BLW and choking?

I chopped everything small so it wasn’t a choking hazard as my daughter liked to inhale food too. Do what suits you.

@Bethany how small 🧐

Scrambled egg was a go to breakfast for us and weetabix with mashed fruit mixed in.

Roughly as small as half a blue berry. Small enough they won’t choke but bit enough it’ll encourage chewing. You can keep increasing the size as you feel comfortable

Larger pieces are easier for them to gag out as well as hold. While it may seem counterintuitive smaller pieces can get lodged in their throat if they aren't taking the proper time to chew (which most won't be proficient at when starting as it's a learned skill)

Larger pieces are too big to get stuck in their windpipe, basically. If you cut things super small early on they're actually more likely to choke on them. They don't need teeth to eat. Their gums are really hard. I recommend checking out Solid Starts as your anxieties are super common and addressed there many times.

You can do purées if BLW scares you! I started with purées, I was very nervous about BLW at first. Do what makes you comfortable!

I did the bigger cuts of everything as suggested and everything got stuck on the roof of my LB mouth meal times where a nightmare as he'd scream so eat each time. I cut them into smaller sizes big enough to hold and be able to chew. This was from around 7/8 months as we started on puree.

Their gums are really hard, they don’t need teeth to eat. We never did purées and our baby didnt cut his first tooth til like 10 months 😂

We do toast in soldiers (like you cut for dipping in eggs). It's just easier for her to hold

I started with purées and gradually increased the texture to it not we’re on larger pieces of food. I was so scared of choking, I’m actually going to go on a baby first aid course aswell just to help my anxiety x

I’m doing purées atm as I’m too scared to do blw! My little girls 7 months and has 6 teeth! So that makes me even more scared! I’m slowly weaning myself up to be able to do blw! I give her toast and also baby crisps, haven’t got the confidence for anything else just yet xx

Something I was taught at baby first aid was to never strap baby into the high chair when weaning so if baby was to choke you can get to them quicker, just keep an eye on them all the time of course

Larger pieces are easier for baby to hold and chew on/ eat rather then shove it in their mouth, same as if they gag they can bring it back up easier, it’s really scary but loud and red go ahead and silent and blue they need you! Normally it’s just the loud gaging and that’s okay they will figure it! They have to figure that if it’s too big they won’t be able to have it. You’d also be surprised they’re really clever at just knowing how to chew and eat even though they’ve never done it before!

They come with a reflex that prevents them from trying to swallow something bigger than they can handle. BLW is great because they learn how to break off food into the smaller pieces that they can safely swallow.

I found strawberries and watermelon to.be the worst foods. Always cut grape lengthways and in atleast 4's . Cut thing lengthways . They tend to suck toast and things like thst

Bigger pieces are safer when starting out and it’s just for them to gnaw on and get used to the texture, rather than actually consuming the food. As they become more experienced with solids, you can start cutting into smaller pieces. I wouldn’t cut small until you are confident that your baby knows how to chew! Also if you can squish the food with your fingers, then a baby can squish it with their gums. They don’t need teeth to be able to chew. I use the Solid Starts app as a guide and it’s been super helpful!

i always cut my daughters food up into little squares until she got a good bit of teeth (at least half of her teeth) then i gave her then as wholes

So I cut up kids food but that way they learn how much to put in their mouths is where the "gagging" comes in handy. They all try to inhale the food and drinks!

Solid starts app has videos of 6mo eating different things and recommended serving sizes

The longer pieces help them hold it and can actually keep them from shoving too much in their mouth at once. The fruits and veggies are typically soft and/or steamed, which reduces the risk of choking further. Bite size pieces are good after they have a pincer grasp I strongly recommend the solid starts app for recommendations on how to cut different foods for different ages

As for teeth, my boy was eating steak before he had teeth. Their gums are so hard!

No matter how we cut the food up both of my kids would choke on everything! After a couple of months they stopped and now it's only one in a while that it'll happen

My baby choked with BLW and it was the worst experience. I was able to save him while with the firefighters on the way and I sobbed whenever they arrived. It’s totally ok to take things easy until you are comfortable. My son had mashed lumpy food until 8 months and after that we started little pieces. He is not a picky eater, eats by himself using his utensils and still explore his food. No reason to rush.