Hellobee Boards

We started with peas, chunks of very soft squash, and kidney beans (cut in half). She gagged the first few days but then was fine! We did that around 7 months.

She's 6 months and I feed her whatever is on my plate that's soft or is in big enough chunks that she won't choke on a small bit, so she's eaten a lot of stuff! Broccoli, sweet potatoes, pasta, pickles, apples, bananas, mangos, potato, eggs, chicken, corned beef, etc. She doesn't swallow a whole lot of food yet, but she loves just yanking stuff off my plate. She's def gagged a few times, but then she spits it back out, so it actually increases my confidence she won't choke. She's gagged more eating chunky purees than table food. Don't be scared! It's fun, and a much lazier way of doing it to boot!

You're better to give him table food sooner rather than later, as his gag reflex will be closer to the front of his mouth now. So he can learn to manage chunks of food now, and then later, when his gag reflex is further back (and therefore more prone to choking) he will already know how to manage food.

We started with avocado, sweet potato, kiwi still on the skin (they'll suck the fruit off the skin), chunks of broccoli (it naturally comes with a built in 'handle').

Cut everything into spears/French fry sized pieces. It's definitely nerve wracking at first, but they learn very quickly. Read up on the difference between gagging and choking and don't panic if he gags (and he will). Gagging is good, it teaches them how to manage food and shows that their gag reflex is working, which is what will prevent them from choking.

Have fun with it!

We're a few weeks in to BLW that we started a week shy of 6 months. We started with banana, ripe pear, and broccoli - big hits! Tonight I gave her oven roasted sweet potato fries and she loved them! Some others we've done but with less actual consumed due to difficulty holding or consuming were asparagus, green beans, cantaloupe, steamed carrot, and cucumber.

@Pepper: don't be scared! have fun with it. try to remember that gagging is GOOD - he is learning how to manipulate food in his mouth, and bite off the right sizes. I think it's best to start with big chunks so he can bite off instead of small pieces- like a whole banana, pear slices, avocado slices, bread soaked in soup or puree.

We started with (in order) banana, avocado, oatmeal, and sweet potato. We offer big chunks. Have fun with it!

@Pepper: scrambled eggs and anything soft are good. I just cut things up really small. Also I steamed until very soft! Carrots, bananas, avocado.

@Pepper: @swedishfish: We started puffs this week and even though she can't pick the suckers up she loooves them. We have a puff graveyard under her high chair.

Orange slices are something G loves! She can grab them easily and likes to suck the juice out.