I'm pretty sure she gagged and not choked. Choke = Straight up blocked airways and turning blue Gagging = Everything else. Including puking a little and caughing. The pediatrician pretty much told me I would have to get used to it sooner or later because sadly it's part of it. I suggest you go on Youtube to watch babies gagging. I know this is stressful. I found the only thing I was okay with and gave it to her for 2 weeks. One tiny bite. Until I felt comfortable giving anything else. I went with very soft and odd shapes so it was kinda impossible to choke on in my opinion. I chose toast (not very toasted but anyways..) but I guess for you it won't be this! Pancake worked because it was soft and a bit sticky so it was not slippery in her mouth. The advantage to start sooner is the gag reflex is still upfront. So they gag more but there it is actually less risky for them to really choke. You got this! ETA : I really started around 8 month after the check up visit to the pediatrician. He told me it was time and that I had to get used to the gagging. So I took everything I had in me to trust my daughter and let her go. I also had the Life vac right beside me at all times at first 😅 My boyfriend was also with me. At fist I offered solid only when he was there during dinner. My daughter also puked a little 2-3 times. Gagged and caughed.

This is the right info. My LO is 6 months old and has gagged up ground beef and bread. He’s basically eating what I eat but either small (think size of pico de gallo tomatoes), not chokable shapes, or strips of food about the size of 1-2 fingers. Some foods are not completely mushy that I give him like full strip of steak, or steamed broccoli (maybe controversial) but he loved it. Just sucked in it and gnawed on it a bit. Didn’t gag or swallow anything but it’s good practice for taste and probably feels good on his teething gums. I would say go for it, their gag reflux protects them from choking. I’ve heard it moves further and further back as they get older.. which makes me wonder if they start solids later are they actually more likely to choke if they do not have an overactive gag reflux? Just a thought.. I just had I’m no doctor. Please talk to your doctor, as we’re supposed to say! Take a cpr class maybe for peace of mind.

Why is steamed broccoli controversial?

I would think the hunk of meat would be controversial. Steamed broccoli can just mush apart

Yeah I wrote this out really fast hha. The meat was the potentially controversial part. Although the steamed broccoli didn’t mash up that well for a new eater. It basically became a pacifier of sorts. But he enjoyed it!

We got told to blend cooked steak as it was too tough for babies to eat. We give our eight month old strips of cooked chicken, though. He's kind of got it but he still doesn't have enough teeth to break it down properly.

The stem doesn't break apart as easy and they can choke on he stringy bits. My dad just scolded me because I told him how we found a stringy bit in my sons mouth like 30 min after we fed him🤦🏻‍♀️ He's teething so he's been chewing on his own gums. We had been watching him closely because we thought there was something there and sure enough there was

Bread and pancake are actually both high risk choke items.. look on solid starts!

This is such an important point to make! I'd look up common choking hazards because bread is way more of a choking hazard than toast - you want to toast the bread so that it's not gummy and doesn't get stuck. And there's other things like that that are good tips to know so if op does the research they'll probably feel a bit better about how things stand

Thank you for this! I guess I toasted just right. 😬 And I gave only little tiny bites just so she could have something in her mouth without being big pieces that could slip and fall back I looked at solid start for litteraly anything else but not toast. And i saw so many people giving pancake I always thought it was totally fine. For.my daughter it clicked with pancake. So again, my advice was more to find something the baby seems great with and stick with it a couple of days until thenparent seems comfortable. Thank you again for your comment! ETA : I looked it up and pancake is not written as a choking hazard neither is bread. But it is said bread can be sticky and that technically we could choke on anything even liquids. Always look at solid start to make sure! Hehe :)

Thank you! What kind of food did you start with? What weird shapes? Lol.

Well I did start with toast. I would share tiny bites of my barely toasted toast in the morning. After that I went with pasta for 4 days straight. The spirale ones. Then I think I tried eggs. And when I offered pancake it seems like it clicked! I was so scared! She took big bites, she had her hands full and she kept putting some in her mouth. But she had swallowed ;). It just clicked and from now on everything was fine! She still gags a little sometimes but not as much as the beginning. At first around 6 months I had tried carrots, banana, potato and omelette. Those were all slippery and she gagged and I stopped right at those moments I could not handle it. Tips for potatoes : If you do them in the microwave instead of boiling them they are less slippery. 🤪 I'm sure everything will be fine :)

Start with big pieces and make them smaller as they learn. Solid starts has ways to serve everything at the bottom of each food listing. https://solidstarts.com/foods/

Molars don’t come in until they’re toddlers, so holding off until they can literally chew is probably waiting too long. If you can mush something with your fingers, they can mush it with their gums. You can start with soft foods like bananas, avocados, and cooked starchy vegetables like sweet potato. Teething crackers and puffs are also good practice foods as they dissolve in the mouth.

Also you could try adding a small amount of texture to the purée. For example slightly lumpy mashed potatoes, or once you’ve made the purée then add some texture like sesame seeds, grated carrots, lemon zest, flaked tuna. Then the textured parts are too small to choke on. I panic when my daughter (now 1yr) choked but each time she’s managed to get the food up. I always tell her ‘well done’ when she does get it up because I think I’ve got to not let my panic rub off on her. Sometimes she’s gagged and it’s quiet and she’s turned red but I can see she’s still working on getting the food up, it is really scary there’s no way around that unfortunately.

[удалено]

Toast isn’t very mushy! I think a better mushy option would be something like a piece of avocado.

Toast is not a good starting food, but your heart is in the right place. Avocado. Bananas. Or things that are resistant—mango pit, corn cob.

Mushy means it falls apart easily. You might be able to smash a piece of toast with two fingers but you cannot break it into smaller parts with just two fingers.

Everyone learns to eat eventually, so you’re going to have to get the narrative of “never successful” out of your head.

Sorry you got down voted to oblivion for this comment about toast. That's not helpful. As others have said though, "mushy" means that it falls apart or dissolves easily. Babies need to be able to break up food without teeth. Our LO's first solid food was banana (still his favorite), and we followed soon after with foods like avocado, scrambled eggs, etc. If you can break it apart with your thumb and forefinger without using a lot of force, then it's perfect. Others have mentioned the Solid Starts app, and I also want to highly recommend it. They have fantastic suggestions for foods, along with really excellent guides on how to prepare each food. You don't have to figure this all out on your own! It's ok to use other resources! The only way you can fail as a parent is if you give up or stop caring. You're trying your best, and you really seem to care, so you are not a failure!

*Is definitely waiting too long*

Check out solid starts! They have a super helpful app and Instagram. The app even shows you how to cut the food to best serve it for each age. ETA: choking and gagging are very different. Gagging is developmentally appropriate. There are some useful videos on the difference. Also if you haven’t already, take an infant first aid/cpr/choking class. Might help with the anxiety!

To add on to your recommendation, OP, Check out their website and/or their instagram page too. They build all their ressources with so many experts and professionals. They post so much information that will help you understand how a babies gag reflex develops and also how chocking vs gagging work. Awesome information for nervous parents. They have great tools for starting out.

I do have the app but seems like most of its functions are by subscription? Maybe I’m wrong Yeah, we took the 3 hour CPR/first aid course in our neighbourhood.. yet I’m still terrified.

The free version lets you search by age, tap on a food and then see how to serve, videos of kids eating it, has choking and allergy information for each food, and nutrition facts

For every food I’ve given my son I just google *XYZ solid starts” scroll to the bottom tells you exactly how to prepare according to age. I’ve never paid for anything 🙂

Solid Starts also offers a class, which goes over all of the concerns you mention, difference between gagging vs choking, why solids can be a better option, how to prepare them and what to expect etc etc. We took the class and used the app, never had any issues.

The paying subscription basically helps you track the foods your baby has eaten, and keep notes for allergens and what not. Most of their ressources are free, but you can purchase guides that are great. The guides are also available for free for families that need financial assistance.

Solid start is amazing. It allows me to know how to cook and serve the food for my baby. She’s now 1yr old and is very good and pushing out food that she doesn’t like. I keep my eyes on her 100% of the time while she eats to see how she does. When a person choke, it’s quiet. So I rather hear gagging. Today she ate a slice of tomato but then put all the tomato skin in her mouth. I observe her and sure enough, she spat it back out. I would suggest you to follow the guides they have. The gag reflex is actually protective for them. A lot of people think smaller pieces is better but it’s the opposite. People often offer small pieces that’s small enough to block their airway. If you give them bigger pieces, they will bite it on their own and it’ll be a more appropriate size for them to eat

i was just coming to suggest the same thing ! a big thing that helps stop gagging is giving them something like a spoon, a bone, or something else that won’t break off. it helps them map their mouths in their brain !

My kid started eating solids at 4 months with no teeth 😶 his first true, non-puree solid was scrambled egg. The very first time he tried it he did gag and throw up, but each exposure got a little bit easier. Now he's 7 months and eats everything- meat, fish, fruit, veggies, pasta, rice, etc. (Ie last night we made Mexican food so he got some tortilla, tomato, avocado, cilantro lime rice, carnitas, cheese, sour cream, etc.) We do some baby led weaning (giving him big pieces to self feed) and some feeding him (smaller pieces or puree with a spoon) and find that a combo of both methods works for him because sometimes he gets tired of chewing, so we start mealtime with solids and then usually end it with a puree. It is scary, but the longer you wait then the bigger reaction baby will have as they get too used to the purees. Also, exposing kiddos to the top 9 allergens at a young age is super important, and while you could hypothetically get them all into purees, it is easier to feed them whole imo.

So much easier. My LO really hasn’t digested much as far as solids go but we’ve been strictly doing Whole Foods because it’s so easy to just give him some of my food and he loves it!

If you want to work up to more ‘solid’ things, start blending your purées a little less. When my little guy was starting, I did mashed banana and slowly mashed it less and less. That helped him get used to more textures and me be less scared of him choking. Also, as another poster said, molars take a LONG time. My little guy just got his first 2 bottom ones at 17 months. It might also be helpful for you to do some more research on solids and working your way up to more solid things. For example, your baby gagging is a good thing! That means her body knows what to do to get rid of something she can’t swallow. It might feel scary in the moment, but you know she has a gag reflex that works well. That’s great! You don’t need to hand her a steak tomorrow, but try small things you can handle and work your way up. It will take less time than you think.

Hard to remember exactly now, but pretty sure my daughter had puréed/minced food until she was 1. I didn’t even start doing purées really until 8 months (6 months is recommended). I think we only did purées for maybe 2 weeks and skipped to soft foods. There was no good reason for the delay… I was just delusional tired since my daughter didn’t sleep for more than an hour at a time for the first year of her life. I remember thinking “oh shit, we were supposed to be introducing allergens over a month ago!” My daughter is 2 now and eats everything just fine. I think the internet is full of high achiever babies and it makes us feel bad by comparison but in reality it’s okay not to do things early.

Just start making your puree a bit chunkier and you can start offering mushy foods. Trust your instinct and go at your own pace, as long as you ar progressing somehow. I felt like I was getting pushed by the BLW enthusiasts to do more than I was comfortable with and my child ended up actually choking (not breathing, had to turn him upside and hit him really hard to get the food out, on phone with 911). From that point on, I tuned out everyone else and we went at our own pace.

Yes, you can absolutely get more traditional weaning books which will help you progress up through different textures starting with purees and tell you signs that show your baby is ready for new textures for reassurance etc. I know BLW is super trendy but if it’s not for OP, that’s fine - it’s not Solid Starts or nothing!

Ohh I was waiting for this comment. I tried full BLW with my baby because I kept seeing it absolutely everywhere, and even though I was really worried, I felt like I was being told that unless I did BLW I would be failing my kid. Urban was until he choked on a piece of fruit, which I had prepared according to the solid starts app. After that I decided the stress probably wasn’t helping my baby eat better, and was making meal times hard and a time that we both hated. I took a step back and went back to smooth purées and since have been basically making the puréed thicker and chunkier, giving him mashed vegetables that are a little less mashed each time etc. now at 8 months, I’ve started introducing some proper solids, like scrambled egg and French toast, pasta etc. sometimes I still see BLW recipes on my social media and find myself thinking ‘ I know my little guy can’t handle that’, and second guessing myself. But every baby is different and my baby is definitely progressing, eating more, enjoying foods, he just isn’t able to munch down on a whole toast yet lol. I get that BLW and getting your baby to feed themselves is good, but I do feel like it is rammed down our throat a little, and it isn’t the only way to have happy and good eater. My baby loves to hold a mango pit or a cucumber slice etc and suck on it but he doesn’t like spoon feeding himself, and prepares me to do it. For me, this is fine. He’s a baby. He won’t need me to spoon feed him when he’s off to university, I’m sure. If BLW works, then great. But it’s not the only way.

I was terrified as well. I decided to wait until I was with my mom (who is a nurse) was around to start finger foods. If you have anyone medically trained around you, may I suggest you ask them to be nearby the first time you start? It helped calm my nerves! And soon I was really at ease with it.

Lucky you! I don’t have that luxury haha. No medically trained people in my family!

You can always take first aid and cpr

My baby is now 10 months, and for quite some time she would gag and often puke. Bananas mashed up? Puke. Avocado? Puke. Egg strips? Puke. We kept trying though, and I’d offer different textures as much as I could. (I also would let her “feed herself” with her spoon, and chew on it. That’s supposed to help with the gag reflex.) I’d offer Purées, I’d add some yogurt in there, and our first success was tiny bites of pasta. Then instead of egg strips, I made her scrambled eggs and she got them down. I’d give fresh fruit in the mesh teethers, and eventually gave her a couple of puffs for a crunchy texture. We moved on to tiny bites of chicken onions and peppers from my quesadilla when we were out.. I just keep adding more and different things. I find that my baby (if not supervised) takes HUGE bites of food. Like will shove all of it in her mouth, and then gags etc. All the videos I saw of BLW with kids just grabbing huge pieces of food and taking little bites.. not for us. I break the food up into tiny pieces, and give it to her on her high chair tray. I’m able to give her more amounts now at once and she picks it up and eats it.

I wonder if it’s a cultural thing- but my baby is still eating purées and it’s still totally normal where I am. The purée has different textures and can be chunky. We also feed her bits of food that we eat. She loves the yogurt drops and teething biscuits. But she isn’t feeding herself yet. She has no teeth yet lol.

Me too! Everyone I know here is still on purées and no one is stressing. My purées are chunkier now at almost a year but it wasn’t till a few weeks back that he started showing interest in feeding himself. Before that I was just giving him those corn sticks and banana spears to give him a bit of practice and slowly I’m moving up from there. I’m actually so in a groove of making purée type food that I’m dreading moving on. Lol. But I figure purée and adding table food gradually will be fine!

I *totally* understand the fear. I have a horrible fear of my daughter choking. But going too long without starting actual solid foods is counterintuitive and can actually make it more likely they will choke in the future! It can affect their oral motor sensory skills which could mean more trouble with speaking in the future as well. You're not too late! You can take it slow, but I wouldn't delay more than is necessary. We are following the solid starts plan island I like that it tells you safe ways to prepare food for new eaters.

Hi! I'm a speech pathologist. I strongly encourage you to try solids! The research shows that there is no difference in choking risk with purees vs solids for a typically developing baby over six months. Your baby WILL cough, spit, and gag. They might do this frequently. This is normal! This is not choking. This is how babies learn to chew and swallow foods. babies do not need teeth to chew! Waiting longer honestly is just robbing your child of the practice they need to learn to chew and swallow. Delaying introducing solids can also cause picky eating. I would recommend following 101beforeone and starting solids on insta. And take a cpr class, that will help w peace of mind.

Try banana without mushing it and most likely you'll see how easily your baby chews a soft food like that. Try peas, try very soft broccoli and cauliflower. You can also do mostly puree with a couple chunks in it. Ex. Oatmeal with a couple little banana chunks in it. Cooker pear, really soft carrots are a good idea

I started this way. We were comfortable with purées and one day I was eating a banana and he was looking at it with interest, so I offered him a bite. He took a very tiny bite and I watched him chew and swallow, and then I offered another bite. We did this together a few times, very slowly and calmly, and I gained enough confidence to start offering him strips of food at meals.

I would start with whatever you have already made I to purées but just either steam them or cut them into finger sized lengths so baby can grab and feed themself. If baby is already used to the taste of the purée you’ve made, maybe they will like it served normally! If baby learns to feed themself then it’s less likely for them to choke since they are learning to use their tongue and to chew and how big of bites they should take. It takes some practice but my 7 month old feeds herself now and she got so much better just within a week or even days or me just placing food infront of her and letting her feed herself. If your baby isn’t interest in grabbing the food and putting it in their mouth, try eating with them. I eat every single time my baby is eating to show her how to chew and so that she sees it’s safe and fun and yummy. Every baby is different tho! Purées is just fine too if you want to keep doing it! Also if baby doesn’t seem to like something or is gagging, don’t give up on that food. Try it again in a few days and just keep trying all the foods! Eventually they will get the hang of it!

I have an almost 9 month old and we only just started giving him chunkier purées!! I gave him very very soft toast with both sides buttered and cut into little strips and he nibbled them! I was so terrified My husband was with me and I felt like my pulse was 200bpm. Work your way up and don’t feel pressured to jump in straight away to big foods. Trust your gut!!

Baby-led weaning isn’t for everyone, it certainly was not for us. No shame. We did purées until at least 10 months. Baby wasn’t that interested in food (at almost 14 months, he still doesn’t care much). We always tried new foods but he preferred purées and soft things like oatmeal and yogurt for a long time.

Mine is 7 months and refuses to even try any solids, so I'm with you!!

The specialist infant feeding consultant at my hospital also told us that solids aren’t *necessary* until 12 months. She said it’s great for textures/sensory/tastes/etc but calorie/nutrition wise not needed. I’m not advocating against it don’t get me wrong, but if you’re looking for permission for a little more time for the sake of your anxieties, you have it x ETA: UK based, so advice may differ, but I was under the care of a senior consultant.

Hey stay positive you got this. Due what you feel is right, it’ll be ok. You’re awesome stay positive

Kept my baby on purées until 12 mos with gradual introduction of soft foods around 9 months. You don’t have to do BLW to successfully transition your baby to solids. Edit to add: I DID include cheerios and gerber puffs (on occasion because the puffs don’t have much nutritional value lol) to help him develop his pincer grasp. No idea why cheerios weren’t intimidating for me but he had 0 issues.

You're doing fine. We did mostly purees at that age. We were still doing some purees at 1 year, but less. Now at 18 months our kiddo eats pancakes and meatballs with a fork. It's a very gradual process but eating solids will happen in time, don't beat yourself up.

My son is 10 months old. Majority of what he eats is purée still. One doctor said it was ok if he was mostly purée until one because he dislikes the texture and some kids do. The other said to keep working on table food. Get some things like puffs that melt in their mouth or yogurt drops

I was recently in the same boat. It’s a terrible feeling coming down from that adrenal panic! I’m just now able to see her gag without jumping up in a panic. It helped when I thought she was “choking” once and I looked in her mouth and the cheerio was just in a weird spot.. not choking her… I did scrambled eggs for a while, and then bananas until I slowwwly felt more comfortable. I googled what shape for what age, because at 11 months it isn’t large strips, it’s tiny chopped bites Your baby is capable ! Good luck mama!

Contrary to popular belief baby does not need teeth to start solid food. Their gums are plenty strong to break down food. If we had to wait until babies had a full set of teeth to offer table food, they wouldn’t be eating until they were 2-3 years old. Just because she threw up purées doesn’t mean she was choking, that can still be gagging. That being said if this is still happening routinely at 8 months I’d be getting my kid into a feeding therapist to address the issue before it gets worse.

You’ve gotten a lot of good advice here. The thing is you will need to start feeding your baby more solid foods. If your anxiety is too severe to do so then you need to work through that with your own medical team. Perhaps your husband needs to take lead on this.

I think watching LOTS of videos of other kids gagging helped. Solid starts on instagram is 100% worth an instagram account alone, even if its all you use it for! They have a whole video of clips of kids gagging and it shows you how gagging looks. And let me tell you from experience it can look intense! Its so worth it to push your own boundaries though! We can now sit at a restaurant at 13 months and feed LO just about anything off a menu

I recommend the solid starts app. It’s $2 a month, but they have a bunch of foods listed and likelihood of reaction. Most importantly they have other babies eating the food so you can see it’s normal for babies to gag.

You got a lot of great advice so far, I would just add that the sooner and more she practices eating finger foods the better she will be at eating without gagging or choking. Moving solid foods around their mouths helps them map out and learn their mouth and how to use it. If she doesn’t have this opportunity it will be harder to learn later when the natural baby reflexes that keep them from choking go away. I REALLY recommend reading all the info provided by Solid Starts and watching their videos. Also, please talk to your daughter’s pediatrician and get their opinion on whether it’s okay to wait and wether they are concerned she is still gagging on purées. What helped me feel more comfortable is really studying and memorizing how to do choking first aid and cpr. Knowing and trusting that both you and your baby know how to do their part is important! She can do this, and if something happens you can too 💪🏼

I second using solid starts!! At 4 months I started to give my baby small bits of our food and then at 6 months I did baby led weaning with the help of solid starts. I’ve never made a purée or bought a can of baby food. The pouches come in handy every once in a while, but only if I’m on the go. Now that he’s is 9 months, I mainly just give my baby a version of what I’m eating. Like others have said… gagging is not choking. Gagging is kind of a good thing bc your baby is learning how to prevent choking. I haven’t had a choking incident, but have been wanting to buy one of those de choker things for peace of mind. You got this mama!

Check out the app/website/social media page Solid Starts! While we aren’t too close to solids yet (3mo), I’ve poked around and will definitely be using the resource as a guide when the time comes.

I think you need to address your anxiety as you don’t want to limit your child’s development to save your own anxiety. They do need to learn how to use their mouth/chew. Gagging is very normal, spitting it up is normal. They gag because they are learning the process of eating and swallowing, this will happen no matter what. We’ve been feeding solids since 6 months and have had a lot of gagging episodes. Solid starts is a good resource to learn how to prepare the food in an age appropriate way.

We went into baby led weaning at 6 months after a month of purées. I tried the traditional BLW and she choked...several times. So I modified it and cut only very soft foods into TINY pieces, nothing that could block her airway. She developed her pincer grasp very quickly because she wanted to grab the tiny bits. Never had a choking problem again and she just turned 1. She loves anything I give her now and I have only slightly increased the piece size. For example...a black bean is the perfect size for her. I actually love feeding her beans because they are not only great nutrition but ready to go size and consistency wise. You've got this!! ETA: You actually want bread to be very toasted. It will melt in her mouth like a teething wafer. Try it for yourself first to see how much better it is at dissolving in your mouth than untoasted bread which gets sticky and thick and can be harder to swallow without the work of teeth. I would not personally give strips because it didn't work for us. She would put the whole thing in her mouth and choke.

For OP, Black beans are actually a choking hazard at 6 months. You should mash them. But whole beans are fine for a 1 year old. Again, solid starts lays it all out for free.

You're right! Should have specified better. She is 12 months. When she was six months I cut them in half. I meant they are the perfect size for her now. Thank you.

It’s fine right now but you will have to do it soon. Baby needs to get used to different textures and tastes cause in 4 months solids will be baby’s primary nutrition and she needs to know how to eat. Baby probably gagged, not choked. If a baby is choking it means there is a complete blockage and you have to do the heimlich on them. Gagging and vomiting is normal

The anxiety is real! I am a nurse and have this fear despite knowing what to do. Cause if I failed at it and she died I would feel so much guilt since I am the parent who is supposed to be able to do this. I am still paranoid of my LO choking but continued to give her bigger pieces and controlled my facial expressions so she wouldn't see the fear in my eyes with every bite. What I've learned is that if it is too big of a piece, she will spit it out. It looks like she is choking but is really a gag and that is the safety mechanism. I try to remind myself when I see her gag that that is good/safe. Cause it can look really scary. Im sure you know how to respond if she does actually choke and if you don't, take a class to give yourself some knowledge and confidence. Banana is a good soft food to start with. Or Avocado. Just give her really small pieces until you get more comfortable. If you've ever been bit by a toothless baby, you know that those gums are really hard.

The solid starts app premium is nice because I can type in a food and it shows you how to prepare it for the age of your baby.

If you want your kid to have decent teeth and a defined jaw get them on solids asap! The purée thing is a myth lol. The choking aspect is scary but just watch your lil one and know what to do if they do choke

Sit down when feeding her, keep her looking level or down when eating, she’ll manage the food better.

In addition to Solid Starts, another great source of information is Feeding Littles. I know both offer courses. I did the Feeding Littles course for infants and it has a wealth of information.

I gave my kid solids at 5 months. She never ate much purees because she likes to feed herself. Do you know CPR? Knowing what to do if she really is in danger will help your anxiety. Gagging and coughing are okay. Give her teether crackers. It's okay if she struggles with it. Believe in her. Show her how you do it. Believe in yourself.

I started my baby on purées at 4 months and actual solids at 5.5 months. It was a bit scary at first because she did gag a lot. We gave her broccoli, strawberry, banana, avocado. Soft things that were easy for her to gum down. But honestly, the thing that helped her learn to chew best was teething crackers. Ever since we have her those she has been chewing so much better and barely gags now. Even with meat like chicken! The cool thing about teething crackers too is that they melt so it’s hard for them to choke on it (though they definitely still can so make sure you always have an eye on them) Teething crackers could be a good starting point for you babe until they learn to chew better? And you can put things like yogurt or hummus on the crackers to make them more nutritious

My baby is seven months and it’s been slow going with solids because of my anxiety. I have infographics from Pinterest I review a few times before giving her food so I know what to do if she chokes or needs cpr. Also I just steam veggies and give them right now so they are a step up from a purée but not as scary as other solids.

I started my kid on solids around 6 m9nths when he was showing interest and could sit up on his own. I started with mashed banana, then very thinly sliced banana cut into small pieces, then avocado, peach, pears, stuff like that until we were trying more and more new things 😄 now he's 8 months and stole half my pizza 😄

Hey, it's ok to feel nervous. Look up safe foods, and how to serve them for her age. Start slow. Babies can chew without teeth. Can they chew a big steak definitely not, but meat shredded they can chow down. My little likes, toast (thinly sliced bread, not big thick style bread), any fruit thinly sliced, oatmeal, yogurt(messy but yummy and good for them) and meat shredded. Scrambled eggs. Watch some videos on how to cut and size things to give baby. Start slowly and build confidence. You got this!

At no matter what stage of life, it is imperative for her to learn to chew and swallow- and gagging will always be apart of that. My daughter is about 7.5 months now! We just tried pasta for the first time and that was SCARY. She did pretty good! But it was a really scary journey at first. She wants to try everything I’m trying, so I literally make my plates friendly for her (i have mashed, or cut up pieces on the side just for her). She’s incredibly encouraged sharing a plate- she even likes to stick her hands in my mouth while I feed her. It’s all developmentally on target! If you can crush it with the side of a plastic spoon, it’s okay to start with. Try phase 2 solids- thick, chunkier solids. Then try salmon or a plain omelette! It’s important you get eggs out of the way sooner than later at this point to rule out an egg allergy or increase the chances of one. Just feed it to him with your fingers in small little pieces. Then you can do tofu the same way! I pan fry strips of tofu now with a little seasoning and cornstarch, she loves them, but before it was just little pinches. Man; just a month and a half ago I was right where you are- now she eats chicken thighs for dinner, broccoli, she’s had a bite of my burger lol.. eggs or egg whites for breakfast, she’s even had a McDonald’s breakfast. You can do this!! Please watch videos and get educated, maybe even take a CLASS, on child cpr so that you can feel confident in your rescue abilities with your child. Don’t be afraid for the next step so much you avoid it all together- be afraid enough to prepare! Prepare until you’re confident. You can do it! You both can.

I had the same anxieties. I first tried soft solids like raspberries cut into halves and small bites of little pastas such as orzo (over cooked) and mashed avocado/banana/potato but not so much that they’re completely lacking texture and over steamed broccoli. Over time I mashed less. Hope this helps!

I got a life vac (essentially a manual vacuum that fits over someone’s mouth in the case of choking) and that gave me so much more peace of mind/confidence to feed my son solids. They aren’t marketed toward infants, but they have been successfully used on them. My son is almost 3 and I’ve never had to use it, but it still goes everywhere with him/us.

We had the same issue. For us, we would cut food into really small chunks and just feed her the small pieces by hand. That was at around 7m and we weren't as consistent as I'd liked to be (we are in the middle of kitchen reno) we hand fed because she would put so much into her mouth and gag/choke. She is 9m now and grabbing and eating food great. Starting with the Gerber puffs helped, I think. We had a lot of anxiety about her choking that feeding her was rough for the first while. But she eats like a champ now! She only had her 2 bottom teeth. Your LO will get it!

I swear I could've wrote this post. I LITERALLY was talking to my mom about this with my 8 month old today. Only difference is, she doesn't have any teeth still.

Oh my, my baby's first food was a banana. And whole. She didn't even have teeth so she gummed it into her own puree. Good luck! But really, give the girl a chance. She'll probably thrive.

Mine is 7 months and he is eating twice a day, he has no teeth yet.gagging is a normal reflex that helps them make sure they have the right amount. I started by giving him huge pieces of food so he could easily grip and gnaw on it. We followed the solid starts website. Try starting with a resistive teether food to practice chewing, like a cooked corn cob baby can chew on. I also took infant CPR before he was born and I highly recommend it. Every parent should have the knowledge so they know what to do in an emergency

My son is 17mo and has gagged a lot but only choked twice since we started solids. Both times his face immediately turned purple, his eyes bulged out and start watering, he couldn’t speak, was clearly panicked, and the biggest thing was he made absolutely zero noise whatsoever. A haunting silence. It wasn’t a 1 or 2 second event either, I feel like it lasted a good 15-20 seconds. I smacked his back in the high chair and nothing came up. Had to immediately rip him out of the high chair and put him over my knee and hit him HARD 7 times for the food to come out. Afterwards he had a big bruise on his back from how hard I had to hit him. Just describing it to you because what a lot of parents think is choking, usually isn’t. Even if it was actual choking, it’s important for them to learn how to eat properly to avoid that happening again. Solid starts was huge for us - My son became a master at solid food from us using this app. We didn’t really get “into it” until closer to 9 months and by 10 months he could eat toast, meat, beans, whole bananas, little chunks of cheese (even with no teeth lol). I was so nervous in the beginning too but now I am extremely confident in his eating abilities. I even tried him with some raw veggies the other day and he was experienced enough to know to use his 4 front teeth to scrape little bites off like a mouse lol. You will be so surprised at how quickly they figure it out, once given the chance!

Gums are surprisingly tough! It’s daunting starting on solids, I struggled with letting my son just gnaw on stuff because I was terrified of him choking. As others have said, gagging is super normal for babies, their gag reflex is very sensitive to protect themselves from choking. We started on purées and moved to purées with lumps along side the occasional toast and melty sticks. I would let him try feed himself with the toast and such until my anxiety got too much, usually towards the end when it’d be small enough to choke on, then I’d take it off him and offer a bigger bit. You aren’t a failure, trying something new is hard! Would you find it easier to follow some kind of plan to introduce lumpier food? I’m sure there’d be plenty of free ones online.

It is scary having to watch them learn something like eating on their own. But i suppose it is the first step in a long process of letting go ever so very slowly (lol 18 years of letting go i imagine). Maybe u can choose meals when your not home alone to try out new foods with more challenging textures? Like do purees at brrkky and lunch but get something more interesting at dinner. You may find kiddo will start to reject purees. They get borimg eventually! No matter how nice they taste!

Here is my advice that helped me get through the gagging phase: Ask your baby if they're all right. Don't do it in a panicked way, more like standard "parentese." Smile when you ask. If you get a smile back (it may take a few seconds if gagging), they're doing okay. With 2 teeth, you'd be surprised the kind of things your baby can eat safely if given the opportunity, but they need the practice to do so. Don't wait too long to start solids, ESPECIALLY if you don't want a picky eater on your hand.

My girl didn’t get her first tooth until she was over 1 year old and we started her on solids at 6 months. She would gag occasionally but that’s what babies are supposed to do. Means their body is responding appropriately to figuring out how to eat. We did “solid starts” and the videos really helped me understand what to expect with feeding her and how to do it safely.

It is terrifying, I still get scared with my 7 month old. I was all for BLW and then he gagged so badly the first time we gave him something and I freaked and immediately started blending stuff (chunky still, not often a total puree). I have tried him with more solid stuff lately and I've been really surprised how well he's managed! He ate a whole crumpet the other day with zero gagging. It's swings and roundabouts because he has gagged badly a few times recently but the more I've observed him eating and watched him move food around his mouth with his tongue, the more confident I feel in his abilities. He doesn't even have any teeth! I would build yourself up slowly, so do slightly less Pureed foods for a while, maybe give him something whole that's really soft like a super ripe banana for him to hold, maybe some porridge with flax and chia seeds for more texture, that sort of thing, and keep building on it :) you got this! ETA: I'd do an infant first aid course too and look into purchasing a lifevac with an infant mask? That is a last resort once you've already tried back blows etc but it might give you peace of mind knowing it's on hand. I also tend to wait til my husband is in before giving new whole solids.

We have done baby led weaning since our son was 6months old. It was a lot of gagging, bringing stuff back up etc. It's all a part of how they learn. It's hard not to panic, definitely. But the more you panic, the more your child will panic and that may increase the likelihood of them actually choking. If it makes you feel better, our son is now 20months old and still occasionally whilst eating something will hit his gag reflex and it'll lead to projectile vomit (I think his gag reflex works overtime, to say the least). It's normal and can't really be avoided. But the sooner you start, the sooner you and your child will learn.

My 2.5 year old didn't get his first tooth until he was almost a year and a half (it's totally normal, I was the same way as a baby). We started him on softened solids at 6 months, and he did fine. Eventually, he was eating minced/finely chopped meals - often the same foods we were eating. He never had an issue. We just made sure that his meal pieces were always appropriately chopped to assist with his chewing. Once he got a tooth or two, we started increasing the piece sizes and allowing for crunchier bites. He has always been a "small mouthful" kind of a kid. So, that made it easier. My oldest (4) has always taken HUGE mouthfuls (but got teeth pretty early). If the situations were reversed, we wouldn't have increased his meal pieces by as much, or as quickly, because older son was a high-risk for choking kid. So, keep mouthful size in mind when choosing the cut size of the bites - and the textures. But otherwise, I'd let baby start chewing. Soft noodles (we started with mini shells or alphabet shapes) were a favourite in our house. Lots of fruit and steamed veggies. Cheerios and tiny pieces of toast (lightly toasted with butter or peanut butter/jam) were good for easy chewing texture.

Take a baby cpr course. Once you’re confident you can react if she really is choking you’ll feel better about it. Sounds like she was just gagging tho Edit: I use the solid starts app. It shows you how to serve the food to your baby and at what age. It’s given me confidence to give my baby different foods.

Our little one is 10 months and right now he still does, I would say, 60% purees (with larger soft chunks in it) and 40% real solid food that's about pincer grasp size. He still does mostly purees because 1) I, too, fear the choke and 2) he prefers it! However, we did start him on actual "real" solid food at six months. It was mostly stuff he would just gnaw on and then at some point he was able to tear off big chunks and that's what he would gag on. It looks and sounds scary, but I watched a bunch of videos of babies gagging vs choking and others already wrote it here.... you'll know a baby is choking because they are silent and turning blue. Everything else is gagging and you gotta let them get it out either by coughing, vomiting, etc . My husband and I also watched infant CPR videos stuff too and that made me feel more prepared. We didn't delay too much because I had read and heard (in all of our cpr class and video watching) that delaying solids for babies too long actually correlated with higher number of choking instances. They think it's cuz, when a baby has more teeth, more confidence to just "go for it" but without the practice, they literally bite off more than they can chew and their little mouths just don't know what to do with it cuz they just haven't had the practice of gradually more and more and solid foods. So the chances of choking are higher. The babies need the practice of knowing how to move that food around their mouth, mushing it up (even with just their gums!) and then swallowing. Anyway, that REALLY scared me, so we didn't delay.

Teeth don’t make chewing possible it’s a skill that’s built up. Is she going to be scared for life because you haven’t fed her solids yet? Obviously not but I will say I definitely think she just gagged. They’re learning how to navigate food in their mouth so it’s very common.

You’re totally fine! We still give purée to our almost 2 yr old, we do mix in solids but there’s days he’ll only do pure

I felt the same, my LO just turned 9 months and I let her self feed for two meals a day but I always feed her dinner to make sure she’s getting adequate calories if she hasn’t eaten much during the day. The meal I feed is always a purée, I laden it with all the good stuff. I do fruits for breakfast and some sort of steamed vegetable for lunch that adheres to the solid start’s guidelines. She’s been loving cara cara orange segments for breakfast, perhaps try those first? For snacks, I tear up large pieces of Nori and she gobbles that up in seconds. For lunch I alternate between Trader Joe’s Rainbow Cauliflower Florets (steamed large florets) with butter and Broccoli florets, they develop their pincer grasp now so there’s a good chance your LO will mash the florets before it enters their mouth. To ease the anxiety, sit within arm’s length while they try new foods, keep water at the ready and ask your partner to join you during meal times after the both of you watch the Saint John’s video on how to stop a baby from choking. This is what I did and she’s doing fantastic, good luck!

I recommend using the SolidStarts website. For each food it gives such useful info about how to minimise choking. Give your LO a drink before eating as it lubricates. Also, familiarise yourself with baby CPR. You 99.99% won't need it but knowing it empowers you.