choking & finger foods

kxp004

so we've been doing purees and I'm trying to make them chunkier to help DS get used to the textures and "gumming" his food since he doesn't have teeth yet, but every time we try finger foods/teething cookies, he chokes---like can't breath, mouth doing fish-y movement, I have to pull him out of his chair and tilt him to whack his back... He did this with avocado pieces, banana pieces and a rice teething cookie (wholesomebabyfood.com recipe) that he took a chunk out of after trying to shove the entire thing in his mouth...should I take this as a message that he's not ready and just wait some more or am I going about it wrong? I slice the food up to like.... cheerio size pieces? and put them on his tray... he rakes them up, shoves them in and swallows, then starts choking...I'm super nervous and I don't want to hold him back, but at the same time, I don't want this to keep happening especially since he obviously hasn't figured out he has to chew it and can't speed eat it like he does the purees (he can eat a whole 4 oz of baby food in way less than 5 min)Thoughts, tips? TIA! 

ElatedMom2B

I would back off on the more solid foods.  Have you tried giving him anything that melts in his mouth - like puffs or rice rusks.  That way he can get used to a more solid consistency by allowing it to kind of melt in his mouth.  I notice that they kind of roll it around in their mouth when they first start because they're figuring it all out.  Also, those types of foods tend to stick to their tongue where he may just be swallowing the solid pieces you're giving him making him gag and choke, because he's not realizing that he needs to "chew".  Watch for signs too, I realized DD was ready for more solid foods when she would sit there and mimic us chewing.  Hope this helps, good luck!!  Choking is scary.  My niece HATES any solid consistency in her food and she's almost 2.  I was at my SIL's house a couple of weeks ago and witnessed her choking - literally, tongue sticking out and not breathing choking.  Apparently its a common occurrence in their house because they're trying to get he to eat more solid foods - STILL.  That being said (I don't want to scare you into thinking that your child won't ever eat solids) all of her kids (3) have had eating issues and are the pickiest eaters I HAVE EVER known!

bluejetta

We just started baby lead weaning and DD has gummed broccoli, wheat toast and pork without choking or gagging.  We make sure the pieces are finger sized and of course watch her closely.  The reading I've done on BLW was reassuring that babies have a very strong gag reflex and part of this type of solids feeding helps them learn the importance of that reflex etc.  There are of course foods I wouldn't give her due to the high risk of choking but watching her yesterday it would be pretty hard for her to have gotten any of the food far enough back in her mouth to choke.

BabyBoyNYC

DS is an aggressive eater too so when i'm feeding him someting like pancake I keep it off his tray and only give him a little piece at a time. other wise he will keep putting them in his mouth. So far puree's are still the majority of his meal but i always also have a finger food in there too like sliced mandarin orange with a chicken meal puree or shredded cheese

LMBecky11

When I started introducing finger foods to my LO I started with the rice puffs and Baby Mum Mums and Yogurt melts. Those dissolve fast but still teach chewing. I would give her some of those but continued with purees too. The first couple of times she gagged but has never choked. Then I moved on to giving her some cooked diced carrots or cheese in small cubes. Cottage cheese is also a good thing to try. You might also want to try making the pieces even smaller than you do and see if that helps. I still break up the yogurt melts because I feel like they are the perfect shape and size to get lodged in her throat if she swallows them. Try giving him the solids as an after thought, not as the main dish. Give him his purees and then when he isn't so hungry give some solids and let him play around with them. He will be less likely to try and eat them so fast. Hope this helps! GL!