Finger food help? I'm scared.

[kirstybumx3]

Hi all, ANY help at all on BLW and finger foods would be very appreciated right now.
LO is 7 months old, 5 months corrected. Has been having fruit and veg purées since 4 months under instruction from his doctor. Please don't attack me for this! We really needed to do it.

I've been trying to get him to feed himself things, he's had rice cakes, organic carrot puffs, cooked carrot and potato. So far that's all..
I stopped giving them completely because I petrified myself. Rio would suck on the rice cakes and puffs fine because they melted in his mouth. When I gave the actual sticks of food he was choking on chunks. Literally choking to the point I had to bang his back and dislodge it, and one time afterwards he projectile vomited afterwards too.

Now my question really is, is this normal? Is he not ready for finger foods and should I just carry on with his purées? Should I continue offering and just helping when he chokes? I have scared myself so much I'm frightened to offer again

 

[Meg26]

Its definitely a scary time. I was super worried about choking when it was time to offer finger foods as i live twenty min from the closest hospital way out in the middle of nowhere lol. What i did was offered very soft mashable foods cut into small pieces like 1/4" x 1/4" chunks. I would offer. Ripe avocado, soft peaches and pears (like the canned ones in water not syrup), cooked butternut squash chunks, very cooked carrots, cooked peas (i steamed fresh snap peas that i had to shell myself), mandarin orange slices, overcooked veggie pasta cut
small, grated cheese and stuff like that. Its easy for baby to chew up and cut small enough to prevent choking and healthy too.

 

[Meg26]

I would say if your lo is choking on the items then maybe the pieces are too large and he isnt ready for that yet. Try some of the items i have listed in real small pieces and see how that goes. They do tend to gag on certain textures as they get used to it too so dont panic if he does that its normal keep me posted

 

[kirstybumx3]

Thank you that's very helpful. I will give it a go xx

 

[MindUtopia]

I would just keep doing what you're doing. Perhaps give him things that aren't likely to break apart as easily until he's able to manage them a bit better. Toast and rice cakes with various spreads are great. Also, things like mashed potato or porridge or yogurt that he can feed himself, but that aren't going to break into large chunks. Finger foods can be things he's used to having on a spoon, but you just let him dig in with his hands and have some more control over his eating. As for the choking, are you sure he was actually choking? Choking tends to be silent, whereas gagging looks like what most of us think choking looks and sounds like. Babies rarely choke, but gagging, even though it seems really scary when it happens, is a normal part of learning to eat safely. But if he can get food to his mouth and is able to sit upright, he's ready for finger foods. It might just be a matter of giving him more time to get used to them. In the long run, he's going to be less likely to choke on finger foods than on spoonfed foods, even though it sounds counterintuitive. He'll get it in time as long as he is able to practice and explore.

 

[kirstybumx3]

yes I am sure he was choking, silent, watery eyes, blue mouth etc. very scary. Thanks for your reply, I'll keep going. It frightens me so much! X

 

[joeyjo]

Is he sitting up properly? If he isn't then finger foods aren't a great idea.
If he is sitting up....
Unlike a previous poster I wouldn't give small/bit size pieces I would give bigger pieces such as a quarter of a whole pear, a broccoli floret, a strip of banana or cucumber.
I'd give things that don't break apart easily and where he can't fit the whole thing in his mouth. He will then be able to practice bringing it to his mouth and gnawing sucking small bits off.

 

[SparkleUK]

I stuck to melt in the mouth baby foods for ages, like the carrot puffs and rice cakes.
Then after about a month I started tea cakes, toast etc... But I would just pop tiny bits in mouth to get her used to it. She now eats anything!

 

[special_kala]

Cutting food into small pieces is far more dangerous then giving large chunks for them.

It doesn't teach them how to manage food in their mouth or how big a chunk they can bite off. They are much more likely just to swallow and choke.

OP is your LO sitting well?

 

[kirstybumx3]

Yes he sits unaided for around 15 minutes at a time. Yesterday he ate a bit of banana and took it well until he bit a large bit off and swallowed it. It's like he hasn't got the strength to cough it back up and it gets stuck x

 

[Meg26]

This is why I recommended small bits. Personally I think a small bits of soft mashable foods that wont get stuck if swallowed whole is alot safer than a big chunk that gives them the option of biting off a piece far too big. Just my opinion though. I gave small chunks and my lo never had a problem. He now eats anything and everything I give him big or small and the choice to give him small bits did not hinder his ability to learn to take small bites off of a larger item at all.

 

[kirstybumx3]

We were eating our dinner tonight and LO looked sooo interested. I tore off a piece of Yorkshire pudding and gave him a big strip. He sucked and sucked on it and when he was finished there was a tiny square about the size of his finger left. A lot was broken up around him but I guess he ate some too. It's a start