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January 2013 Moms
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Terrified of choking

beejayzgirlbeejayzgirl member
in January 2013 Moms
Am I screwing up my kid? I so am *terrified* of my LO choking that I am having a hard time feeding him real food. He is 10.5 months. He has been eating purees since about 6 months old. I (finally, reluctantly) gave him Mum Mums and puffs at my husband's and friend's with similar aged-babies urging. He has eaten TINY bites of well cooked fruits and veggies. Daycare reports that he is enjoying lazagna, pancakes, chicken & stuffing - all kinds of things! - at school, but I am so scared to do it myself. I gave him cooked pasta cut small (gemelli) the other night, and he gagged/choked on that, scaring me half to death. It seems like if it's small enough for me not to worry about choking, it is too small for him to pick up. And he doesn't stop and chew each bite - he keeps stuffing his face until his mouth is full unless I take the food away. I HATE feeding him!  I realize that I'm crazy, but that doesn't help me day to day. What can I do to get myself past this? I can't puree his food until he leaves for college (can I...?)!!!
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Re: Terrified of choking

  • Allycat11Allycat11 member
    I understand being nervous but I can't imagine not giving her finger foods at this point.  DD can handle a mouth full of food now with no problem. 


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  • ReeceFamilyReeceFamily member
    Everything PrivacyWanted said!  If you have been doing only purees, it may take your LO some time to learn how much he/she can chew at one time, where to hold the food in his/her mouth, etc...and lots of gagging is part of the learning process.

    We decided not to do purees, and DD still gags quite a bit after 4 months of learning, but choking has never been a problem.  DH was sooo nervous at first, it drove me crazy, but he as learned that gagging just sounds scary. 
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  • beejayzgirlbeejayzgirl member
    Thank you all for your replies. I really appreciate it. I do know that I need to relax and trust LO more. It's so nice to have a sounding board like this for all my irrational FTM fears!
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  • ==N====N== member
    I recommend taking a first aid/CPR class if you haven't. I used to only feed dd finger foods when dh was home before I took it.

    Also remember that human bodies are made to avoid choking. Gagging and coughing are there for a reason.

    Dd is pretty good at knowing what is too much. I'll get nervous when her mouth is super full but at that point she reaches in and uses her fingers to mush it up some.

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  • dulcemariamar1dulcemariamar1 member
    I think it depends on the baby. My LO eats a mix of finger food and me feeding her with a spoon. If I give my LO something big to eat she will stick the whole thing in her mouth. She has choked about 2-3 times when I decided it wasnt worth it and just decided to cut up everything into small pieces. Try finger foods that are soft like hard boiled eggs, pasta, etc.
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  • this decaf lifethis decaf life member
    TarHeelMomToBe said:

    DD actually does better with bigger pieces of pasta, cheese, etc. that she has to chew -- small pieces she tries to just swallow whole!  Maybe you're giving too small pieces, so he's gagging more? 

    I agree with this, sometimes if I give them to her too small she tries to swallow them without chewing. I also let her feed herself even if she doesn't get it all in her mouth because it helps them recognize the food and they're less likely to choke. DD sometimes shoves it too far into her mouth and gags a bit but she's always been able to get the food forward with her tongue.
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  • jobiannjobiann member
    All of the above. New things are scary, but we have to keep our babies discovering new things and learning every day! When DS first started on actual solids, around 6-7 months, our d/c provider actually did a lot of the experimenting. She would report back that he was eating banana slices, slices of pears, cheerios, chunks of chicken, etc. And that made me more comfortable. The other thing is to remember their gag reflex is super sensitive and for good reason. I've finding larger pieces are actually better then tiny ones right now, he actually chews his food rather then just swallowing. GL!

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