How to introduce Finger Food

[TXB]

Hi,
My DS is 28 weeks and I'm trying to introduce him to finger food. He's done the purees and has now been on lumpy food for a couple of weeks with no problem. I've been giving him cooked carrot sticks, cooked apple pieces, cut up peach and some soft bread. So far he gets the food and bites off an amount that's too big for him to chew and then starts gagging and crying. I have heart failure each time I try - the only way it works is if I hold it to manage how much he can put into his mouth at once. I was thinking of trying bananna tomorrow. How big/small should pieces of finger food be?

Or, should I stop finger foods for a week and try again? Thanks.

Just keep offering it on his tray along with the rest of his meal, or as a snack. Let him play with it - he'll soon figure it out.

Thanks for that Kitty. Does anyone have an opinion on size of finger foods? ie, should it be larger chunks that he can gnaw on or smaller bits he can fit in his mouth?

A thick 'chip' size/shape is supposed to be good - big enough for him to hold in his fist, but with plenty sticking out so he can eat what's poking out of his fist.

Lots of people cut a banana in half, peel back the top inch or two of skin and hand it to them like that. Alternatively you can split it lengthways into three and give him a section.

He'll soon learn how much to bite off at once. As long as he is sitting upright the gag reflex should make the food fall out of his mouth safely.

Keep them larger at the moment so he can grab with his fist and chew/suck the food. Then at around 8 months he'll love chasing individual sweetcorn and peas around his tray, picking them up between finger & thumb

Gagging is good, that's what stops them choking! Try lightly cooked broccoli florets, toast fingers, melon chunks (wash the skin then cut it so there's still some skin to grip), sticks of cheese, breadsticks, anything you can think of really. Chip shaped things are easiest but you can bet he'll manage yogurt with those chubby fingers!

Don't worry if it takes him a little while to work out how to eat finger food - he'll get there in the end if you keep offering it. Try and make sure you don't get panicky around him, too, even when he gags (easier said than done sometimes, I know!). If him biting bits off is a problem, try going for softer food that he can mash up a bit more (bananas can be good for this).

So, the update is I started him on larger chunks today and gave him these at the start of each meal. He had banana with the peel on part of it for him to grip and he loved it! Choked a little bit on some peach but spat out the banana when he took too big of a bite. Also enjoyed some cauliflower & brocolli. He seemed really happy feeding himself and most of it of course ended up over him and the floor, but we had lots of fun in the process. When he gagged a couple of times, I didn't panic, I just made chewing signs and sounds and gave him some water and he was fine - and this is only day 1!

Thanks everyone for all the great advice - we're going to keep trying all different foods until he is doing what Kitty says and chasing the individual peas & corn over his tray. That's the goal! ;)

Glad it's going well TXB

Also good are things like mini shredded wheat (tesco do an own brand version now) soaked in a little milk, grated apple, grated cheese/cheese chunks, mini sandwiches... anything really!