Something I don’t understand about BLW and food safety…

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Two examples - toast and carrots. At six months, you’re supposed to give them a long ‘stick’ of the food, because smaller chunks aren’t safe.

But what do they do?

Bite or otherwise manipulate these sticks, and they are then left with… small chunks!

But apparently these chunks aren’t safe until nine months.

Still, I sat there and watched him, as they say to do. Sure enough, he gagged on the small chunks. It was very distressing and made him upset and cry.

I think I’ll be sticking to spoon feeding! It did everyone okay up until about 18 years ago haha…

The gag reflex is completely normal and learning how to eat to avoid the gag reflex is an important skill for babies to learn. As long as the carrot is cooked so it’s properly soft, baby will learn to mush it up with his gums and swallow it safely. If he’s getting distressed, maybe try waiting another few weeks. Spoon feeding is fine too.

But I don’t understand how it is safe for the six month olds to end up with small chunks of food - which at that age are a choking risk? You wouldn’t serve them small chunks at that age, so why is it okay for them to have small chunks in their mouth once they’ve broken it off the larger stick?

They need long sticks because they clutch them in their little fists to put them in their mouths, so they need a long bit to hold on to. As PP says, the gag reflex is totally normal, and it is triggered much further forward in their mouths at this age than when they are older so they physically can't put the food in too far as they will gag before it gets there. What they will do initially is bite or gum a little bit off, and most likely it will fall straight back out of their mouth again, because they haven't yet developed the skill or the muscles required to move it from the front of their mouth to the back in order to swallow.

A risk with little chunks is that they can't yet pick it up and put it in their own mouths, so adults might be tempted to put it in for them. If you put the food in too far, you may bypass the gag reflex altogether and then they can choke.

Re. spoonfeeding, the current advice if you are doing that is also to give finger food, as this will help them develop their ability to move food around their mouths and learn how much/how far to put it in.

Anyway, I have BLWed two children and neither of them has ever choked, they rarely gagged either.

I think it’s to do with them being in control of the food themselves and manipulating it in their mouth (gagging is totally normal), rather than being caught unaware of a small piece going in the mouth and accidentally breathing at the same time.

I did a mixture of spoon feeding and finger foods to introduce different textures. I found the solid starts app and Charlotte Stirling Reed’s book and website really informative.

If you give them as small chunks they are more likely to put several in their mouths at once. Biting of a stick means they only have that bit in their mouths. It also helps them to learn appropriate bites.

They do need to learn this and it's ok to gag. They should not be eating at that age without someone watching carefully.
Dc1 ended up with a piece of soft pear stuck in his cheek, luckily I found it before nap time.

It's learnt quite quickly but you can't skip them experiencing and learning it by spoonfeeding mush forever. Your job as parent is to oversee.

Good luck with it, weaning will soon be a distant memory, then comes potty training

Also if you're worried about choking etc get them to practice with a long teething toy. They can test out their gag reflex and learn about the inside of their mouth without having a risk of choking.

Like these.

www.amazon.co.uk/WUJUN-Teething-Silicone-Freezable-Dishwasher/dp/B09SL9G4DC/ref=asc_df_B09SL9G4DC?mcid=d4c9383349d9346e9d476dc7d7f176db&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=696352643973&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12598784382608979833&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046455&hvtargid=pla-1677742897438&psc=1&gad_source=1

I really struggled with this too and now much prefer that DS has his pincer grip so I can give him little bits of food instead!! He much prefers feeding himself so I had to try to overcome my fear which was exactly what you described. I gave him beef shin bones - big ones but with no splinters on- so he could suck out the bone marrow but the size of it helped him work his gag reflex and I knew no smaller bits were coming off it. And stem of broccoli steamed for ages, he didn’t gag very much because it’s it’s all very little bits on the head of it

I thought it was to do with motor skills. They use their palm to grasp at food at 6 months. This way they can't get a full spear or finger sized food item into their mouth. Once they get to 9 months, they should have developed a pincer grip, using their thumb and second finger to pick up smaller food items.

It definitely is scary, I found omelette strips and the rice fingers got my daughter used to it at first. Then moved into other items after that. Sweet potato fingers were much easier than carrots for us.

I'd just do what you feel comfortable with, I still don't give my 3.5 yo raw carrots very often, that is the one food I'm quite cautious of. Edited to add, I just saw they are cooked in case they will be soft. I'm assuming it's all about hiw many teeth they have at what age and how they chew.

They know there are small pieces, because they have created them, along their gum line. They also know how big, how sift, how many.
If you place a spoon in their mouth, they have no idea if it's going to be smooth or lumpy, thick or thin. And you put it much further back.
It's not that they can't cope with small bits, it's that they can't cope with the deposited into the middle of their mouth.