Help! 9 month old still only eats puree

[mercedybear]

I know alot of moms have their LO eating toast, cereals etc. I have tried to give LO softened cheerios, mashed potato with little bits ( she gagged and almost choked!) and nothing works! Is she just not ready yet? She will eat mashed soft foods, thats as "solid" as she will get. I dont want to make meal time scary for her and keep pushing things that she isnt ready to "gum" yet. I need advise please.....
I have posted before and tried and tried to offer her different textures...its just not working

 

[iiTTCii]

What about just introducing something at snack time so there's no pressure and she can play about with it and take her time. My LO couldn't eat softened Cheerios either as they are too difficult to grip bit she will eat loads if dry Cheerios. You could try her with a bagel with soft cheese so that she will suck the soft cheese first and get used to handling food.

 

[liz1985]

I dont mean this to sound critical so please don't take it that way, I replied to your other thread and know this is causing you stress. She's probably finding it so hard because you've left it a little late to introduce texture and lumps etc. I think you might just have to persevere with texture and have a few occasions of gagging. Babys have a very strong gag reflex and allthough it seems really scary they are usually not in any real danger, the longer you leave it the more she will loose her gag reflex and become more likely to actually choke. You might even be better switching over to blw so lo is compleatly in control of the food herself. I've never done blw so no personal experience but from what I've read it may be beneficial in this case. Do you have a hv or similar? Not sure where abouts you are maybe they could offer some tips. Pp had good advice, maybe if you let her have food to play with, with no pressure to eat she might naturally eat more herself.

 

[Stash777]

^^^this^^^

We actually are doing BLW and it is working out really well for us. She "eats" (really it's just experimentation for her and learning how to chew and move food around her mouth at this point) what ever we have made for dinner but make sure it's gummable and has a handle so she can hold it better. The first time she gagged both DH and I freaked out but she was totally fine - gagging and choking are completely different. The gag reflex helps prevent choking and kicks in well before the food gets anywhere close to the back of the throat and intervening during gagging can actually make it worse. The worst part of BLW is that it's messy, but it is basically stress free. Maybe try avocado cut in length-wise strips with the skin still on (for better grip), banana cut in half or thirds depending on size, steamed broccolli, slivers of chicken or fish and see how she does. You may also find it beneficial to look up videos of BLW gagging so you feel more comfortable with it.

 

[zorak]

I don't do BLU from the start I did a mix of purees and self feeding. Since your LO is not used to textures it's actually better to give her things like toast she can control herself than stuff with lumps in . My experience was that if I gave lumpy foods LO would gag (not choke though) but if he had proper solids in his hands or if I gave smooth purees he was fine. We are completely past that stage now and he can handle all textures.

 

[Lawgirl]

We did a mixture of purées and finger food. As others have said, I would give her stuff she can hold and put in her mouth, rather than just lumpy mashed food. Early finger foods for us were rice cakes (break into finger sized pieces), toast and cucumber.

 

[makemeamammy]

I don't do BLU from the start I did a mix of purees and self feeding. Since your LO is not used to textures it's actually better to give her things like toast she can control herself than stuff with lumps in . My experience was that if I gave lumpy foods LO would gag (not choke though) but if he had proper solids in his hands or if I gave smooth purees he was fine. We are completely past that stage now and he can handle all textures.

I think all the advice above is great. I've done the same, a mix of purée and finger foods. You could also try other soft fruits like kiwi, peach, mango or strawberries cut in half. Just cut them into stick shapes (or half the strawberries) so LO can get a proper hold of it. You could also try the organix puffs as they're really easy to hold (the carrot ones are probably easiest)

Above poster, how long did that gagging at lumps stage last for you? Mine is there now! No problem with smooth purée and mash, no problem with most finger foods but sometimes gags on lumpier spoon fed stuff. She's getting better with bolognaise, cottage pie etc but still sometimes gags. I'm tempted to switch completely to finger foods soon but as she eats quite a lot I'm worried she won't get as much this way. She still has no teeth so isn't great at biting things off and tends to suck and roll things round her mouth instead x

 

[zorak]

I don't do BLU from the start I did a mix of purees and self feeding. Since your LO is not used to textures it's actually better to give her things like toast she can control herself than stuff with lumps in . My experience was that if I gave lumpy foods LO would gag (not choke though) but if he had proper solids in his hands or if I gave smooth purees he was fine. We are completely past that stage now and he can handle all textures.

I think all the advice above is great. I've done the same, a mix of purée and finger foods. You could also try other soft fruits like kiwi, peach, mango or strawberries cut in half. Just cut them into stick shapes (or half the strawberries) so LO can get a proper hold of it. You could also try the organix puffs as they're really easy to hold (the carrot ones are probably easiest)

Above poster, how long did that gagging at lumps stage last for you? Mine is there now! No problem with smooth purée and mash, no problem with most finger foods but sometimes gags on lumpier spoon fed stuff. She's getting better with bolognaise, cottage pie etc but still sometimes gags. I'm tempted to switch completely to finger foods soon but as she eats quite a lot I'm worried she won't get as much this way. She still has no teeth so isn't great at biting things off and tends to suck and roll things round her mouth instead x

That stage lasted about 4 weeks. It was pretty horrible because every time M gagged he'd vomit, but I knew it was just a reflex thing. Then one day he just suddenly stopped doing that. I think he was really exploring moving things around his mouth. Just persevere and keep offering different types of foods, it's just a learning curve.