Scared to start solids, need advice

my baby also doesn’t have teeth yet. i’ve slowly started giving her solids in addition to the purees. give soft foods in a fry/finger shape and size. also make sure you can crush it easily between your fingers. so far we’ve tried buttered toast, avocado, steamed carrots, pizza without the cheese, mozzarella (the thick slices so she can hold onto it easily), baked eggplant (which she had an allergic reaction to). need to try eggs but im nervous

It's so scary!!! I completely understand. Banana was a great first for us. There are a few different ways to prepare it. Avocado was also good. Download the app Solid Starts. You don't have to pay for it (unless you want premium features that I have never used). You can search a food and they will tell you how to prepare it safely for babies of different ages! It's been my saving grace so far. Also look up and watch a few videos on how to respond to an infant choking. Practice with a doll or stuffed animal and get comfortable. I did that and it made me way more confident.

also, for choking. if your baby gags or coughs do not start patting her back, it could cause the food to get stuck in her airway. keep calm and within arms reach, and have your phone nearby. if she starts not breathing, going blue, clutching her throat, remove her from the high chair quickly, call for an ambulance, and begin delivering backblows. tinyheartseducation on instagram has very informative videos on what to do

Use Solid Starts app for guidance on how to prepare each food. When she starts to gag, you want to encourage / be neutral towards the gagging, because this means she is trying to get the food out. If she becomes silent and is starting to turn blue, that means she’s choking. You want to pick that baby up and do 5 baby Heimlich, I’ll add a diagram. That will almost always work but if it doesn’t, you want to turn baby around and do 5 lung compressions to help push the food out. Repeat until paramedics arrive. You want to call the paramedics as soon as possible. When I know what to do, I felt much better about starting solids. And it’s good to also understand what to do if baby becomes unconscious - basically you want to check for heart rate and if baby is breathing. Look up baby CPR for more details.

I feel the same way. I sweat every time I'm feeding her. She doesn't like purees anymore and I know she needs to learn how to eat. I think babies know more about eating g that we think. Still are sure the food is soft and easy to gum. My baby doesn't have teeth but she has done good so far with small pieces. I feel more comfortable to mash a bit with my clean fingers and put it in her mouth.

We were in a parenting group that went over introducing solids and what to do if the baby is choking. It helped a lot with the anxiety when we started solids. Firefighters do “lessons” on it often and having the inperson demo really helps. Maybe look to find something similar or go to your local fire department and I’m sure they’d connect you with someone that could help!

I highly recommend eating your food while your baby eats. They mimic your movements and that can be a very powerful tool. I sometimes take on bite out oh his food and then put in on his tray. He seems way more interested in my food than his lol.

My 9 month old has been eating solids since about 7 months I started by giving him things like sweet potatoes or mashed potatoes then I would chew up small piece of chicken and give it to him then we gradually starting giving him more things…At first when baby is learning to swallow solids it will seem like baby is choking but don’t freak out that’s just them trying to learn how to use the throat muscles the more they swallow solids that choking thing goes away. Occasionally my son still does it but not as often he’s had salmon shrimp chicken roast green beans rice spaghetti tuna salad baked Mac and cheese he’s tried a lot and he loves food he still eats puréed food through the day maybe for lunch but for dinner he has solid food and he loves it even for breakfast I give him pancakes and eggs and he loves it