Fear of finger foods

I haven't given my son any finger foods yet, I'm too nervous and don't know where to start! I have just been giving him purees for now x

There is an app called solid starts that helped me a lot with my first (and baby led weaning pages on Instagram). You can search a food on solid starts and it tells you the safest way you should serve the food for the age of your baby. The basic app is free but you can pay for the extras, I never have. Don’t be scared, as long as the food is prepared safely for them they will be fine! Also look up gagging vs choking in a baby when eating so you know when to worry. Hope this helps :) x

I think knowing how to prepare it helps a lot. Also knowing the difference between gagging and choking. It’s actually better for them to have finger foods now because their gag reflex is much further forward, this reduces the risk of choking hugely although they do gag a lot to start with it calms after a week or so. The longer you wait, the further back it gets. Statistically they are just as likely to choke on lumpy purees etc anyway. I found keeping calm and turning it into fun helped my girl a lot, I laugh when she gags and tell her to be careful and now she isn’t bothered about it at all, she just clears it and then cracks on. She is 8 months today and has been on blw since a week before she turned 6 months and has never choked. She’s had steak, chicken, ribs, all types of fruit and veg etc and she does absolutely fine. We rarely have gagging now because she knows the contours of her mouth and how far she can put things in

I had a lot of anxiety with my first but this time round I feel more at ease. Definitely seems scary at first as they will gag a lot but they soon get used to feeding themselves. Gagging is a good sign as it means there body is doing what it’s supposed to. Just need to make sure you start calm and let them sort it on their own (don’t make them jump). I did a lot of purées with my first and not much finger food or would offer him both and notice he just wanted puree. I’ve given my girl a lot more finger food and tried to give her what we are eating as much as I can and I feel like it’s really helped with her eating. Definitely recommend solid starts. I’m not sure if you have to pay for it now but I usually Google the food item I’m looking to prepare and the solids starts imagine will appear on how to prepare. Their Instagram also shows you lots of ‘how to’ images. As long as you cut things appropriate for age and they are soft, baby should know what to do.