakes for a long time.

Friends who went the puree route are now starting finger foods and tbh they are all having the gagging problems now, so it seems to be something they usually have to go through whenever you do it.

You could go on a baby first aid course, which would cover choking - St John's Ambulance do them.

If you're really stressed, you can buy a gadget which is like a mesh bag you put food in, which they then chew. It's choke proof - but as someone else mentioned, it doesn't teach them how to deal with lumps, so you'll prob find you're postponing problems rather than avoiding them.

I did purees along with finger foods from 6 months (started at 23 weeks so didnt wait too long for finger foods!!) DS had about 3 or 4 vomiting incidents at the start along with loads of retching/gagging but no real choking. It is amazing how quickly they learn to cope with it. Now at 9 1/2 months DS mostly feeds himself, apart from things like yoghurt or weetabix. He gags occasionally but all that does is move the food from the back of his throat and lets him chew it a bit more (he only has 6 teeth at the front so it is his gums doing most of the work)

DS is my second so I am a lot more laid back about feeding finger foods, etc - I was much more cautious with DD (3.8yrs) and she did not 'do' finger foods/lumps until she was over 1 year.

I would just keep trying as the more they try the better they get at coping with the different foods. DS had rice cakes, strips of toast, rusks, small bits of banana, etc

Thanks for all the replies. I am doing the mashed banana which he copes with really well and think I'll try finger foods in another 2-3 weeks as I still feel he is a bit young.

Charliegal - just do what you feel happy with when feeding and I'm sure it will be fine. There is no rush to start finger foods and if you are really worried then take it easy and introduce very slowly.