BLW - gagging with vomit

[sunwise]

Hi all,

My DS is just a little over 6 months old, and we started BLW this past weekend. So he's only been getting food for literally two days, so maybe this question is a bit premature....But anyway, last night we were eating sweet potato "fries" (they weren't actually fried, just roasted in a fry shape) and he seemed to be liking them. Then he had a rather large spit-up/vomit that ended with a piece of sweet potato coming out of his mouth. So, before that I had been referencing the Rapley book, which I read a few months ago, and I noticed that it said that vomit can come along with gagging in a baby. My LO didn't seem bothered by the vomit - he started reaching right back into it for more sweet potato. (gross!) But he did get mad when we took his food tray away to clean up the vomit.

Is this a normal reaction to go along with gagging? I am really excited about BLW, but I have to admit, now that we are doing it the gagging scares me (mostly because I am afraid of real choking). Should I worry or just keep moving forward?

Thanks!

[Knitting Mama]

Yep! Totally normal! It tends to happen more in the beginning than any other time, but it still very occasionally happens with my 10.5 month old, especially if she crams too much in her mouth at once!

[P.J.]

My baby threw up a little at nearly every meal for the first couple weeks. He's 9 months now and never does it anymore. Hang in there!

[Snapdragon]

I would not be comfortable with that at all! I personally would puree the food.why put the baby through all that? They are so tiny and just transitioning to solids and have no teeth yet- why not just make it as gentle and easy a process as possible? I have had this discussion here on MDC many times- I know many people LOVE BLW but it honestly makes no sense to me! I would not do it! I don't need to hear about book references and gag ideas etcetera- I have heard it all! I know a lot of people really find it to be a good thing but it is just my personal well considered opinion that it is not a good idea to giv e a baby something that makes them gag!! Anyone else agree with me? I know there are many who disagree with me, but I am curious if anyone else reading this agrees with my stance on this?

[Laurski]

Originally Posted by Snapdragon 

I would not be comfortable with that at all! I personally would puree the food.why put the baby through all that? They are so tiny and just transitioning to solids and have no teeth yet- why not just make it as gentle and easy a process as possible? I have had this discussion here on MDC many times- I know many people LOVE BLW but it honestly makes no sense to me! I would not do it! I don't need to hear about book references and gag ideas etcetera- I have heard it all! I know a lot of people really find it to be a good thing but it is just my personal well considered opinion that it is not a good idea to giv e a baby something that makes them gag!! Anyone else agree with me? I know there are many who disagree with me, but I am curious if anyone else reading this agrees with my stance on this?

We only just started solids on Friday, so I'm a newbie at all of this.  I was excited to try a mix of BLW & purees, depending on what seemed best for my daughter.  However, after our first experience of giving her some pieces of avocado and watching her gag on it, I think I'm going to have to stick with purees for now.  BLW is definitely not for the faint of heart!  I think that my general wussiness, combined with having dealt with (and still dealing with) some nasty reflux issues, makes me less inclined to stick w/BLW, even though, having read the book, I can certainly see the logic behind it.

At the same time, Snapdragon, I can see your side as well.

<<Sigh>>.  Being a parent can be so overwhelming sometimes...over things that seem to be so simple.

OP, no words of wisdom...best of luck in your food journey with your LO!
 

[Buzzer Beater]

Originally Posted by Snapdragon 

I would not be comfortable with that at all! I personally would puree the food.why put the baby through all that? They are so tiny and just transitioning to solids and have no teeth yet- why not just make it as gentle and easy a process as possible? I have had this discussion here on MDC many times- I know many people LOVE BLW but it honestly makes no sense to me! I would not do it! I don't need to hear about book references and gag ideas etcetera- I have heard it all! I know a lot of people really find it to be a good thing but it is just my personal well considered opinion that it is not a good idea to giv e a baby something that makes them gag!! Anyone else agree with me? I know there are many who disagree with me, but I am curious if anyone else reading this agrees with my stance on this?

Well they've got to learn some time, and whenever you choose to give your baby solids this will happen. Nine months or 19, it is a learned skill to manage chunky foods and gagging is normal. Babies might gag on purees the first few times as well- they're learning to swallow thick stuff. And babies mash food with their gums, not teeth.

When would you start solids?

[newlyminted]

we've been doing BLW for about a month and a half now. Finn doesn't seem to gag too often and has only spit up/vomitted at the end of a meal, so I consider it as normal as spitting up after nursing. I'm not a an all or nothing blw-er, i have given Finn purees....sometimes I mash stuff up if I forgot to cut things into appropriate sizes...for me, I find he doesn't eat nearly as much puree as he does solids because he is too interested in playing with and chewing on his spoon. and he genuinely seems to enjoy feeding himself.

OP, I would give it a few more tries before totally giving up. I found by about week two or so Finn had figured out how to chew things. If it isn't working for you, go ahead and change your style!  Maybe try again in a few weeks with the solids.

[poorlittlefish]

I totally agree snapdragon. 

I have 2 DD, with my 3 year old we did puree's until she was ~10 months or so and then moved onto pcs she could pick up and eat and she never gagged or vomited once.  So, I don't agree that it happens at some point.  I feel like it is a developmental thing.  Once they get older they can handle the pcs easier but not when they are tiny.  Again, different strokes and I know people who LOVE BLW but it just isn't for me. 

Often, my 8 month old will grab the spoon and I let her do that but we will continue with purees and easy finger food (egg yolk, cheerios) for a while now.

[Snapdragon]

I am glad someone agrees with me! In almost every convo on MDC I have had on this issue most of the responses disagreed and I was really confused if I was the only one with this opinion!

[1blueheron]

Originally Posted by poorlittlefish 
 

I have 2 DD, with my 3 year old we did puree's until she was ~10 months or so and then moved onto pcs she could pick up and eat and she never gagged or vomited once.  So, I don't agree that it happens at some point.  I feel like it is a developmental thing.  Once they get older they can handle the pcs easier but not when they are tiny.  Again, different strokes and I know people who LOVE BLW but it just isn't for me. 

Another puree feeder here, at least to 9-10 months or so.  I like the idea of BLW, but was never convinced by the "what did people do before blenders" argument I sometimes see.  (Lots of cultures did - and still do - pre-chew food for LOs.)  I'm sure as with everything else babies vary in what they can manage, but my DD didn't care for solid solids until 9-10 months, so we followed her lead.  Not too long after that she was tearing chunks off medium rare steaks!  We had very very few gagging incidents.  
 

[carmen358]

My DD gagged on small pieces when starting blw maybe 5 or 6 times but we started with very, very small pieces (I think I read pea sized or smaller is not a true choking hazard). She gagged and threw up 3 times when I gave her some rice cereal (the only times I tried because I was curious if she would like it).  We also tried purees a few times and she had a way harder time with purees and cereal when she was first starting out.

Personally, I think every baby is different and as long as your baby is showing the "classic" signs of readiness then do what works for your baby and you! In my limited experience they all seem to end up in the same place in terms of what and how they eat!

[St. Margaret]

My baby didn't gag but we would have mashed up sweet potatoes at that age. Like she ate from what we were eating, and I just mashed our roasted sweet potatoes, chopped off the soft teeny bits of broccoli, etc. If baby is nursing on cue there is no reason to stress over food. Dd didn't ingest a real amount of food til closer to a year. I would make applesauce for us both but also just quickly dice apple or let her suck on a whole one. I agree every baby is different but if a baby still has a serious gag reflex and is still sooooo young I'd pull back on solids and certainly just do the softest from our plates.

Eta when I say mashed etc I just mean with my fork at the table

[octobermom]

We did a combo of baby led and more "tradtional" we started solids at about 7 months when my LO could sit up unassisted well. We did start with some combos of baby food jarred and homemade very soft bits of food BUT it was more cause we were jsut testing for allergies and some tiny degree of likes and dislikes.. I was also very cautious because my firt child has apraxia and she TRULY did gag and choke with food not natural baby learning occasional gagging but real scarry dangerous chocking. Shes did it even with the puree..
We did quickly go from the few weeks of tasting to real exploration of BLW self feeding and I'll say it has been great. Weve had just a few tiny incidents of her putting too much in her mouth and gagging and its kinda an amazing and oddly comforting site but she knows what to do.. Actually she gags less now than when we were doing puree far less.. I think its mostly age but also the body does seems to process the signals diffrently. I still give foods in ways that are "safe" I cut foods so if it is swallowed whole its not going to block her air way.. CLW doesn't mean we take no responsibility but it does mean feeding foods appropiatly in natural forms with texture and ways they can eat. I'm not against soft foos we gives mashed potatoes soft cooked stews, yogurts puddings and I did teach my child to accept me feeding her from a spoon just as well as her self feeding cause sometimes its jsut easier to let mama help.

But My DD JUST this past week popped her first tooth its jsut now visiable.. yet we get comments all the time on the array of foods she eats and well for someone without teeth.

Deanna

[motherhendoula]

My LO just turned 6 months this week and i have had some concerns myself about feeding him!  My older two kids started foods (purees) at 5 mon and by 6 months they were ready for small pieces , could handle sweet potato 'fries'  and gummed their food very well - but it doesnt seem to be working for this new LO!  We tried teeny tiny pieces of banana and he swallowed hard - his eyes teared up - and gagged and finally got one down.  He seems to like the apple sauce pretty well - but i am not sold on any of this!  he is 20lbs at 6 mo old..i think breastmilk is serving him well.  My DH says we should do more purees though to let hm practice.  I think we will be taking this very slowly. 

[blessedwithboys]

First, I wouldn't start solids at the "magical" age of 6 mos unless the baby could sit up in high chair unassisted for the duration of the meal, had previously been showing great interest in adult food that wasn't satisfied with toys or other distractions, and had a tooth at least just breaking through the gums.

Sweet potato is a great first food, though.  But why does it have to be a long spear shape?  Can't it still be "BLW" if you roast it and then mash it to bits with a fork and dump the mound on the tray and let baby go at it?  In a spear shape, the baby can literally bite off more than he/she can chew.  In a heap on the tray, the baby will have a harder time getting a handful and will be mostly just licking the flavor off of his/her fingers at first.  And intro of solids is more about taste and texture exploration than actual calories, right?

Why can't there be a happy marriage of complete self-feeding and spoon-feeding?  Meet the baby in the middle by making a thick puree and then letting him/her feed it to him/herself.

And my ds2 was affectionately called "Chokey-boy" for the first year he was on solids.  He once got a hold of my PB&J when I turned my head for two seconds and I thought for sure it was the end of him.  He must have been about 11 or so months.  But as gaggy as he was, I puts mounds of mushy food in front of him and overall he did just fine.  His faves were sweet potatoes, bananas, and whole grain couscous with brown lentils.

[WildinTheory]

I'm doing BLW for the most part with my DD who is 7 months old. We have tried purees a bit but she hates them. I will agree though that I was never comfortable with huge gagging incidents. In the beginning, she (and I) were happier with more solid things for her to gnaw on that wouldn't give he a huge unmanageable chunk. For example, she hated bananas because she get too large a piece. We started with red pepper spears, frozen green beans, or 1/3 of a soft apple that she could mouth (I'd cut off the bottom and give it to her with the skin on, nearly impossible to get a large chunk off and easy to hold). Now a month later there are huge teeth marks from her one little tooth where she has scraped off bits of apple.

it helped that in the beginning (and even now) I am not looking for her to eat much, if anything at all. We breastfeed on demand and the food is only about new skills and experiences. I will admit I cheated and used a mesh feeder a lot too, mostly because she enjoys it so much. She developed a lot of self-feeding skills with it and didn't get overwhelmed. Even before six months she was doing breast milk cubes (which she LOVED) and now has a frozen strawberry every morning in it. We did do toast spears and there was some gagging (but I was always right there and helped out to make sure she didn't get way too much). I guess in BLW terms I'm hovering but it worked for us. She has the beginnings of a good pincher grasp now and will pull her toast in to small pieces and then pick them up one by one into her mouth.

[sunwise]

Appreciate all the replies! I should say that we are not doing only BLW - my LO is at daycare during the day, and when he is there he gets some pureed food that we make. I don't necessarily trust them to feed him whole foods, especially not at this age. Apparently he is doing well with being spoon-fed there. But at home, BLW seems to work best for us - we really enjoy having us all sit down at the table together and eat some of the same things. And neither my husband nor I have to feed DS while we eat, so we can focus on our own meal. We are also really into food, so it's important to us that we do what we can do introduce our son to all sorts of foods and textures while he is young. We want to try to encourage him to be an adventurous eater!

As for the gagging, I know myself, and I would be worried no matter what age DS was when we started him on whole foods. I don't think he is too young for it. And I am confident that he will learn and get better as the weeks go by. Last night for instance, I saw him put some rather large pieces of sweet potato in his mouth. Way too large, in my opinion. It took all my strength not to reach over and pull them out of his mouth. But, each time this happened, he would eventually open his mouth and just let the piece fall out - no gagging or vomiting! So I know we will continue.

I totally respect that BLW is not for everyone, though. And there is no magic formula for making a kid a picky eater or not. I'm just doing what I think is best!