What worked/didn't work? Was there a lot of choking/gagging? Are you happy you did it?
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I have to admit, I was terrified about choking, but what they say seems to be true, that when LO takes too big a bite, he gags a little and often times the food comes right out. Sometimes we reach in there and pull something out. It's trial and error, and at 9.5 months we're obviously still learning, but I feel so happy when I see him eating all kinds of food happily. You'll be surprised at how skillful your baby is. It's worth it-just be prepared for some fun messes!
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The gagging is terrible and made me super anxious sometimes. It helps if someone in the house knows infant CPR. My DH does. We also made sure her food was softish. Broccoli, carrots, pears, sweet potatoes were some good ones.
I think it helped her figure out how much was too much. At 17 months she's very good at spitting out too big bites so I don't worry as much.
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@MoonMoon: @katsupgirl: thanks, ladies! Did you do any purees or go straight to blw? Our plan was to just do blw, but now I'm second guessing a bit.
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We are really happy with our decision to do BLW. I don't know if my baby is a cautious eater, or chews really well, or what - but he's only gagged a couple of times. We do purees on occasion when its more convenient, but mostly BLW.
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At 9 months, we are happy with out decision to use BLW - it has been great for my daughter's fine motor skill development, we get to all eat at mealtime (rather than having one parent feed her), and we've had just gagging, not choking.
The main drawback has been that the transition from EBF to true consumption of food has been very slow. For the first month or two so she was basically just tasting food but rarely swallowing significant quantities. We're actually starting to introduce baby oatmeal to help her get more solids in and get her to do a better job of swallowing. Although she keeps grabbing the spoon, so feeding her is very messy!
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@Zbug: I did mostly BLW but because my mom wasn't comfortable with it I did buy a couple pouches. It was only two cause my LO was not a fan.
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So I just cut a slice of avocado and give it to her? Ha I really don't know why this is intimidating me.
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@Zbug: the whole idea of solids was so daunting to me! We ended up doing BLW exclusive, not because we were hardcore (we meant to do a mix of purees and BLW) but because while I was hemming and hawing about how to feed her, she grabbed a handful of chili (!) off my plate and stuffed it in her mouth and swallowed it, just like a ninja! So then I figured she was ready, and just started feeding her mushy table food. We never did purees because she absolutely refused (and still refuses) to eat them. The aggressively spits them back out again. She's got really good fine motor for her age (and did too when she started eating) (also she has basically no gross motor skills, so I am not bragging or anything) so I think that makes a difference. And I think even young babies have a preference - two friends of mine with same age babies (9 months) have babies that won't eat anything other than purees and act like you're a murderer if you give them avocado. Oh, and the gagging choking thing is terrifying, but I watch baby cpr videos whenever I feel freaked out! And she hasn't ever really choked, although she has gagged a lot!
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It's messy, great, makes my MIL really mad....
My LOs gagged a few times!
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@Zbug: I feel the same way! I really like the idea of BLW, but when it comes to actually giving her a solid piece of food, I am freaking out! Hehe.
I bought one of those mesh feeder things (actually ours is silicone) to start out with since I am a wuss. We are waiting a couple more weeks before starting though.
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@Zbug: we've done pouches for traveling and convenience, and I give him iron fortified baby cereal because we're vegetarian, but otherwise it's mostly all table foods. We've been fortunate that he doesn't seem to be allergic or sensitive to anything yet, so we can keep expanding his repertoire. I think most people probably are somewhere in between, not 100% purees or blw, so you can just experiment and see what feels right for you guys!
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@Zbug: leave the skin on the avocado so she has something to grip!
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We absolutely loved it! Lo is so much easier to eat with...we are able to have family dinners and he feeds himself. We officially weaned with no difficulty at all. So far so good, but he loves every food we give him (especially pasta with meat sauce, spicy chicken, and tacos!). He also eats lots of fruits and veggies. It was a huge win for us
The gagging didn't bother me at all once I learned that the sound just means they are learning...the thing to worry about is when there is NO sound...that means the airway is blocked. Never had an issue with choking at all. Start with really mushy stuff. It will help you feel more confident that your lo will be okay -
We love BLW! I just give her bits of what we are eating and sometimes chopped up fruits/veg. We've never done purées but I have given her some guacamole, hummus, applesauce and I always share my smoothies. At first she gagged quite a bit and didn't swallow much but she's eating a lot more (at 7.5 months). It's super messy and lots ends up on the floor though (the dogs love BLW). Sometimes I'm surprised at what she loves (meat, super garlicky veggies, curry) and it's awesome to watch her chow down.
Oh and I have a silicone feeder that I use sometimes with super slippery things like defrosted berries or kiwi.
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Thanks so much for all the tips! I'm going to give it a shot - and maybe watch a baby CPR video first
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I was super scared about choking but touch wood, she hasn't. She has gagged a few times though. BLW worked really well for us because she didn't like us feeding her anyway and right from the start she handled big chunks of food really well and ate a fabulous variety. I never had to eat my food after her, we ate at the same time and now at 16 months she handles everything really well. She did go through a fussy stage, which I'd hoped to avoid, but she's come back round to most things now. Glad you're going to give it a go, it's loads of fun!
The gagging didn't bother me at all once I learned that the sound just means they are learning...the thing to worry about is when there is NO sound...that means the airway is blocked. Never had an issue with choking at all. Reply
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