baby led weaning🤔 (ADVICE NEEDED)
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When you say you’re having to take it out so he doesn’t choke, what is actually happening? Babies don’t need teeth to chew etc so don’t worry about that.
I gave my son foods to practice biting/chewing before letting him really eat it. For example, cutting cucumbers in thick long strips. He can still practice holding it, directing it to his mouth and biting but it’s way too big to chew or swallow. You can try with thick strips of steak, celery sticks, etc. They can bite, suck the juices of the foods but doesn’t really swallow. Eventually, I let him eat softer foods like banana, mango (not puréed) on his own and he was able to bite, chew and swallow perfectly fine
babies gag reflex is very far forward so when the cough and splutter and go a bit red they aren’t cocking they are learning. only need to worry if they are silent and blue. trying to take a little pieces out their mouth is actually worse as it could cause them to actually choke on the food. at this age food is for fun and they’re learning textures and not really eating as such so will likely spit most of it out. as skye said, joking a BLW group on facebook or see if your HV can recommend a course to give you all the relevant information and to put your mind at ease
We tried the whole give your baby a piece of celery thing and we had the same problem. We found it so much easier to just feed baby off of our plates. He will eat anything we eat
As long as the food is soft, they can handle it. I started with foods like avocado and sweet potato.
I feed my baby what ever I eat. Let baby explore and learn. Dont take food out of their mouths unless they are choking. It’s important to let them try and work it out on their own My baby took about 3 weeks before he actually started eating properly at first it was a lot of biting and spitting out but now he chews and swallows his meat properly
That’s normal. I would put for really soft food first since he’s still that young so i.e broccoli, avocado, boiled carrot - basically boiled or steamed everything to the point where it can melt in your mouth
There is no need to remove the food from his mouth unless he's choking. You can actually cause him to choke unintentionally by removing the food. Babies gag reflex is a lot further foward than adults, so they will gag more, which is what you want them to do as they're learning how much they can actually take in. As long as you offer your son foods that are soft and about the width of two of your fingers (poached fruits, veggies, cooked meat, etc.) you should be fine. Be aware that some babies take a while to get the hang of BLW, so don't stress if your son doesn't like it straight away 😊
Might be worth joining the baby led weaning group on Facebook and asking this but I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t be taking food back out of his mouth if he’s not choking. That’s kinda the point of BLW, to let them figure it out themselves. He’s going to gag but the little rhyme is ‘loud and red, go ahead. Silent and blue, baby needs you’. To tell the difference between choking and just gagging which is super normal.