Progressing to solids too slow?

[Christophersmumma]

Hi, a newbie to mumsnet and motherhood.
I have a 8month old son and he moved onto eating purée etc around 6months and was all ok, the only thing is now I should be giving him finger foods like bread, sticks of steam fruit and veg etc and I’m so utterly terrified he’ll choke it’s holding me/him back I feel. Example of normal days food- porridge breakfast, fruit pot/ avacado for lunch, steamed vegetables with a side like scramble egg, all cut/mashed really small so hardly much chewing required.
I have given him a Farley rusk, a few melty crisps but I just sweat the whole time and every time he takes a big bite I feel just utter panic. I really want him to confidently eat a toast finger, or meat finger or anything but I cannot bring myself to do it!!!! 😫 I feel I’m moving to slow- any advice welcome please 😊

You will grow in confidence together. I found Omelette fingers and soft pancakes were a good transition to more solid food.

Thank you, omelettes sounds like a good one as he does love abit of egg scrambled.😊

Hi @Christophersmumma, it sounds like you're doing a great job. Please don't worry too much. Babies at this age have a very sensitive gag reflex - this is part of their body's way of protecting them - so they gag easily to get food out of their mouths. This sometimes makes you think that they're choking, but they're not.

The more your son practises chewing, the better he will get, so it's great that you've got him chewing rusks and stuff. Boiled stick-shaped pasta, like fusilli and penne, is also good because they can hold it in their hands and get it to their mouths. Partly boiled carrots are good too -- not too mushy, so they can still hold it.

As long as you're close by, and keeping an eye on him, he'll be fine! And don't worry if he gags & the food comes back out.