am i doing something wrong? (finger foods)

asupergirl09

finger foods aiden has had so far have been those gerber puffs, yogurt melts, and cheerios - he has those regularly... he has also tried cheese and pieces of chicken and that was successful - but whenever i have given him veggies - he gags... and well tonight - it was big time - i had some mixed veggies on his tray - green peas, green beans, carrots, corn - and he tries a green bean - gags and spits it out... he then tries carrot - gags, but keeps chomping on it... gags some more and has some spit up... continues to chomp on it - gags more - more spit up - chomp, chomp - complete throw up!

what do i need to do? does this mean he really isn't ready?

Melly Mel

My pedi told me to make sure they are very soft and very small pieces. If he gags, just keep introducing it but don't force. He may just not be ready. DD isn't yet either.

seanandcallie

I could be totally off base, but my understanding is that when they are first getting used to eating solids both finger foods and regular solids is that the gag reflex happens a good bit in part because they don't know how to use their tongue to move the food around. So they gag to move things back to the front of their mouths. It's not always a sign of choking. Like I said, I could be wrong, but I swear I read that somewhere. 

asupergirl09

seanandcallie:

I could be totally off base, but my understanding is that when they are first getting used to eating solids both finger foods and regular solids is that the gag reflex happens a good bit in part because they don't know how to use their tongue to move the food around. So they gag to move things back to the front of their mouths. It's not always a sign of choking. Like I said, I could be wrong, but I swear I read that somewhere. 

i think i remember reading that somewhere too... it wasn't the gagging that really bothered me - it was the fact that he then completely threw up - to the extend that i took him directly to the bathtub...

diana.filipi

Actually it means he is learning!  Gagging is a very effective learning mechanism for babies.  They are learning how to move food around with their tongues and such.  Gagging is Aok.  Keep offering things cuzz the fact that he wanted to keep trying even though he gagged some is really promising.  He's ready (IMO)! 

seanandcallie

Ella did that a few times when she either really didn't like something or she put too much in her mouth. I would continue to offer and just go with your gut. That's a huge part of parenting... it's the hardest part if you ask me.

MomOfTrips

Gaging is fairly normal in the begining. Make sure they are cut into small pieces and very soft. You also might want to try the Gerber graduates carrots. My kids love them and it was good to start with. Also he may just be getting used to the taste. My picky eater did that a lot with new foods until she got used to them when we first went to table food.

Tonya_G

The gag reflex is completely normal- for babies who have been on pureed food, the texture of chunks of food is considerably different. has he been able to do the level 3 foods that are thicker with no problem? If he's only been on the runny purees, I'd probably try that first before moving him onto solid, thicker pieces. FWIW (and I didn't know this with my first kiddo- he was on purees), they're going to gag no matter when you give them whole pieces of food, but you can start giving finger foods as early as 6m when  you start solids.

asupergirl09

Tonya_G:

The gag reflex is completely normal- for babies who have been on pureed food, the texture of chunks of food is considerably different. has he been able to do the level 3 foods that are thicker with no problem? If he's only been on the runny purees, I'd probably try that first before moving him onto solid, thicker pieces. FWIW (and I didn't know this with my first kiddo- he was on purees), they're going to gag no matter when you give them whole pieces of food, but you can start giving finger foods as early as 6m when  you start solids.

we have done some stage 3 foods - but he doesn't seem to like them that much - he doesn't eat as much - he will eat an entire jar of level 2 and i can barely get him to eat 1/4 jar of stage 3...

thanks ladies - i know - he just needs practice... i guess i just needed a little reassurance

diana.filipi

Tonya_G:

The gag reflex is completely normal- for babies who have been on pureed food, the texture of chunks of food is considerably different. has he been able to do the level 3 foods that are thicker with no problem? If he's only been on the runny purees, I'd probably try that first before moving him onto solid, thicker pieces. FWIW (and I didn't know this with my first kiddo- he was on purees), they're going to gag no matter when you give them whole pieces of food, but you can start giving finger foods as early as 6m when  you start solids.

Yep - we skipped purees/cereals altogether and simply started solids with finger/holdable food.  It's been super awesome.  

 

JennLuvsMatt

asupergirl09:

we have done some stage 3 foods - but he doesn't seem to like them that much - he doesn't eat as much - he will eat an entire jar of level 2 and i can barely get him to eat 1/4 jar of stage 3...

thanks ladies - i know - he just needs practice... i guess i just needed a little reassurance

DD does the same thing with the stage 3 foods.  She flat out refuses to eat it and won't even open her mouth.  When I started finger foods she gagged on some things and we had a time when she threw up too but I just kept offering it to her.  She does much better with them now except she is more interested in feeding them to the dog then she is herself.   

WildcatPrincess

diana.filipi:

Tonya_G:

The gag reflex is completely normal- for babies who have been on pureed food, the texture of chunks of food is considerably different. has he been able to do the level 3 foods that are thicker with no problem? If he's only been on the runny purees, I'd probably try that first before moving him onto solid, thicker pieces. FWIW (and I didn't know this with my first kiddo- he was on purees), they're going to gag no matter when you give them whole pieces of food, but you can start giving finger foods as early as 6m when  you start solids.

Yep - we skipped purees/cereals altogether and simply started solids with finger/holdable food.  It's been super awesome.  

This is what we did and DD gagged a lot in the beginning.  She caught on fairly quickly, though....within a week or two she had figured how much she could handle and how far back she could stick things in her mouth and she rarely gags now.  GL!