Babies: 6 - 9 Months

gerber puffs

DS eats purees that I make myself but sometimes as a treat I will give him a puff. They don't dissolve as quickly as I thought they would and sometimes it seems like he tries to swallow without chewing...he has 2 teeth. He then chokes on it. It doesn't happen everytime though.

Should I stop giving them to him or is this normal till they get the hang of chewing?

Re: gerber puffs

  • This is a good question. I'm interested to read the replies. 
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  • My dd did this a first but seemed to get the hang of it. You might want to consider giving your ds cherrios instead. They are a little smaller so it's less likely that they will choke on it. I give my dd both and she loves them both.
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  • I'm guessing he gags.  Choking is food stuck in the throat allowing no air to pass.  Gagging on a solid is normal and is part of them learning their limits.  You can always break the puffs in half but truly, he'll get the hang of it.
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  • This was normal for us.  Little E would practice just picking them up.  When she would finally get one in her mouth she was so shocked!  Then she would move it around and gag.  I thought it was choking too, but she got the hang of it and now gobbles them up.  
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  • I think this is normal until he gets used to chewing. I break the puffs in half a lot because our LO has choked and it scared the crap out of me. Now that he's been eating them for two weeks he knows to chew them (he has 2 teeth too) and I no longer worry. 

  • Gagging is a normal part of learning how to chew. We did baby led weaning with Aubrey and she eats wonderfully now. DH would always think she was choking but all she was doing was learning how to chew. She would automatically push the food to the back thinking she could swallow it, when she gagged it pushed the food back to the front for her to chew. If you think that cereal puffs are too hard, buy the Gerber Graduates puffs, they dissolve very quickly and that's what we started Aubrey on. She is 7 1/2 months and I can give her pretty much any food that is soft enough for her to chew and she chews and chews and then swallows like normal. She still gags now and then but she has never choked once *knock on wood* 

     

    Good luck! 

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  • Thanks ladies for the replies! The first time it happened it actually was choking and I slapped him on the back and then stuck my finger in his mouth and pulled it out.

    The other times yes it was more of a gagging rather than choking. I will try breaking them in half. Thanks for all the advice!
  • My LO isn't good with puffs and has choked on them twice. She does good with the little crunchies because she has to bite those. They are like puffed cheese doodles. Until she gets the hang of chewing, I'm done with puffs.
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  • Gagging is normal and ok. Also, babies gag reflexes are towards the front of their mouths, so they gag easily. I would caution against Cheerios. They, unlike puffs, are not designed to dissolve. Puffs are designed to dissolve, so even if they did manage to swallow one whole, it would just dissolve. If you are concerned about size, the Happy Baby puffs are much smaller than the gerber puffs. We use them with LO. He has a feeding disorder, and these have been perfect for him.
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