Cheerios

axohollie

How will I know when my LO is ready to eat these type of snacks?  She is 7 months old now and at her 6 month appointment I was really surprised when my pedi said I could start giving her them.  He said she would gag on them at first.  I know it doesn't wait until she has teeth to chew but I am just terrified of her choking.  We have tried giving her cheerios but all she really does is work on picking them up.  Surprisingly she hasn't tried to put them in her mouth like she does everything else. 

I would love to hear of anyone else's experience with this so I can know what to expect and any tips would be great!  TIA!

jennyelf

We started Cheerios around 7 months when LO could pick them up. He had only the two bottom teeth, but as far as I can tell, he doesn't use them for chewing on the cheerios, just uses his gums.LO is 8 months old now.

Anyway, yes, there was a lot of gagging at first, and spitting it back up with other stuff as well, but in the past week or so he's gotten a lot better at it and doesn't gag nearly as often and chews on them pretty well before attempting to swallow. He doesn't have pincher grasp yet, so it's really funny to watch him try to put them in his mouth. But he really loves them, the second I put them on his tray he just starts grabbing for them and trying to shove them in his mouth. 

pinkmoonlight

We started with Baby Mum-Mum's at 7 months the DS and just recently moved to Cheerios. He even had pancakes with puree on them this weekend. He loved it.

eav2c

When they can pick it up and feed it to themselves they are ready. I think between 68 months is realistic.

mben1119

The point of giving babies things like cheerios is mainly for development of their pincer grasp. Ds started getting puffs, then cheerios at 6 months. They don't need teeth, as they can use their gums to mash their food.

stanfordt04

mabenner1:

The point of giving babies things like cheerios is mainly for development of their pincer grasp. Ds started getting puffs, then cheerios at 6 months. They don't need teeth, as they can use their gums to mash their food.

This exactly. my LO has no teeth and has been eating cheerios since he was a little over six months.   

danslilgrizzly

I started offering my son small sticks of steamed veggies or bits of soft fruit as well Gerber's organic lil' crunchies before cheerios because I was paranoid about their crunchiness, but we just started cheerios over the weekend and he's doing great.

Also, my husband who is a firefighter and certified in infant CPR said there is a almost no chance they can choke on a cheerio because it gets soft pretty quicky and because the hole in the middle allows air to pass through.