Scared to feed LO anything but purees and puffs?

NM86

I am terrified to feed William anything but his baby food and puffs. Whenever I've tried to feed him anything else he always chokes. It's not gagging because he dislikes whatever he's given...it's coughing and eyes watering choking. I've even tried cheerios, a piece of shredded cheese and tiny bananna pieces smaller than a pea. Is he just not ready? How do you know when LO is ready?

My pedi got on us at his 6 month appt. for not already having him on meals yet...we are now up to 2 meals of solids a day...so I am scared for what she is going to say when we go to his 9 month appt.

I don't even know how you are supposed to transition from formula/breast milk to regular food at 1 year old...

bikitybinx

I'm the same.  I just posted this in another thread - Natty only has one regular meal of solids a day, sometimes two.  When she does eat solids, its only about an ounce.  I tried giving her some linguini last night - she liked that - and some scrambled eggs this morning - she didn't like that.  But whenever I try to give her solids she seems so uninterested and doesn't want it.  She's only awake for a little over an hour at a time, so I feel like we'd spend her entire awake time all day long trying to eat solids...

Edit - wanted to add that her solid meal is just a jarred veg puree 

Jen0204

For us it was just a matter of trying over and over.  That's been our philosophy with basically everything, from eating to CIO - if it doesn't work now give it a few weeks and try again.  They have also become WAY more interested in what we're eating.  They could be playing happily and hear or smell us eating something and they're on us like hawks, so we break off a tiny piece of whatever it is and give it to them (which also makes us more conscious of what we're eating). 

They hated stage 3 foods for a long time but last week all of the sudden ate a jar of it like they were pros.  I had opened the jar and H actually said "why are you even bothering?" so of course I threw in a smartass remark when they finished 

ALane1128

All babies are different and maybe he's just not ready! Does he watch you eat? I feel like our LOs mimick what we do. So maybe if he's not around you when you eat dinner, have him sit with you and watch!
Edit: forgot to say, maybe every Friday and Sunday try giving him something and see what he does! He doesn't do it, don't force it. Try again the next day

heymommy

You transition over time. Try a french fry or something that size so he can hold. You have to keep trying everyday. Every time you put him in the hight chair give give something to try. Offer the same things for awhile and then move on to other things. Don't stop. They don't "get it" the first time. This is something they learn to do with time.

Try these foods..

French fry

green beans ( the long kind.. pole beans??)

 apple or pear cut into a stick

toast cut into strips

banana in a strip/stick shape 

chicken breast in a stick size 

Smaller foods like-

rice, peas and carrots ( the frozen bag mix) cheerios, hamburger with bun ( small pieces and I smoosh it together really tight) , butter beans, salmon pattie etc etc.

That is all I can think of at the moment. She spends a lot of time in her high chair and I just keep giving her food. I feed her her jar food at this time and offer newer or table foods before and after.

I only offer puffs sometimes it is not a staple.  

 

 

 

 

hizah05

I'm scared and Logan loves food!! He will take a bite out of anything I give him and he chews but I'm so afraid he will choke. Because of this I don't give him anything too big but I know I need to. I realize I sound like such a FTM and I am but it's scary. I'm with you on wondering how to transition but mostly past pures.

We do the 3 meals a day of purees and have since 56 months. I would do what everyone else said and keep trying. Give it a few days and try again if it doesn't work. I wouldn't worry too much. You'll get there!

88eve88

I think you're on the right track.  Have you ever tried a mesh feeder?  That might help with the transition.

My DS is mainly puree fed, but I give him tiny nibbles of whatever I'm eating because he's so interested.  If he sees me with any food, he crawls over and starts grunting at me.

Eventually, I'll start giving him more table foods that he can hold on his own.  Like pp suggested, we once gave him a soft french fry and he went to town on it!

 

sunnyday016

It could be that he's not ready, but another thing to try would be bigger sized pieces. Like a whole strip of avocado (peel on so he can grip it), or a long strip of banana- like an entire half of a banana cut lengthwise. It just takes practice for them to learn how to handle it in their mouth, so just keep trying!

heymommy

Don't stop and wait. Keep trying. One day it will click with them.

NM86

It's not that he's not interested...he loves to eat. It's just that he chokes quite a bit.

Jen0204

The coughing and eyes watering is still just gagging.  The girls do that on occasion and I always keep either a sippy cup with water or their bottles close by and if they start coughing I pat their back and let them drink a little bit.  Whenever it happens with the girls it's usually if they try to eat too much or too quickly.  You said that he loves food, could he just be overeager?  I would give him a very small amount of food at a time and just keep trying, he'll get it eventually.  I think it's more scary for us to watch then it is for them because when the girls do it as soon as they stop coughing they're reaching for food again.

goldenleaves

I like giving Lauren things she can hold- like a graham cracker. That way she controls how much she gets at a time and if it's too much she pulls it out. She doesn't have a pincer grasp yet so this works for her.

joie12

Jen0204:

Whenever it happens with the girls it's usually if they try to eat too much or too quickly.  

This exactly. DD will stuff every available morsel of food into her mouth and then gag. At this point I only put 3-4 pieces down at a time for her, because she literally squirrels it away in her cheeks.  

MollySm

I agree with PPs, they aren't going to learn to swallow and eat things without practice.  That's just the way they learn things.  French fries or soft bread in strips were good starters for us (we made the french fries - baked in the oven with a little olive oil, so not too terrible for her .  She would pretty much drool on them until they melted in her mouth.  Eventually she just got better and better at swallowing and chewing (all before she had any teeth).  And then better and better at picking things up so now we don't have to do strips, we can do small chunks.  At first there was gagging, but now there rarely is, unless she really doesn't like something.