I have a 9 month old boy, he's been eating cereal since he was a month old. We have been introducing solids to him for the past month, i.e.; rice krispies, cheese, eggs. I recently tried cheerios with him, he did good at first, bit them in half before putting them in his mouth, I told him to chew, which he did, he did good for the first 6 cheerios, then of course, he choked. He even has a hard time with the baby puffs that are supposed to melt. I think he tries to swallow before he chews. He can only eat so many rice krispies and cheese. Any suggestions on other foods that he could "start" on to learn how to chew??
Have you tried the Zweiback toasts? They make a mess but they may help him learn to mash it up and then swallow.
I think this is pretty normal for a baby learning to chew. My 11 mo old still gags on stuff all the time, and she loves to eat all kinds of solids. She's definitely doing it less and less though as she gains experience. It just takes a while. Gagging helps them learn how much to chew before the food will go down smoothly. That's not to say it isn't scary for us parents or that we can't make it easier on them!!! Just make sure the things you are giving him are small/soft enough to swallow whole if necessary, and can dissolve easily, so even if it gets caught in a place that tickles his throat, it will continue to disintigate on it's own and he won't be legitimately choking. It sounds like the things you are giving him are ideal: cheerios, baby puffs, very soft, cooked fruit, tiny bits of melt-in-the-mouth cheeses, etc. As one other person suggested, try those mesh teething bags that you can put fruit or other foods in. Also, teethng biscuits can be good, because they are really hard and must be knawed until small portions become mushy enough to come off in his mouth.
One other note: make sure you aren't giving him egg whites. At his age he should only be eating the yokes. Whites are harder to digest and can cause severe allergies in infants.
If he's still teething, frozen banannas are a great treat and they "chew" off very little at a time and it makes their mouths feel good. Most kids love vienna sausages and they are little of any choking hazard.
I have a 15 month old nephue who does the same thing. He only eats baby food and I mean stage 2 baby food. If you even try and put anything else in his mouth he gags. I was babysitting him and I would even tyr and mix food in with his baby food and he would know and gag. It was driving me crazy. My son is 10 months and eats everything so I couldn't understand it. My sister in law finialy took him to a specialist and they said it's a texture thing and that he will out grow it. So if you believe it's the samething then just give him what he'll eat and then put other food in a bowl on the floor, when he's ready he'll go for it. He might just lick it at 1st but it's a step closer to eating it.
HI, I READ YOUR OTHER QUESTION ABOUT ECZEMA. IM PUTTING TWO AND TWO TOGETHER AND IT IS MAKING ME WONDER IF HE DOES HAVE FOOD ALLERGIES....ECZEMA IS A SIGN OF AN ALLERGY, AND YOU SAID IT GETS WORSE WITH BANANAS, GAGGING CAN BE A SIGN OF ACID REFUX, CAUSED BY THE NORMAL IMMATURE BELLY OR FOOD ALLERGIES. MY SON GAGGED ALOT. HE HAD REFLUX AND ECZEMA. HIS REFLUX WASNT MAKING HIM VOMIT, JUST GAG. TURNED OUT HE WAS ALLERGIC TO A FEW FOODS AND NOW, EVERYTHING, ALL THE SYMPTOMS HAVE PRETTY MUCH CLEARED UP. PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH THE FOODS YOU INTRODUCE, SOME FOODS ARENT OK UNTIL THEY ARE ONE YEAR OLD.
I would do mash potatoes, mashed carrots ( or even the canned carrrots) these are soft enough that he won't choke and also because of the texture it will teach him how to chew for himself because he will have to use him tounge and jaw to get it out of him mouth and into his belly!!
How about one of those mesh teether bags. You can put in a chunk of apple or banana and he has to chew the bag to get the juices out and there is no risk of choking.
