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November 2011 Moms
mama&baby
member
Dinner craziness.. not much fun :-/
mama&baby
member
So normally LO loves to eat. This week has been a bit different cuz of teething. However, tonight at dinner LO decided to show off his "I can feed myself" skills. He was having a sandwich and apple while I told DH to watch him so I could finish up making ours. Apparently, LO decided to try and eat as much as he could at once. He wasn't actively choking, but I think he was pretty close. His face turned a bit red and he coughed a bit-- as he kept putting food in his mouth! DH kinda flipped out ( if I think LO is going to choke, I generally talk to him calmly til he's done chewing) and took all the food out of his mouth. He screamed bloody murder and wouldn't stop. He got bright red and the only way for him to stop was for us to take him out of his seat and walk with him a bit before calming him down enough to eat again. I hadn't seen him cry that hard in a LONG time (and to be fair, DH raised his voice which I am sure scared him even more). Of course I will do anything to make sure my LO is safe... but I will keep this in mind if I ever think about taking food out of his mouth!
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Re: Dinner craziness.. not much fun :-/
Wait, you think talking calmly will keep your LO from choking? I don't get it.
LADIES! We are NOT helicopter parents, okay!?
In all seriousness, this is truly a reason I don't do BLW. It is my opinion and my household decision that they are just. too. young.
To each his own, right?
I don't do BLW either, so I guess maybe I just don't get it. All I know is that if I thought my child might choke, I wouldn't just ride it out to see it happen.
OP, are you CPR certified?
I'm NOT going to let my son choke. He does have times where he will stop chewing and it appears as though the food is going to go down the wrong tube (I really don't know how else to describe it). I talk to him and show him how to chew and instead of freaking out and ending up choking, he finishes chewing the food and is fine.
Judge all you want but he has never actually choked on his food! I think half of the issue with a choking baby (other than the actually lodging of the food in his throat) is the freak out moment (just like an adult would have). I get him to stop and chew his food.
Just a little low sodium turkey and cheese.... DH and I were having the same thing but more vamped up.
I know what you mean about the freak out moment. If I get worked up or lunge at DD, she sometimes gasps if I starle her, which I do not want to happen when she's eating. When DD starts kind of gagging or coughing, I gently pat her back and take out whatever she has in her hands so she doesn't shovel more in her mouth. I keep an eye on how much food she puts in her mouth but sometimes it's more than I'm comfortable with.
Even though I always watch LO while feeding (this would be one of the few times where DH did it) I will be keeping an eye on this more. Sometimes he can store food in his chubby cheeks like a chipmunk and then try to gobble it all at once. This is the first time he has tried to eat everything at once!
Do you cut it up really small? Just curious how it works.
I cut it up into bite size pieces that are big enough for him to grasp and feed himself. Sometimes they do fall apart which is fine... sometimes that turns into a bit of a playtime for him to peel them apart and put them in his mouth
Maybe it was your wording. There is something to be said about not causing panic when baby IS choking, or even if they are gagging a little, but your post sounded like you thought your calmness could prevent choking. Which doesn't make any sense to me at all. If your baby has a dangerous amount of food in it's mouth, or a piece of something cut to large, or is red-faced and coughing, there is a chance that choking will happen and no amount of calm will prevent it.
Do you use mayo?
Not when I make him his own little sandwich (sometimes I make him a half sandwich and give myself the other half- his without mayo) ... but if I make one for myself then yes
I think this is where my disconnect was. I think that in some instances there are stages, if you will, of choking. There is the gagging (which I guess is the most accurate way of portraying what I was referring to) which is a relatively normal occurance while LO learns to chew and swallow all food (though hopefully for our sanity it doesn't happen all the time). This is where I try to nip it in the bud by encouraging LO to chew his food and remain calm. I think if it goes unaided and continues (especially with more food added into the mouth) then it can easily translate to choking. Ha! There we go! I think I've actually said what I meant now!
People are making fun, but it really is important to stay calm. If you panic, so does DC which just makes things worse. This all sounds like pretty normal eating behavior. He's still learning. I would have taken the rest of the sandwich away for a minute and then let DC continue to work on what he had already stuffed into his mouth. Taking food out of baby's mouth means risking pushing it further towards the airway. It's much safer to just let baby work it out for themself. It's a learning experience for everyone. Deep breath
I'm interpreting "if I think LO is going to choke" as "when I'm really nervous because LO has shoved a bunch of food in his mouth". I get nervous when DD puts some things in her mouth as well, but I just keep a close eye and wait. She always spits it back out before it gets anywhere near her airway because that uber sensitive gag reflex that they have at this age kicks in to protect her. She spits it out and I start breathing again (and then feel happy that we're doing this now instead of waiting like we did with DS until the gag reflex was less sensitive)
~Working Mom~Breastfeeding Mom~Cloth Diapering Mom~BLW Mom~
Blog - No Longer on the DL ~ The Man Cave
Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
yes- the only times Henry has come "close" to choking is when my husband was taking pieces of food out of his mouth... he's since stopped doing that. Remaining calm is very important but I think it is very natural to be nervous!
This is so right. My little guy gags all the time while he eats. It really scared me at first and my husband had to keep reminding me that if he can cough, he can breathe, so leave him alone. Now I've been really working on keeping calm when he starts gagging on something and I just watch him and maybe talk calmly. I think it's working because he doesn't seem to get scared anymore when he gags, he just works it out and goes back to chewing.
Who is making fun? I don't think a choking baby is funny.
I feel you now. I wasn't trying to give you crap, I just wasn't getting what you meant. I don't give C a ton of real people food yet so it's probably that I just don't get it!
I was referring to the people that were making fun of her talking calmly to the baby when she thought he might choke. That's actually a very good thing to do. As a mom it's pretty natural to be nervous even though choking is highly unlikely. staying calm and keeping baby calm is the right thing to do
~Working Mom~Breastfeeding Mom~Cloth Diapering Mom~BLW Mom~
Blog - No Longer on the DL ~ The Man Cave
Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
op: i also talk calmly to my son when he gags, he looks to me to determine if he should freak or not.
honestly, I don't think it has much to do with BLW or what you are giving - my son gags on water.
the easiest thing to aspirate is thin liquids, actually.
DS born via unplanned C-section at 40w6d
I am sorry, but this is why I do not follow BLW. What has happened to the whole "the best thing for your baby during the first year is breastmilk or formula". Maybe I'm behind the times, but I still follow the "introduce a new food every few days, start with single fruits/veggie purees before combinations, waiting to start meats until near the end of the first year, no eggs or milk until after 1, ,etc" philosophy.
My DD will be 8 months soon and is currently getting most of her nutrition from her formula. Most nights, she has oatmeal with a fruit or veggie puree. I'm probably going to start whole milk yogurt and an additional solid food mealtime per day soon. She has had some Gerber puffs to snack on and I've given her pizza crust to chew on. I am in NO RUSH to feed her the same food I am eating and she seems pretty happy with her peaches and applesauce. I am just having a hard time understanding why everyone is in such a rush to give a baby adult foods other than because it's fun or convenient.
My DD1 is actually a much worse eater now at 4.5 than she was at 1. At 1 she would eat roast turkey breast, fish, etc. I had her on the same schedule which was recommended by our pediatrician and she was fine as far as swallowing.And for what it's worth, the one food my DD1 still loves is fruits and veggies.
To each his own, but it just seems to me like all the more conservative nutrition guidelines have been thrown out the window.
Stepping off of my soapbox now....
No matter how you do solids the part that I bolded is true. LO self feeds but she also still consumes breastmilk 6-8 times per day.
And the introduce foods every 3 days isn't necessary past 6 months and if your doctor is telling you to continue doing that, yes they are very old school. Many are now encouraging that meats be introduced early (even as a first food) and they are no longer advising holding off on foods that are considered allergenic. There is no evidence that delaying prevents allergies. This is true whether you are doing baby led or parent led.
~Working Mom~Breastfeeding Mom~Cloth Diapering Mom~BLW Mom~
Blog - No Longer on the DL ~ The Man Cave
Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
good gravy. Nope, no judging here. None at all.
This exactly. My doc actually said that in some cases it has been found that delaying some of the high allergy foods (particularly eggs and peanuts) has CAUSED food allergies. Parents have been so scared to give these foods to their kids that they miss that window of opportunity and actually cause the allergy.
I have no source for this, other than what my pedi said
That's what my pedi said as well. He said it was a fairly new change in thinking, and that the only foods to hold off on were ones where there is a family history of allergies.
BFP #2 March 2011, Baby Girl born November 2011!!!
Well my pediatrician is from Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia so old school or not I tend to think they are pretty intelligent and aware. For the record, my pedi told me to give DD1 peanut butter earlier than most docs because she was petite and said that new research is finding that it can be introduced earlier. I've never talked to him about BLW but he told me to start purees at 6 months. And I'm not saying you can't let your baby have finger foods of any type, but even the packages of puffs from Gerber, etc say that your child might be ready to start the puffs (that disintegrate when wet) when the child crawls with stomach off floor. The teething biscuits have 10+ months as a guideline.
It is my belief that BLW is a trend. If you want to feed your lo bites of your dinner, etc go ahead. If I was at the table with you, I wouldn't grab the food away from him/her and scold you. But I don't agree with it and I'm not following that feeding schedule with my DD. Like I said, she is 8 months now and so I will be slowly adding in pureed meats, whole milk yogurt and allowing her to try small bites of food that don't contain eggs, nuts or strawberries and foods that are highly allergenic. I feel that my DD has many years of eating ahead of her and waiting a few more months to introduce adult food is not a big deal.
Considering that purees are a much newer concept than BLW, it is my belief that purees are a trend
~Working Mom~Breastfeeding Mom~Cloth Diapering Mom~BLW Mom~
Blog - No Longer on the DL ~ The Man Cave
Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
That's very interesting. I'll have to see if I can find more info on that. We were holding off on some foods due to allergies in the family. But if we should give it now to hopefully avoid an allergy, I don't want to miss out. As you can see our pedi hasn't gotten into it with us. I think they are trying harder to make sure I keep BFing LO until a year or more.
So you'll give your kid pizza crust, but not a scrambled egg?
Well, like I said I wasn't giving her crap. I don't do BLW so my son rarely chokes or gags. As I said above, I agree it's the right thing not to panic. But I disagree that if there is a potential for choking that you shouldn't jut let it happen. I now know that tht was not what she meant...again, this is why I don't do BLW. Giving him big boy food freaks me out!
So you'll give your kid pizza crust, but not a scrambled egg?
Yes because a pizza crust is too tough for her to actually digest any of it. It's more of a teething toy. It's plain with no sauce, doesn't have much flavor and she just likes to hold and feel the texture.
And you're obviously more worried about egg as an allergen than wheat, which I find confusing.
~Working Mom~Breastfeeding Mom~Cloth Diapering Mom~BLW Mom~
Blog - No Longer on the DL ~ The Man Cave
Shawn and Larissa
LO #1 - Took 2 years and 2 IVFs ~ DX - severe MFI mild PCOS homozygous MTHFR (a1298c)
LO #2 - TTC 7 months, surprise spontaneous BFP!
Ok obviously the BLW group is going to attack me because I have a difference in opinion.
A) Every time I introduce a new food to my DD, I wait a few days before introducing something new. I don't have any immediate concerns of allergies for my DD because as far as I know, no one in my family has allergies to foods. So I am not on high alert for that. But with the introduction of all new foods, I watch out for symptoms.
We can all disagree, fight and attack until we are blue in the face. I don't think there is enough research out there to prove one way or the other what is the "best" or "right" method of feeding a baby.