Baby led weaning chunk size

[colorbywords]

Ok so we are starting to give our almost 8 month old chunks to eat. She has her 2 bottom teeth. She's able to bite off good sized portions that make me nervous. I found today that if I sliced a chunk of banana into 6-8 long pieces, she was able to hold it still but didn't get a lot in her mouth at once.

I was wondering if you could post pictures of the size food you give your babies? I know they say fingers of food, but I need more visual than that!

Thanks!!!

[arismama]

I have a 7-month old, and we are working on this too.  I don't have a photo for you, but I generally give him chunks that are about 3 inches long by 1/2 to 1 inch wide- just big enough so that it's very easy for him to grasp with his fists while still having an end to chew on.  I was really nervous when we started because he immediately learned how to bite pretty big pieces off (with no teeth at all!) and he wanted to swallow them (and did end up swallowing a few of them!) before I could do anything.  He has improved so much now and has almost figured out the pincer grasp, so I can give him slightly smaller pieces and he is still able to pick them up.  He has also learned how to chew a bit more before swallowing, so I don't panic quite as much as before. :) 

I think that the exact chunk size completely depends on your baby and the size of the bites she takes. 

If your baby tends to take big bites, be careful with foods like bananas if you want to start with smaller portions- I gave my baby a 3 inch chunk of banana thinking that he might just suck on it, and he began devouring it so quickly that i ended up taking it away from him!  I don't know if other babies react this way, but my baby seems ravenous for any solid food I give him, despite the fact that I breastfeed him immediately before offering him any solid food!  Because of his enthusiasm for eating, I also steam everything I give him (with the exception of very soft foods like avocados & bananas) because he takes such large bites and tries to swallow that I am terrified of giving him anything that is too hard.  In the book on Baby Led Weaning the author suggests that raw apples are fine as long as they are a slightly softer variety, but that doesn't work for us- I steam the apples too.       

Good luck!  This approach to solids is a lot of fun & MUCH easier. :)