Gagging on textured/chunky solids

[MomV]

My 8-month-old DS has been eating the very smoothly pureed solids since 4 months old.  He does well with those and various kinds of baby cereal, but for some reason when I try to offer him more textured purees (like thick potatoes) or the kind with small chunks in them (like bits of pasta) he gags and will often even throw up.  However, he can eat Cheerios without gagging.  Any idea what's going on here?  How can I get him on the thicker textures and chunkier stuff without him throwing it all up?  He seems to make chewing motions when he eats, especially the Cheerios, so I'm not sure what the problem is or how to fix it.  I'm afraid we'll never be able to move on to heavier fare!

Thanks!

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

Cheerios tend to dissolve a bit in the mouth and things like potatoes stay as lumps (at least that's my theory!).  We had this trouble, so I just kept trying different things - I found that around 9 months, she did better with just the chunks, not as part of a puree.  Maybe because the combination is too confusing?  Avocado is great, because she can just mash it in her mouth and it's very moist.  We still have a hard time with things that are really dry, like chicken.  I think some kids just adapt later than others to this sort of thing - I suspect he'll get it eventually!

[MomV]

Thanks Erin.  I was also thinking the combination of puree and chunks was too confusing.  What kind of "just the chunks" stuff worked for you, besides the avocado?

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

So far, avocado has been the best (fortunately it's really really healthy!), but banana also works great.  She's also liked really ripe fruit, particularly cantalope and watermelon (which is unfortunately just sugar and water, basically).  I've also been able to give her cooked sweet potatoes in chunks and really soft boiled carrots in small chunks.  I tried really small pieces of whole wheat toast too, which she seems to enjoy and manages well (I alternate it with something less dry or a sip of water).  When we were at a family dinner recently, I gave her some vegetarian canneloni (spelling?) made with spinach and ricotta - she actually really enjoyed that too - she was over 9 months though, so I didn't mind giving her the dairy and the spinach.  I just cut it into tiny pieces and I think the ricotta made it easier to move around in her mouth and swallow. That's all I can think of now!

When she gets fussy, I use Fruit Puffs (they're like cheerios but dissolve even faster).  She knows the shape now, so if she starts to refuse food, I give her one to warm her up - works great!