had purees for about 2 months.. lumps next but how??????

[kirstym]

hello to all reading this.
My DS is 6 months now and has had a little bit of organic pureed jars stage 1 now for about 2 months.
he loves his cereal in the mornings and his dinners.
but i think i need to start introducing something else, but dont want to go straight to lumpy foods yet.
he likes mashed banana but that is all he has had really.
i tried today for his lunch mashed potato and carrot, but the second spoon he gagged, and this really scared me!! he was then sick everywhere and brought up all his milk he had 1/2 before!
it made me cry thinking that i had made him sick!!
please any ideas how to slowly intoduce lumps and not just give the jar foods.
he is on a 4 hour EASY starting at either 7 or 7.30, is an angel baby.

any help would be very much appreciated.  thanks

[RyansMum]

Hi there!

I used two fab books which had timelines for guidence, one was Lorraine Kellys Book on weaning and the other is 365 meals for babies to 6 year olds, both from Amazon. 
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lorraine-Kellys-Baby-Toddler-Eating/dp/0753507277/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231198236&sr=8-4

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Recipes-Babies-Toddlers-Children/dp/1844830365/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1231198313&sr=1-2

The second one is great for the whole family once you get passed the weaning stage.

HTH

[EZ-EMom]

I would try mashing up some avocado, too.  It has the same consistency as banana, for the most part, and is a fantastic all-around food for a solid meal.  If you're buying jarred food, I would also try moving to the Stage 2.  Its still puree'd but slightly thicker consistency -- sort of a transition from watery purees to lumps.  If you are making any of your own food, I often add sweet potato to more watery veg or jarred food to thicken it.  Hmmm...or, have  you tried yogurt yet with very mushy lumps?  Like stewed apple or pear chunks in yogurt?  E loves that.  (This a real brain dump thread, but I hope it helps!)

[kirstym]

thank you for your tips. i'll try and find some more books. and i might try the stage 2 jars in a few weeks x

[anna*]

I just wanted to add...

I know it's distressing and upsetting but try to think of gagging as a GOOD thing - it is part of the process of learning how to move food around your throat, and gagging is a reflex mechanism to PREVENT choking. You will almost definitely see more of it during your weaning journey, and the best thing you can do is sit back and watch your LO - definitely don't try and reach into his mouth to take anything out, or pat him on the back... just stay calm, wait for him to deal with it, then offer him a sip of water. Don't make a big deal out of it, you don't want him to get scared of gagging.

The other thing is, if he's a bit sick I would just clean up quickly and carry on the meal. My LO was a sicky baby, and my midwife once had me spill 2oz of water on the floor so I could see how a little bit of liquid looks like a huge spill. It made me realise that he wasn't throwing up the whole milk feed - it just looked like a lot.

The difference between gagging and choking is obvious - when they're choking they're not breathing. In that case, lean him forward in his high chair, and slap him firmly on the back.

Not trying to alarm you, just wanting to reassure that there's really nothing to fear about gagging. Even at 13 months, when Stanley basically eats whatever we're having, there are occasional gags. It's just part of how they deal with food.

Stage 2 jars are a good idea, they are less lumpy than stuff you make at home.

I found the whole weaning process quite stressful (still do, sometimes  )

anna
x

[kirstym]

ah thank you for that it has made me feel like im being a bit silly, i tried the water thing and cant believe how much it looks like, but actually not like a whole feed like i thought!
my son is quite little for 6 months so i'll think i;ll wait till he is 7 months and then i'll buy the stage 2 and see how we get on x  thank you again

[EarthMommy]

Hello, I'm just trying out lumpy food as well, for about a week now, and after a similar start to yours its going really well now! Previously I made all of my DD's food in the blender, but now with softer fruits, such as banana, apple, pear, mango etc, I mash them with a fork instead, or just give them 5 seconds in the blender instead of pureeing them completely. At first she looked at me like I was EVIL, and I felt guilty, but I kept going - I think the trick is to use her favourite well tested foods to make lumpy first, and now its going great with her and she doesnt mind the lumps at all. What I have also been doing is using baby biscuits - here they are called Liga First Step, and they are designed to be the first step on the way to proper unpureed food. You crumble them into your LO's dinner and they become mashy lumps that your child can easily handle. At first you crumble them very finely, but then you can add bigger lumps and then bigger lumps until your baby is ready for the next step.

Just keep going, and be very encouraging and calm and your baby will accept the lumpier food. Good luck! xx