Nervous about finger food - could my 7mo choke?

[SamJohnsMum]

I'm afraid I am generally a puree lover, but I do want to give my 7mo DS some finger food. I keep putting it off because I'm scared he'll choke and I won't know what to do.

I don't really want information on why BLW is better than purees - I have read about this debate and although I am always interested in others' experiences, what I really need is just a bit of advice about what definitely won't choke my son!!

Oh, and DS is BF and allergic to dairy. I didn't wean early, so he's been having food for about 5 weeks.

We are doing BLW with my dd so she has been having finger foods for nearly a month now. So far the foods that have worked really well are tangerine segments (Im a bit cowardly and peeled the pith skin off them first), banana, toast, roast potatoes, roast courgette and the other night to my absolute amazement chicken breast!

We have tried lots more but the above are a sample of the food she eats that are pretty soft and I think will be easiest for you if you are nervous.

She did gag a bit a first and still does occasionally but not really very often at all. Its not nice so it might be worth preparing yourself by watching some of the vids on youtube on BLW and gagging. (BTW Im not trying to promote it here by stealth, Im very much each to their own. Just an idea to ease you in!! )

Just do it really slowly and you and your ds will get more confident.

Oh and how could I forget slices of avocado are a hit here too. Unfortunately its doing nothing for my plans to lose weight in 2009- its half for dd and half for me most days

Thanks - especially for the bit about youtube - even if it is a cunning BLW plan!! Ha ha

Seriously - I'm sure that will really help. Also, the roast courgette sounds really good - that goes so soft when roasted, doesn't it? And it's very popular with the DH, so all the better!

As for the avocado - well, I do give it to DS but it's almost the only thing I don't eat myself. I even quite like rusk and milk and the broccoli and potatoes!!! If only the calories taken from the DC's plates didn't count...

toast is a winner for us too. We've had bad moments with banana and lettuce (she loves to grab it off our plates in restaurants). I'm also really nervous about choking despite having been to a baby first aid course...

@ Darkmere - I'll have to try some roast veggies and tangerine... good tips

We're not doing BLW but my 7mo eats a lot of finger foods. There has been a bit of gagging (tbh it is alarming) but as the BLWers will all tell you, gagging is different from choking. DS usually swallows eventually or just spits it out - he can now deal with gagging really well and doesn't need help.

Foods which work well for him: Strips of pitta with hummus, home made bread (seems to be a better texture than shop bread), banana, cheese, tangerine, even slices of apple - he has a couple of teeth and can chew these fine - cooked broccoli, cooked carrot sticks, roast potatoes, roast peppers, cooked pasta just on its own, pizza (without crusts obviously!)

Yep courgette was a recent discovery after being inspired by watching ChrismumMiaow's video of her dc on another thread (thanks CM!). I thought she might gag or spit out the skin but it all went down happily. If I didn't think the sun shone out of her botty I would think the sight of her slurping on corgette while the other half hangs out of her mouth was disgusting! As it is I think its a delight!

What about bits of wrap and omelette (if you've no allergies)?

We have also had some success with cucumber cut in a cafe type way - ie diagonally and about the width of a pound coin if that makes sense.

Roasted wedges of potato and sweet potato also good. Oh and fusili or penne if you're not avoiding wheat...

Any chance you could point me in the direction of the youtube videos? I just typed in 'BLW' and 'gagging' and the type of videos that came up were NOT the sort I was after! !!!

This was a bit like the time I was trying to find a specific Newman video on getting a good latch for breastfeeding. I made the mistake of just typing 'breastfeeding'. You wouldn't believe what came up!! It made me feel quite ill!!!

Anyway, if you could help, that would be great!!

Sorry SJM I cant find it either. There are plenty of videos on baby led weaning but short of sitting through them all I don't know how to find those I am after. I found the gagging video when I followed a link on a previous discussion in weaning that another MNer (not sure who) posted... hopefully they will read this and come to our rescue.

Ps I think its a mistake to type in the initials rather than baby led weaning in full. Just using the initials means it assumes you mean blow... which next to gag takes you to a whole different array of videos..

And its a sad inditement that just typing in "breastfeeding" would find anything inappropriate!

Have a read of this:

www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/safety/chokingguide/

Just wanted to say that the roast veggies - esp courgette - went down really well. I'm very happy with it - not even any gagging as yet but now I do feel more prepared.

Thanks!