finger food , worried about choking

[Gem & Leland]

ok , leland is a pure candidate for blw , he does like fruit puree but much preferes feeding himself with his fresh food feeder , his 6 months next week and i would like to take blw further , and offered him a rice cake / rusk , but how do u stop them choking ? taking big bites ? shoving it all in the mouth at once ! he choked on a bit of rusk and prejectiled vomited

does it mean his not ready for finger food ? and should i pout these rusks etc in his fresh food feeder ? his soo happy when his munching !

 

[Squiglet]

little by little hun... lil miss is the exact same... so far its just toast she has with peanut butter/soft cheese/butter on it... but she still chokes... Its getting them used to chunkier food... its the issue with mummy led weaning... ie starting them on purees first... BLW is when the baby starts to wean themselves first with finger foods and there are no purees involved. Mids an expert on this... Its just a matter of taking it slow and not rushing things... try mashing food up rather than puree as a step towards more solid finger foods

 

[fran_23]

basically you can't stop them doing it- that is how they learn how to eat- all you can do it break whatever it is up into smaller peices- or just watch them carefully and help- i think they all start like that at first and with rusks for example they learn to
suck them to make it soft and break it off when its soggy! but i remember Hayden used to just take huge chunks of things and stuff it all in his mouth, he eventually learnt to break it up a bit and take a bit out with his fingers! carry on with his fresh food feeder and soft things likes banana etc if your too worried hun..its a bit scary worrying they are gonna choke!!

 

[Gem & Leland]

i wish i hadnt been pressured into weaning , im sure i could have gone straight to BLW oh well , he does like puree but doesnt seem to love it as much as finger food iukwim ?

 

[fran_23]

give him finger foods like banana, avocado, broccoli etc..all mushy stuff where he can still have it as a finger food and hold it but will be very hard for him to choke on..

 

[newmum]

i wish i hadnt been pressured into weaning , im sure i could have gone straight to BLW oh well , he does like puree but doesnt seem to love it as much as finger food iukwim ?

Hi
I wouldn't worry. There is nothing wrong with giving purees or spoon feeding alongside finger foods. It's just a matter of personal preference and the needs of your child. As adults we eat loads of soft/pureed food if you think about it and it is a good way to introduce foods that you can't really give as finger foods, eg. lentils (rich in iron etc), soup etc. At some point you want them to learn to eat from a spoon anyway.

The others have suggested some good finger foods. If he is having trouble with rice cakes, you could try some bread. My LO likes chewing on a crust especially when she is teething too

 

[Pregnopaws]

Hmm well I thought babies were not supposed to eat finger foods until around 7 months. Anyway, from all the literature I've read, the best way of knowing if they can handle it is if they show a huge interest and try to grab what you're eating and also if they can do the 'pincer' movement with their hands (picking things up between finger and thumb).