Anyone else afraid to feed finger foods?

fireflyz56 · December 2013

Is anyone else out there afraid (I mean really afraid) to feed finger food solids? DD is 8 months next week and I am really struggling with overcoming this. It's my own fault - when she was 6 months I followed MIL's suggestion to give her one of those baby rice husks. It said it was for 6+ months. Anyway, DD grabbed it and bit off a huge chunk and immediately inhaled the chunk. I had to dig it out of the back of her mouth to stop her from choking/gagging. I waited another month and tried them once more with her, and AGAIN she bit off a big chunk and inhaled. She was fine after but now I can't get over this fear of her choking!

I've been reading advice and tips over and over on the internet, talked to the pedi, and have been reading posts on here too but it's not helping. DH and I tried to let her have the smallest pea-sized pieces of scrambled egg yolk yesterday. She didn't even try to chew it, just immediately gagged on it.

I'm so scared for her safety... just thinking of trying again makes me really anxious. I would take a CPR course if I could but I can't afford it right now. She is incredibly interested in our food and wants to try everything we are eating. I want to get us past this milestone but just don't know how to do it.

Kate_C · December 2013

--no advice, just wanted to say welcome back! It's been a while --

fireflyz56 · December 2013

Kate_C said:

--no advice, just wanted to say welcome back! It's been a while --

Thanks Kate, yeah I went offline for a while as I had a lot of personal stuff to sort through. Although, I'm glad I picked tonight to pop back on because I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this week's FFFC so far.

danuli8 · December 2013

I'm sorry you've had such a scary time with your LO. I guess my suggestion would be to try something that she is more likely to suck on than bite off. How about an orange section? You could remove some of the outer membrane so she can taste the juicy part right away. My DS loves to suck on orange sections--basically he's a human juicer. Or try something soft like bread in teeny tiny pieces so they will basically melt in her mouth.

There are probably some good videos on YouTube about infant choking. I took a course and it was pretty simple--alternating sets of back thrusts and abdominal pushes, basically.

That's all I've got, but I'm sure others will have some suggestions.

ClandestineX · December 2013

Hey! I am happy you're back! yay

They have CPR videos on youtube, but remember that CPR won't help if something is lodged in the throat so you should watch videos on how to do Heimlich maneuvers on babies.

I am scared of him choking, but to be honest he hasn't actually choked.. he has gagged and spit up from gagging but not full blown choked.. like he did a few times when he was in the pool.

Try some puffs that dissolve, try half first then in a week graduate to full ones.

fireflyz56 · December 2013

Ok, I will have to give those things a try. It will be interesting to see if she likes orange slices as she hasn't had anything citrus yet. How long did it take your little ones to figure out how to chew their food?

Also, it didn't even occur to me to look on youtube for choking/Heimlich maneuver videos. Thank you @ClandestineX and @danuli8 for the suggestion.

AprilloMom · December 2013

I was really scared too. We tried puffs first. they "melt" so quickly that he did great with them. He does like orange slices. We leave the peeling on because otherwise he gets the stringy white pieces in his mouth and gets mad. He also likes lemons!! Now we've also gave him some tiny pieces of green beans. I think with the puffs he learned how to get them to the back of his mouth which helps with everything else.
I try to remind myself that gagging isn't choking. Gagging is just him getting used to new tastes and textures that stimulate his gag reflex. Gagging doesn't interfere with the airway at all. Although it still seems scarey and has made my son throw up a couple of times. Just don't stick your finger in there when he is gagging to try and get it out because you can push it back and cause choking! (I'm a nurse and have taken infant CPR several times and still did this in the heat of the moment. Bad mommy!!

) good luck! Go with puffs first!

Angela814 · December 2013

Gagging isn't choking! I know it's hard, but gagging is a natural response when they first start to learn to take bites and chew. You definitely don't want to be fishing food out of her mouth because that can cause choking. The Baby Led Weaning book is super helpful IMO because it explains what to expect and what are good first foods. It takes a while before they learn not to fill up their mouths too. DD3 is fine with larger pieces of food (strip of toast, slices of melon, etc) or small pieces (Cheerios, blueberries, puffs), but anything in the middle she can't seem to figure out if she should eat it whole or take bites.

pinottoparenthood · December 2013

Sorry you're going through this, it must be really hard for feeding time to be so scary for you! As much as it sucks, I think all babies are going to gag some when they are learning to eat. Whether you start table foods at 6 months or 9 months, some gagging is involved. If I were you, I would probably start with small pieces that are little enough that it wouldn't be a big deal if your baby swallowed them whole. (Think puffs/cheerios and smaller). This will also help her develop her pincher grasp! Above all, don't jump to fish things out of her mouth. Our little guy has been eating some table foods since 6 months and he still sometimes gags, but if we wait literally 1-3 seconds, he always sorts it out (usually just by spitting the food out). Good luck!

megandscott07 · December 2013

I am nervous too but I just try really small pieces. Also, try researching for a free infant CPR/choking class. Our local fire department hosted one for just DH and I for free (it took about one hour).

kgs0505 · December 2013

Cheerios are a great option too. they don't dissolve as fast as puffs, but the hole in the middle ensures sir can get through if necessary. Good luck, and like others said, gagging is just getting used to textures, it's not choking.

arschm02 · December 2013

Those rice things are stupid. LO has been on table food since just over 6 months and I won't give him those because it's too easy for large pieces to break off. When starting, use a food scissors to cut pieces smaller than her airway so that the risk of choking drastically goes down. Then only put a few pieces of food on her tray at a time so she can't shovel 20 micro pieces in her mouth causing her to choke. Just try to remember that gagging s completely normal. It takes a little bit for them to get used to having something with some size and texture in their mouth. It is not choking or cutting off any airway. Good luck!

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