So I opted to not do BLW with my son as I couldn't get the confidence to do so. I started my son on mashes instead of purees and it was going well.
He started loosing interested so I went with it and thought maybe he's getting a tooth or just interested elsewhere.
I gave him a piece of pepper one day while I was making dinner and DH would watch him. He LOVED it. And gagged of course.
Anyway. I've been trying to give him sticks of food. But honestly I hold my breath every time and am relieved when he's finished. I don't want to show him my nervousness as I want him to enjoy food with us. He's gagged. He gets it up though no problem. But I'm terrified.
Stories. Anecdotes. Tell me to put my big girl panties on. Something. I don't want to not present food this way because of my own insecurities and hold him back.
Sigh. I know I need to trust him.
Re: Talk me down. BLW related.
DD has choked once (second week of BLW). I gave her a few blow backs and she spit it right out. I still do it.
Try streamed broccoli, baby carrots, cauliflower, bell pepper, avocado slices, or sweet potato wedges. Another one is "toast fingers" with hummus.
It gets easier. I'm a control freak so it still is hard to "let go", but it was the best when we go out to restaurants and order steamed veggies or give her chicken etc.
Do you know infant CPR? Obviously we all hope to never have to use it, but knowing how to do back blows and such helped me a smidge during the gagging phase.
BFP#2 2.5.11 (EDD 10.15.11) DS born 9.28.11
BFP#4 8.27.13 (EDD 5.6.14) DD born 4.23.14
My Recipe Blog
~All AL'ers welcome~
I also only feed her either on the floor while she sits up or in her clip on chair with the single lap strap. That way I can get to her as fast as possible if she does start choking and not worry about wasting time unbuckling and struggling with straps and trays.
The more you do it the easier it gets. Just go for it!
So I learned what kind of softness is easy for him to handle. Banana softness. He gagged a couple times but got it up fast and I didn't run over to him to fish it out. I watched and waited.
I'm still paranoid. But heading towards the side of more trust and confidence
The BLW fb group and watching YouTube helped a lot. I watched examples of babies gagging. Don't know why people post those but it helped to see what it meant by gagging.