Need a kick in the pants..... or maybe just a pep talk

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

I am a freak when it comes to choking and as a result I have been too afraid of finger foods. I have only given purees and finely crunched up Gerber finger stars (which are not supposed to be cruched up ) I have read another post regarding this topic and I do feel a little better, but not enough. Could someone tell me what size/shape/texture of food to avoid. If I know the why behind the "food no nos" then maybe I will feel more comfortable. I just feel like Gage is older now and I need to just do this.

Ps Here are some additional questions

1. what size/type of toast do some of you give?
2. Same with cheese. How do los gum this?
3. What is the size of saltine?

[maggieruth]

you are right, it IS scary to think about our los choking on the food we give them!  Wtihout knowing Gage and how big he is, if he is starting to look like he is chewing etc, its hard to know what to suggest.  i can tell you though that this, like any other skill that you learn is going to involve some mild "risk" because thats how we all learn skills. (until Gage is given something that needs to be chewed, he really doesn't need to learn how to do it, KWIM?)
we started with cheerios as finger foods and worked our way up to foods that disolved quickly in my mouth (most of the baby biscuits and probably the Gerber Stars do), then rice cakes, then bits of banana and raisin.  the biscuits are gummed by the babies so that they are a rather unpleasant mush as they finally put them in their mouths.
meanwhile, start adding lumps to his purees, cous cous is an easy way to do this, or well cooked lentils, etc.
we have just started giving ethan fruit that is in bits rather than purreed (mainly because it took me a while to realise that my old routine was getting kind of silly!  ) and for ages now he has been able to take banana right out of the peel.  when we started to notice that even with his gums (he now has 4 teeth) ethan could gum a bite off something (esp something his dad or i were eating) we started giving him strips of toast and quarter sized pieces of cheese.
i thik another thing that gave me the confidence to do this is the fact that i have good paediatric first aid skills and i feel blessed that my job requires them!!!
HTH! good luck!

[cornflake girl]

i think different babies "get" chewing at different rates - some gag loads and some not at all - even within the same family from other posts i've read, so i'm not sure how much it is to do with the food...

toast worked really well as an early finger food for my ds. we tried him on bread to start with, but that made him gag loads, whereas toast seems to dissolve better?

play about and see what size bits your lo can deal with. just make sure you're keeping a close eye (i'm sure you will!), and if he does gag, try to stay calm so he doesn't pick up on your fears. if you think the food is stuck, just tap on his back between his shoulder blades - don't stick your finger in his mouth, as it might just push the food further in.

maybe a baby first aid course would make you feel more confident?

[tylersmommy]

I was the same way for the longest time! In fact, my neighbor across the street at the time was a firefighter. The first10 or 15 times I gave Tyler cheerios, I glanced out the window to make sure he was home in case something happened! The Gerber puffs and cheerios are a great way to start. At first, your best bet is to stick to foods like those that dissolve quickly and don't even require gumming or chewing. You can even soften them up a bit first in your mouth or a glass of water if you'd like. From there, we moved on to toast and french toast bits cut to the size of cheerios. After he was fairly proficient with those, we went to bread and very soft fruits and veggies in slightly bigger chunks. If you try cheese, make sure it's soft...string cheese cut into bits is about the right texture.

2 things to avoid...chunks that are too big and food that doesn't dissolve easily (when you're first starting out, anyway). A slice of banana, for example, is the exact size of a baby's windpipe. If he inhales at the wrong time, it can get stuck, so food should be pretty small so that if he does inhale it, he can cough it back up. Foods that don't dissolve easily should wait until he's had a little experience.

Good luck!

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Thanks ladies! Gage as already started to chew and that is why I am feeling the pressure. I do know baby CPR/hymlic, also a diagram posted have on the refer in case I panic and my husband is a police officer (I too make sure he is home if I try anything "dangerous" ). Anyway, the visual about the banana and the wind pipe helps A LOT. So anything I give him should be able to fit with ease through this right? I think I will start with the presoak whole stars and then try some of the other examples you ladies provided. It seems like cherrios would be most dangerous, but everyone recommends them  Okay here I go.......

Thanks again

[tylersmommy]

Cheerios are usually recommended for 2 reasons...they dissolve quickly, and they're tiny enough that if they get inhaled, they can be coughed out. My test was always to put a food in my mouth and see if I could mash it against the roof of my mouth with my tongue. If I could, then it was soft enough to feed Tyler. Whenever I'd give him a cheerio or puff in those early days, I'd put one in my mouth at the same time and just leave it there. That way I'd know exactly when Tyler's had dissolved in his mouth and I could stop worrying...until he ate the next one, anyway!