Depending how you look at it, I am either very confident and relaxed in my approach to life, or rather complacent! It never occurred to me to worry about Eryn choking on food, I guess I just trusted that she wouldn't, and made sure I knew what to do if she did! And so far she hasn't, and I think she's only gagged once!
I started her on mini ricecakes, and steamed veg sticks/florets, but it very quickly progressed to all sorts of things. A lot is limited by their fine motor skills, Eryn could only eat 'sticks' until her claw grip developed, then she could scoop up chunks of banana, strawberries, pear, raw mushroom, bread, flaked salmon and cod (things that were too slippy as sticks), and then her pincer grip allowed for peas, tiny cheese cubes, haricot beans, raisins, grape quarters etc.
Another thing that limits is teeth, Eryn got her 4 'biting' teeth fairly early, so found it easier to bit pieces off sticks of harder things like celery and apple, but ended up chewing them ineffectively with gums until she got bored then spat them out! This made introducing meat tricky too, until I found my chicken and apple sausage recipe, which involves foodprocessing an apple, an onion, 2 chicken breasts (or you could do the equivalent amount of pork), 2 slices bread and some fresh herbs (parsley, sage, thyme), then forming into little sausage shapes and shallow frying in a dribble of olive oil! These are fab, they can be chewed easily by gums, and are really tastey! I also made cheese and beef sausages in the same way, but with oregano and basil, and lamb and mint ones too - everyone loves them in our house!
I guess I should emphasise that she didn't really 'eat' much to begin with, just fiddled with it in her hands and mouth, but at her own pace worked out what to do. She clearly states when she's full, or bored with the selection, by throwing it on the floor, I just clear her tray at this point and offer her some water to wash it down, then offer dessert!
Eryn's typical diet is now soggy (milky) cornflakes followed by a handful of raisins for breakfast, cheese and ham chunks with toasted pitta bread and cucumber sticks for lunch, and flaked salmon with green pesto pasta and steamed veg for tea. It is amazing how she stuffs whole pasta twists into her little mouth and seemingly swallows them whole - but she's never choked, and they don't come out whole the other end! Desserts are usually chunks of fruit.
I'm fortunate not to have any food allergies in our family, but I was diagnosed as wheat intolerant a couple of years ago, so we use wheat-free products routinely anyway (bread, pasta, flour) so I haven't really worried about giving her anything to try, the only thing she's not had which will likely become a staple part of her diet is eggs, because she threw them on the floor immediately!
I hope this gives a bit more of a personal insight into the 'how to' process, it's been so much easier than all the messy purees first time around, and much more sociable at mealtimes too!
Ax
