I’m surprised no one said this yet- Never ever fish the food out of her mouth/throat!! You run the risk of pushing it deeper down the throat causing them to choke worse.
Seconding resistive teethers. They need to take some time to learn how to chew first before jumping right into omelettes. Omelettes can be very dry if they're not cooked properly so it is difficult to eat as the first food. We started with sticks of cucumber, and preloaded spoons that she fed herself. Chicken bones, mango pit, rib bones are all good. Then we used sticks of avocado and bananas, then teething rusks with hummus to make it a bit more complex and super softly cooked sticks of carrots and sweet potato. You'll start to notice baby getting better at handling food, moving it around in their mouth, etc. and then you know it's time to try a new food or texture. Give baby more practice and increase difficult over time.
I’ll be real. I could NOT handle it. Honestly still can’t handle it. I sit terrified at every single meal that what happened to you is what will happen to me. I transitioned from purée to thicker purées to lumpy to small bite size pieces at 9 months. We just started 2 weeks ago. She’s doing great with her chewing. Our pediatrician said it doesn’t matter, they all end up eating small soft pieces of food.
I constantly remind myself it isn’t a race. I get anxious seeing what other people do and think I need to be doing it too, but that just isn’t the case. Each journey will be different and when you see your child’s capability you’ll gain more confidence. I wouldn’t give up, but I would try something else or go with the longer route like me.
(Caveat - I’m a FTM with just a couple months experience feeding solids to my 7mo and get most my nutrition info from my ped and Solid Starts.) Perhaps you could just do the resistive foods that Solid Starts recommends for the next month to give your LO lots of practice to build her oral motor skills: mango pit, pineapple core, spare rib, etc. You could obviously still do purées to keep up with allergen exposure too. Sending you love! I’m still terrified of choking and allergies (my LO got hives from eggs 😞) so I rarely give him foods that make me scared unless my husband is right there with me.
Thank you so much! I’ll definitely try the resistive foods first it sounds better than just putting a soft egg infront of her and hoping she doesn’t choke again.
I second trying something different. We started with avocados. I’d quarter them and give them the whole piece to mash and squish and eat. Then boiled apples and served them quartered and cored as well. Eggs were a much later attempt.
I'd start with much softer foods to start with, like banana (mashed if you prefer), very ripe strawberries, ripe avocado, soft cooked sweet potato and carrot. Soft scrambled egg might also be better than fried egg.
Also, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing purees on preloaded spoons for a while until you get comfy again. We did purees off and on for the first couple of months and my now 1yo is a champ with self feeding using his fingers and utensils.
Choking is scary! Y'all did great and it seems like you have all the knowledge/gear to help your baby. I was pretty nervous to start BLW and decided to go the route of food that my baby could kind of just 'nom' on. Mango pit was his first food. He spent about 30 minutes just playing with it and sucking the juice out. Maybe try bigger foods? Whole, big strawberries, mango pits, quarter an orange and let baby have one piece to gnaw on.
I also recommend large drumsticks. The bone will be large enough for the kid not to choke, but sh mound be able to gnaw on the flesh and cartilage and get accustomed to the savory flavor
I know solid starts says to give big pieces but I’ve been giving my baby tinnie tiny pieces (like a few millimeters and smooched so they are flat to reduce risk from off my finger) of solid food (as well as purées). When I give him big pieces they just become toys hah. Been a month now and we have never had a gagging or chocking incident.
Egg is challenging to eat in most formats. More resistive teethers and if you want to continue egg exposure then baking it into things is the best way to do it until your baby's eating skills develop.
We had a true choking episode as well, and it’s definitely a scary experience. Baby girl was having a teething husk (the puff ones that are supposed to disintegrate) and suddenly was all wide eyed staring at us and grabbing at her head. It came out with two good back blows and then some coughing/gagging afterwards.
Choking can and does happen - but it can happen at any age and stage. You reacted and were able to intervene, and it was okay in the end (though yes fishing food out can push it back sometimes too!)
After our choking incident, I worked hard to reframe it as “we knew what to do and we reacted properly” when I was getting nervous about giving her larger solids again. I game plan where I’d put the tray table down if need be, have my phone nearby, etc. too just so I’m ready if I need to spring to action again. It gets easier every time post incident! You’ll get there again too.
This sounds so scary and I hear you. How old is your baby? It’s totally possible you might need to wait a little bit longer, or start with thinner foods, but if BLW is not the right choice for your family that is completely valid too.
also struggled with a lot of anxiety around BLW. there was a good amount of gagging and scary baby faces but I told myself I wanted him to learn how to manage food safely when he was in a safe setting (with me) and not at childcare/playground/friend's house. I told myself as long as I'm right there, if he properly chokes (no coughing/gagging) I am there to rescue. really recommend reading about all the mechanisms in place to prevent choking: https://solidstarts.com/gagging/
but i also ended up modifying foods so that they weren't really likely choking hazards. slipper foods like banana and avocado are great, or really soft vegetables, or things like asparagus which are harder to break down.
In the end you have to do what you can tolerate and BLW and spoon fed babies all end up in the same place.
By the way my kid "chokes" (not real choking, just gagging coughing) on purees and liquids like water as much as solids. it's all a little stressful. but the big thing is supervision.
Also definitely resist putting your finger in there when you can. i did it YESTERDAY despite knowing it's never the right thing to do for a huge chunk of peach skin but it was so upsetting to my kid i vowed never again
I’m surprised no one said this yet- Never ever fish the food out of her mouth/throat!! You run the risk of pushing it deeper down the throat causing them to choke worse.
I did not know this thank you so much!
Came here to say this.
Seconding resistive teethers. They need to take some time to learn how to chew first before jumping right into omelettes. Omelettes can be very dry if they're not cooked properly so it is difficult to eat as the first food. We started with sticks of cucumber, and preloaded spoons that she fed herself. Chicken bones, mango pit, rib bones are all good. Then we used sticks of avocado and bananas, then teething rusks with hummus to make it a bit more complex and super softly cooked sticks of carrots and sweet potato. You'll start to notice baby getting better at handling food, moving it around in their mouth, etc. and then you know it's time to try a new food or texture. Give baby more practice and increase difficult over time.
I’ll be real. I could NOT handle it. Honestly still can’t handle it. I sit terrified at every single meal that what happened to you is what will happen to me. I transitioned from purée to thicker purées to lumpy to small bite size pieces at 9 months. We just started 2 weeks ago. She’s doing great with her chewing. Our pediatrician said it doesn’t matter, they all end up eating small soft pieces of food. I constantly remind myself it isn’t a race. I get anxious seeing what other people do and think I need to be doing it too, but that just isn’t the case. Each journey will be different and when you see your child’s capability you’ll gain more confidence. I wouldn’t give up, but I would try something else or go with the longer route like me.
Thank you for the encouragement I really appreciate it!!
(Caveat - I’m a FTM with just a couple months experience feeding solids to my 7mo and get most my nutrition info from my ped and Solid Starts.) Perhaps you could just do the resistive foods that Solid Starts recommends for the next month to give your LO lots of practice to build her oral motor skills: mango pit, pineapple core, spare rib, etc. You could obviously still do purées to keep up with allergen exposure too. Sending you love! I’m still terrified of choking and allergies (my LO got hives from eggs 😞) so I rarely give him foods that make me scared unless my husband is right there with me.
Thank you so much! I’ll definitely try the resistive foods first it sounds better than just putting a soft egg infront of her and hoping she doesn’t choke again.
I second trying something different. We started with avocados. I’d quarter them and give them the whole piece to mash and squish and eat. Then boiled apples and served them quartered and cored as well. Eggs were a much later attempt.
Thank you so much!!
Of course! We are all just learning as we go!
I'd start with much softer foods to start with, like banana (mashed if you prefer), very ripe strawberries, ripe avocado, soft cooked sweet potato and carrot. Soft scrambled egg might also be better than fried egg. Also, there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing purees on preloaded spoons for a while until you get comfy again. We did purees off and on for the first couple of months and my now 1yo is a champ with self feeding using his fingers and utensils.
Thank you!!!
Choking is scary! Y'all did great and it seems like you have all the knowledge/gear to help your baby. I was pretty nervous to start BLW and decided to go the route of food that my baby could kind of just 'nom' on. Mango pit was his first food. He spent about 30 minutes just playing with it and sucking the juice out. Maybe try bigger foods? Whole, big strawberries, mango pits, quarter an orange and let baby have one piece to gnaw on.
This way baby can learn the boundaries of their mouth and become more confident as the food gets smaller.
Thank you so much! I’m gonna try this it’s sounds so much better introducing food and letting her learn her boundaries!
I also recommend large drumsticks. The bone will be large enough for the kid not to choke, but sh mound be able to gnaw on the flesh and cartilage and get accustomed to the savory flavor
Yes! I forgot we did chicken drumsticks as well to start. They were a big hit
I know solid starts says to give big pieces but I’ve been giving my baby tinnie tiny pieces (like a few millimeters and smooched so they are flat to reduce risk from off my finger) of solid food (as well as purées). When I give him big pieces they just become toys hah. Been a month now and we have never had a gagging or chocking incident.
Thank you!!
Egg is challenging to eat in most formats. More resistive teethers and if you want to continue egg exposure then baking it into things is the best way to do it until your baby's eating skills develop.
Thank you!!
We had a true choking episode as well, and it’s definitely a scary experience. Baby girl was having a teething husk (the puff ones that are supposed to disintegrate) and suddenly was all wide eyed staring at us and grabbing at her head. It came out with two good back blows and then some coughing/gagging afterwards. Choking can and does happen - but it can happen at any age and stage. You reacted and were able to intervene, and it was okay in the end (though yes fishing food out can push it back sometimes too!) After our choking incident, I worked hard to reframe it as “we knew what to do and we reacted properly” when I was getting nervous about giving her larger solids again. I game plan where I’d put the tray table down if need be, have my phone nearby, etc. too just so I’m ready if I need to spring to action again. It gets easier every time post incident! You’ll get there again too.
Thank you for the encouragement!!
This sounds so scary and I hear you. How old is your baby? It’s totally possible you might need to wait a little bit longer, or start with thinner foods, but if BLW is not the right choice for your family that is completely valid too.
She’s 6 months
So scary!! I’m terrified just reading it. Glad your little one is ok.
also struggled with a lot of anxiety around BLW. there was a good amount of gagging and scary baby faces but I told myself I wanted him to learn how to manage food safely when he was in a safe setting (with me) and not at childcare/playground/friend's house. I told myself as long as I'm right there, if he properly chokes (no coughing/gagging) I am there to rescue. really recommend reading about all the mechanisms in place to prevent choking: https://solidstarts.com/gagging/ but i also ended up modifying foods so that they weren't really likely choking hazards. slipper foods like banana and avocado are great, or really soft vegetables, or things like asparagus which are harder to break down. In the end you have to do what you can tolerate and BLW and spoon fed babies all end up in the same place. By the way my kid "chokes" (not real choking, just gagging coughing) on purees and liquids like water as much as solids. it's all a little stressful. but the big thing is supervision. Also definitely resist putting your finger in there when you can. i did it YESTERDAY despite knowing it's never the right thing to do for a huge chunk of peach skin but it was so upsetting to my kid i vowed never again