Finger food a choking hazard!

[annary]

Hello, anyone with this problem? my ds is now 8 and a half months and loves his food....well most of the time.......he eats enough fruit to grow little bat wings! I would love him to start a bit with finger food (maybe its too early?) but he puts the item in his mouth, loves the idea that he got it to the right place, has a good chomp and then the food stays in his mouth and he doesnt know what to do with it-hence the choking thing!Very frightening! The baby rice crackers are just the right size to put whole in his mouth-disaster- and the adult sized ones are great until he bites a bit off and then the whole saga starts again. i do give him bits of banana and cooked carrot etc but he seems to really want to chew on something? Rather then suck on it first! Should i persevere and keep shoving my fingers in his mouth the release the food, and watch him gradually get the knack, or wait untl he is older ? In a nut shell the question is-will he teach himself, or is it something he will one day just be able to do? Thanks for any help. This website is absolutly amazing!!!!!!!Anna

[nattymarsh]

My dd did the same thing for a while.  When she had the bigger cereal biscuits and bit a peice off I would swoop into her mouth with my finger and get the large chunks out.  I found it was better for me to break off peices that I thought were an acceptable size so she could put them in her mouth and chew on them without choking.  I'm not sure where you are writing from but you can buy crunchy finger food cereals designed for babies that are quite small and pretty much turn to mush once they are in their mouth.  My dd loves these (Gerber graduates I think).  They don't have much nutritional value but they did teach her how to chew larger peices of food without choking on them. 

[HeatherC]

My dd was quite a choker for awhile, too.  I wondered if she'd ever be able to eat table foods.  What I did was to stick with foods that quickly turned soggy and gave them to her in bites small enough as to not block her entire airway should she swallow it whole.  I think alot of it is trial and error for the little one, but we have to be their guardians, too.  The Gerber snacks are called "Veggie/Fruit Bites" I think and we used those for a long time.  They quickly turn to mush in the mouth.  Most crackers will do the same (but I was always careful of rough edges or corners on a cracker).

[annary]

Thank you! I will look for the item you mentioned. I am writing form Germany and I am pretty sure those things dont exist here, but I will ask around. IUn the meantime I will carry on with wet rice crackers banana and soft fruit. once again thanks.