Just don't get it- yet another solids question

sunflwra · June 2012

Hi ladies-

B turns 6 months next week and my plan is to start a mix of purees and table foods (we just had our first few bites of liquidy oatmeal today). After reading numerous other posts about solids, I guess my question/concern is just based on not understanding the logistics of the babies that are eating small berries, sticks of cucumbers, asparagus, bits of hamburger or any other foods that don't start to really dissolve down to nothing as babies gum them around.

Wouldn't a stick of cucumber or asparagus still be a choking hazard or do they just chew on each piece forever and it's ends up breaking down a lot and able to be swallowed. I get how it works with avocados, bananas, mashed fruits and veggies, etc since the chewing work is already done for them. I find it tough when there aren't a lot of guidelines around something like this and it's freaking me out!!

VTFutureMrs · June 2012

I guess it all depends on the baby. DD doesn't have any teeth and is just on purees at the moment. Some of them are pretty thick purees, but nothing hard like cheerios or sticks of foods. Pedi said to start finger foods around 8 months.

JKTTC1 · June 2012

DS has 3 teeth but gags very easily. He moves the food around mainly gumming it. He is on purees but has eaten bananas, watermelon, shredded chicken, and soft pieces of cantaloupe. He also just started the puffs and yogurt melts which he loves.

GibsonGirl620 · June 2012

LalaMama81:
While the concept of table foods (w/o purees) is not new, the newer book called, Baby Led Weaning explains the process well.

The teeth we use to chew are our molars, the first teeth babies get are not for chewing. They don't need teeth to eat food that isn't mush or puree. DD is 9 months, has 2 teeth that came in at 8 months) and has never had a single puree or baby food. She's eaten all of the foods mentioned by the OP and PP, and has not once come close to choking.

Gagging is not the same as choking and gagging is a normal part of the learning to eat process. The book explains it well, but when foods are sliced into 2" long pinky sized pieces and the baby self-feeds (never put food in their mouth) and they have met the developmental milestones for solids - there is very little chance of choking. They can eat the softer foods and they can gum/chew harder ones. Some is chewed up and digested, some ends up on the floor. It depends on the kid - some learn quickly and love eating, some are slower to get interested.

This is a great explanation.

Even if you don't think you'll start with finger foods, I would suggest reading the BLW book. It has a lot of info that will answer your questions about how babies eat and what you can do to make solid foods a positive, healthy experience for your LO.

preggersin2011 · June 2012

I started LO on food around 6 months. We tried cereal when we got the okay from the doc at 4 months but she vomited. I make all my own food for LO and after the first few weeks I started smashing her banana less and less. It has only been a little over a month and she does great with chunky food. You don't need teeth to chew.

LO 'stole' a piece of ziti the other night, she picked it up in her first and gnawed on the end and took of little bites. She gets puffs at school for snack. At home I give her more table food type snacks.

memali26 · June 2012

ExpectantSteelerFan:
And from another perspective, you don't need to follow BLW to give finger foods.
I was all for purees (I find them easier, especially in terms of eating while on the go), but dd really didn't like them and fought me on them. I put up a good fight for about a month and then gave up. During that month I started also giving her really tiny bits of mushy food (and I did put the food in her mouth for her as she was not able to feed herself yet). Once she got really good at 'chewing' those with her gums (and also working on feeding herself), I moved to slightly harder foods that were still tiny (so like pieces of strawberry or chicken). As she got better with those, I gave her more foods and in bigger pieces. By 7 months she was feeding herself entirely and eating almost anything that we eat. I still do some stuff to prevent choking like cut grapes in half. Oh, and although I've tried "stick" food with her (a sweet potato fry, a crust of bread), she REALLY prefers small bites so that's what we do.

We do finger foods with DD2 very similar to this. I can still get her to eat some purees, but she is much more interested in feeding herself. This is another area where I think it's really individual to the baby, so follow your LO's cues. Offer soft easily mashed finger foods, if they do well, start working towards the other stuff. If it doesn't seem to be working just yet, wait a little and try again. You'd be surprised how strong their gums are, though, they really can mash up a lot!

celiabwatson · June 2012

It's also true that they will often gum something for a while and then spit it out. Maybe a piece of chicken, they can get some good flavor etc out of it but they can't break it down enough to swallow, so they spit it out and go for another piece.

sunflwra · June 2012

Thanks ladies. I think I'll read the BLW book just to get some good background and then just give some things a try as she seems ready. She's been excited to gobble up some oatmeal this weekend- the amount spit out today was SIGNIFICANTLY less than yesterday, so I think she's ready and will get better quickly. I appreciate all of the insight!

smilelari · June 2012

LalaMama81:
While the concept of table foods (w/o purees) is not new, the newer book called, Baby Led Weaning explains the process well.

The teeth we use to chew are our molars, the first teeth babies get are not for chewing. They don't need teeth to eat food that isn't mush or puree. DD is 9 months, has 2 teeth that came in at 8 months) and has never had a single puree or baby food. She's eaten all of the foods mentioned by the OP and PP, and has not once come close to choking.

Gagging is not the same as choking and gagging is a normal part of the learning to eat process. The book explains it well, but when foods are sliced into 2" long pinky sized pieces and the baby self-feeds (never put food in their mouth) and they have met the developmental milestones for solids - there is very little chance of choking. They can eat the softer foods and they can gum/chew harder ones. Some is chewed up and digested, some ends up on the floor. It depends on the kid - some learn quickly and love eating, some are slower to get interested.

Yes

DD doesn't have any teeth and does fine with pear, cucumber, pasta, squash, steak, etc,

BLW or not, most babies start finger foods long before they have molars

DawnJM25 · June 2012

I started DD on veggie purees at 6 mo (we skipped rice cereal). She was not interested in food at all until about 7 mo, and even then she preferred to feed herself. I still tried to expose her to purees but she loves the Gerber wagon wheels and Mum-Mum crackers. She also likes roasted or steemed veggies and sweet potato fries. I recently tried Yobaby yogurt and she loves that, so that's one food she'll eat off a spoon, so I try to mix some fruit in. Every baby is different- just try different things and you'll figure out what LO likes. Good luck!

Netty_3 · June 2012

Before 1 food is for fun. I don't expect my LO to eat much of the food offered, it's more for learning and exploring. He gets his nutrition from BM and formula. He's learning how to chew before he learns to swallow...which makes sense. He ingests a little bit here and there. He's learning what real food is, what it feels like, tastes like, and looks like. He typically just gums it to death or sucks on it.

You could always read the BLW book for reference, there are a lot of blogs and youtube videos about it as well. It's just a fancy name for something that's been around forever.

Sarahcakes29 · June 2012

I'm not trying to be a fear-mongerer - just wanted to mention for the sake of all info being out there....a mom in our library music group had a choking experience while doing BLW. It's very popular where we live; she'd read the BLW book and baby had met all milestones, she started slow and let the baby lead the way. I guess the baby had choked on a long piece of pancake (?). Baby was turning blue, she called 911, they were there immediately and dislodged the food. So she says.

Choking can/does happen. But so do bike accidents, and that won't stop us for teaching DS to ride a bike.

BLW doesn't feel right for me and my baby, fwiw. I live in a very progressive, liberal community and sometimes parenting styles around here seem all about trusting the baby and letting them do whatever they want. I get frustrated with other parents who never want to intervene/direct their children for fear of stifling them or hampering their creativity or freedom or whatever. I'd like to take my baby's leads for solids as much as possible, but if I truly went by what he showed me he wanted I'd be sharing my morning coffee with him. I guess it's a balance every parent has to strike. I'm into making healthy, homemade purees and slowly letting him expand when he's older and seems more ready.

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