At what age? Just had a heart attack!

[kirstybumx3]

I have literally just had a heart attack. I was feeding my 7mo old son his dinner, which was actually a ready made jar of cottage pie as we need to do shopping and have run out of frozen purees.
it was a 7months plus jar with lumps, he has been having the food we make a bit lumpier these days so I thought he would be fine..
HE CHOKED! I mean, blue face, whacked back, choked!
I think I had a heart attack

he is now staying on fully puree'd food until he is 20.

he manages his finger foods ok, but so far has only had banana, cooked carrot which he didn't like, and organic puffs.

at what age did your LOs start eating 'lumpier' foods rather than purees? x

 

[Julesillini8]

My daughter is about 6 1/2 months right now. We do a combination of her feeding herself and baby foods. I make her baby foods though, and I don't purée them completely smooth, there's small lumps in there for sure. I give her apple slices, pear slices, etc, for her to knaw on and gum and she breaks off small lumps and has learned to mash them and swallow them, so maybe that has helped her with the lumps in her baby food I give her on a spoon? I always am with her, as choking is no deal to mess around with, I'm sure it was VERY scarey for you with your little one. Glad you helped him right away. Not sure if going back to completely smooth purees is right or not, as he will have to try some lumps eventually, but I know I would be shaken too, so you just have to go with what you feel comfortable with. here's mine happy as can be with her apple slice

 

[Noodlebear]

Lucas started having more textured dinners alongside finger foods straight away at 6 months and even now, at 17 months, we have only ever had one choking incident like that and that was back in the early days. Don't let it put you off. I found that Lucas struggled with mince until he was a bit older unless we made sure it was covered in sauce or the spoonful was more potato than meat to help him swallow it. Think it was just a tricky texture for him to master, it is a funny one.

 

[kirstybumx3]

I try to let Rio help himself but he was 8 weeks prem and one of the things he is a little behind on is his hand coordination, he finds it difficult to keep hold of things and get them to/keep them in his mouth.. (but will sit up, roll over, army crawl lol)..
so for now I am feeding him myself and occasionally offering the spoon as his doctor says he now needs solids due to iron storage? (no idea).

it has really frightened me, but I guess I will just keep trying, taking it slowly, and if he continues to gag ill hold back a bit longer. I don't ever want another choking episode like that again x

 

[Noodlebear]

I think 2nd stage formula has extra iron in it(never used it myself) if that's what you're concerned about, but maybe he's just not ready to be weaned yet? Not all babies are ready at 6 months.

 

[kirstybumx3]

I think 2nd stage formula has extra iron in it(never used it myself) if that's what you're concerned about, but maybe he's just not ready to be weaned yet? Not all babies are ready at 6 months.

hes fine with his usual puree's and his own finger foods, just wasn't today with the lumps. hes been on purees since 4 months under instruction from his doctor at the hospital with no issues. I may have just introduced the lumpy foods before he was ready.

he is on an iron supplement also, currently being 'weaned' off it as he eats more, again under instruction from his doctor. and has a thickened milk so I cant really change it x

 

[MindUtopia]

Actually, there's a belief that the lumpy or chunky foods (on a spoon) are actually the most dangerous things you can feed your baby. Finger foods are too big for them to accidentally shove down their throats and they usually have to have some tongue control to even move them to the back of the mouth, meaning they have to be the right size for safely swallowing. But lumpy foods, especially meat, when spoonfed bypass the safety mechanism that prevents food that isn't safe to swallow from getting to the back of the throat. It means they can end up swallowing and choking on something much more easily than, say, with finger foods. If he can handle and enjoys finger foods, I'd just stick with that. Or give him some cottage pie on his tray and let him scoop it into his mouth. It's safer as it lets him be 100% in control.

 

[lozzy21]

Do you know what all lumpy purées did was cause my daughter to gag so much we had vomit everywhere. We skipped them all together and went straight onto normal food. I think it confuses them, they get it and at first think its a smooth purée then what the hell there's a lump!

 

[Noo]

I think that's the danger with puréeing. They just try swallowing lumpier foods expecting it to be smooth and end up gagging whereas if they're having finger foods they feel the texture before putting it in their mouths. I'd stick to the smooth until happy to give finger foods

 

[BellaBoo0512]

Aww that must of been so scary for you! my LO started on puréed food at 5.5 months and then lumpy/mashed up food at 7 months. He's almost 9 months now and I'm trying to transition from traditional weaning to baby led weaning as I've been told there's less chance of choking. My LO choked on milk when he was 4 months old and it was absolutely terrifying

 

[eulmh82]

Oh bless that must have been terrifying for you hugsxxx my lo was on purees til 11 mths! He would eat lumps of fruit and toast but when it came to his dinners he wouldn't eat it with lumps in so I
Weighed up the pros and cons and I figured I'd rAther him get the veggies somehow than not at all. It's all worked out now. He's 22 mths he eats his dinners as they come no problems.