Hi Everyone. My son is 9 mos and 1 week old. I am a first time mom. I am having a lot of anxiety over feeding him chunky, solid food... or "stage 3 food." I am so nervous that he is going to choke, or that he is not ready to chew with his gums. Purees go down fine. He is very happy to eat yogurt, mashed banana, and anything that is very soft. I know that I need to start introducing "chewing" to him, but I just don't know how to do it comfortably. He does eat puffs, and keeps them in his mouth until they are soft enough to swallow. I have tried giving him little pieces of banana, and it goes well until he gags, then he does not want anything more to do with it. I mixed some chunkier banana in yogurt, and the same thing happened... a little gag and then he was through. I tried the store bought stage 3 baby foods, and the same thing happened. Now I am really nervous that he is not ready. Have any other moms been through this? Is it my anxiety that is prevailing here and he will be fine? I don't want to hold him back, but I sure as hell don't want him to choke either. Any advice?
Re: Chunky Solids
My Ovulation Chart
Also, gagging is going to happen, it's totally normal. If it makes you super anxious, look up how to do infant choking and CPR (or ask your ped to show you) so you have it in your wheelhouse, just in case.
Hazel eats everything we eat -- literally the same food. Thick slices of beef, raw bell pepper, mini egg salad sandwiches. She is 8 months. She was 'chewing' at 5 months old and rejected purees completely. I was very, very nervous to give her thicker, chunkier food… but she eats as well as her parents do and has never choked or gagged on food.
On the other hand, I have seen babies in my Mamas' group much older than Hazel who don't look ready for chunky food at all. Every baby is different. So just because your baby is a certain age, doesn't mean he's ready for stage 3 food.
Keep us updated and best of luck to you!
Also, how do you regulate how much they shovel in their mouth? He would put piece after piece in his mouth if I didn't give him one at a time.