need help with baby led weaning!

[frazzledfairy]

dd is 6 months old (toda!) and i would really like to give blw a go (basically cos it sounds loads easier!). already have ds 1 & 2 who were weaned the 'conventional' way.

so, last week i gave dd some pear to hold and she bit off a chunk (with gums, no teeth yet!) and choked. v v v v scary, and put me off blw! since then i have been giving her purees, baby rice etc but she not very interested, although loves holding the spoon

however she is hugely interested when we eat, watching food going from plate to mouth, getting v excited and trying to eat her hands etc. this has made me think maybe we should give blw another go.

was pear the wrong kind of thing to give? (it was very ripe)

what are ideal first foods?

is it normal for baby to gag? and if so when do they stop doing that?

any help/tips/advice hugely appreciated

The first things I tried were banana and toast as these go quite mushy in the mouth. Progressed from there.

One thing I did find was that if DS choked his reflex usually kicked in and he brought up the thing that was choking him, if you know what I mean, so I tried to hold back a little from jumping in.

DS had ripe pear as his first thing. He gagged (not choked) a few times especially to start with, but after a bit of coughing and spluttering and a bright red face he brings it back to the front. It's mostly while they are getting used to what's happening I think.

We did just steamed vegetables and ripe fruit for a bit then buttered toast and bits of bread, which he loves to chew, then everything under the sun!

That's the word FB gagged! DS did that quite a bit at first.

Message withdrawn

Oh agreed I used Aitch's blog loads when I did it. It's fab.

FF gagging is completely normal and pear is perfect for BLW. They get better with practice, try not to stress about it and do use aitch's blog, don't forget to check the forums.