The night that I wrote that first post, I tried the "chip-sized" method and I found it to be a disaster! I probably did something wrong... but still I'm not sure how this can really work w/ very many types of food. I tried sweet potatoes, because i know DS likes that food. I sliced off a thick chunk, microwaved it until it was fairly soft, and then gave it to DS. He bit off a large piece and promptly choked on it.
The basic problem is this: if the food is cooked, it will be soft enough for them to eat but also soft enough to break off chunks that they can choke on. The article implies that babies who are developed enough to push food to the back of their throat are old enough to chew it. That may be true but that doesn't mean that they WILL chew it. My son can chew, but he hasn't learned that he MUST chew his food.
My other problem is that I can only really think of a few foods that can be manageably served this way -- pears, mushy apples, maybe squash... um that's about all I can come up with. How would a baby eat foods like peas, green beans, etc? I guess they'd just have to wait on those foods until they are older.
For now I am sticking to purees! But thank you ZandersMommy for the yahoo group link -- I am sure I am under-informed on this subject and I'd like to learn more, even though my first experience with it was not good!
