Talk me down. BLW related.

usernewname

So I opted to not do BLW with my son as I couldn't get the confidence to do so. I started my son on mashes instead of purees and it was going well.

He started loosing interested so I went with it and thought maybe he's getting a tooth or just interested elsewhere.

I gave him a piece of pepper one day while I was making dinner and DH would watch him. He LOVED it. And gagged of course.

Anyway. I've been trying to give him sticks of food. But honestly I hold my breath every time and am relieved when he's finished. I don't want to show him my nervousness as I want him to enjoy food with us. He's gagged. He gets it up though no problem. But I'm terrified.

Stories. Anecdotes. Tell me to put my big girl panties on. Something. I don't want to not present food this way because of my own insecurities and hold him back.

Sigh. I know I need to trust him.

britab

Try following the BLW Facebook page. Lots of stories and tips. DD just turned six months so she has only tried a few things.

usernewname

Thanks! I'll look it up.

gutsysneakers

DD gags occasionally, but she has come so far and now knows how to chew and swallow even things like clementine wedges.

DD has choked once (second week of BLW). I gave her a few blow backs and she spit it right out. I still do it.

Try streamed broccoli, baby carrots, cauliflower, bell pepper, avocado slices, or sweet potato wedges. Another one is "toast fingers" with hummus.

It gets easier. I'm a control freak so it still is hard to "let go", but it was the best when we go out to restaurants and order steamed veggies or give her chicken etc.

Junebug060609

Speaking to you as a STM, gagging is normal. It's a part of figuring out how to move food around in their mouths. Choking is a different animal. Like a pp, I had to do back blows with my oldest (dd pukes whenever she gets solids, so I'm taking a step back with her).

Do you know infant CPR? Obviously we all hope to never have to use it, but knowing how to do back blows and such helped me a smidge during the gagging phase.

usernewname

Junebug060609 said:

Speaking to you as a STM, gagging is normal. It's a part of figuring out how to move food around in their mouths. Choking is a different animal. Like a pp, I had to do back blows with my oldest (dd pukes whenever she gets solids, so I'm taking a step back with her). Do you know infant CPR? Obviously we all hope to never have to use it, but knowing how to do back blows and such helped me a smidge during the gagging phase.

Yep! Taken Infant CPR one too many times.

I know I need to relax, but when he gags my heart stops in terror of him turning blue. But he gags it back up and is fine usually. Just freaks me out. I did just read to offer some water after the gag, I will do that rather than waiting until the end of the meal.

I started giving more BLW like foods about a week or so ago, so he's still gagging a bit as he's learning. The biggest thing I'm learning is how to cook the foods so he can still handle it, but if a piece breaks off he can handle it.

jenn43

One thing that keeps me calm when LO gags is listening to his breathing.  So far he's always been breathing fine even when gagging.  I also remind him to cough and demonstrate it for him (he thinks fake coughing is hilarious- so that's actually kind of helpful).

flockofmoosen3

Funny, the only time baby girl gags is when she's eating a puree she hates. She loves to chew food. I just make sure that what I give her doesn't break off into chunks that are too big. I also give her Gerber puffs and she loves those. They help her develop her pincer grasp and she can feed herself. They are easy to chew but also half dissolve in her mouth. When I feed her chicken it's little bits that I pre-tear for her since she is still toothless. She chews just the same and enjoys it.

I also only feed her either on the floor while she sits up or in her clip on chair with the single lap strap. That way I can get to her as fast as possible if she does start choking and not worry about wasting time unbuckling and struggling with straps and trays.

The more you do it the easier it gets. Just go for it!

usernewname

So I gave ds banana tonight and cut down the peel to give him a small amount to nom on and the rest as a handle. It worked out really well.

So I learned what kind of softness is easy for him to handle. Banana softness. He gagged a couple times but got it up fast and I didn't run over to him to fish it out. I watched and waited.

I'm still paranoid. But heading towards the side of more trust and confidence

The BLW fb group and watching YouTube helped a lot. I watched examples of babies gagging. Don't know why people post those but it helped to see what it meant by gagging.