BLW - gagging/choking

[mrsjuan]

I haven't started BLW yet (DD only 19 weeks) but I want to prepare myself.
I've read the part in the book about the gag reflex and it makes perfect sense but I'm interested to hear your experiences of gagging and/or choking. My mum and MIL think I'm mad to be letting DD loose on 'real food' straight away and although I think BLW is the way to go I'm still scared that she will choke and that they will blame me for being irresponsible.
Thanks -I'm so excited at the thought of her eating with us!

I really worried about this before BLW with my DS and it nearly stopped me from doing it , but then one of my NCT friends who went down the puree route said her DS gagged constantly and even choked (where she had to pull him out of his chair and pat his back) once, so I realised this isn't a BLW thing but a food/baby thing!

Anyway, my DS gagged a fair bit but I held my nerve, he brought his food back up and was absoultely fine. BLW was fab for us - so much less hassle than purees and DS (now 15 mths) is a really unfussy eater (not necessarily connected of course).

Book yourself on a quick first aid course if you're worried so you feel prepared - and have fun!

I suprised myself on how calm i was about DD gagging when we first started BLW. Id say we had about 1.5 to 2 weeks of gagging at first. She would occassionally be sick too.

Keep telling yourself its a natural reflex and that you there if needs be to help out. Small tip is to act calm around her when she is gagging. If you panic then she will sense it and panic too, Just pat her on the back and say oh dear, then carry on. Same if shes sick, wipe it up then carry on.

My mum was very anti BLW but as the time goes on and she compares my DD to her cousin who is 8 weeks older and purree feed, she has noticed the difference in how well my DD feeds herself, behaves at the table and enjoys a huge variety of meals.

Ive loved BLW with DD and when bump 2 arrives they will def be BLW'ed too

it looks revolting but isn't too scary to watch, it's worse when other people are around and giving you 'the look', the one that says 'what on earth is that awful woman doing to her child, can't she see he's choking... she's going to kill him giving him chunks of food like that'

it helps that i puree weaned dd and she choked tonnes though as i know it's not a blw thing but totally normal with all foods like sponge said.

Its not as bad as you thnk its gonna be and they are amazingly calm about it! My dd is 8 months and we have done a mixture of BLW and mashed rather than pureed food, she does it regularly and I kind of think its almost funny now - only thing is deffo stay with him/her. She is learning how to get things in there - often she shoves things in with both hands; gags; looks at what has come out and tries again by biting some off. Active learning!!
It was a bit like my dd falling off the sofa for the first time - I was pleased to get it over with as she was fine!!