Remember how I used to complain that NikkiZ didn’t like baby food? She still doesn’t. She has gotten to the point where she’ll eat her cereal pretty consistently (4 out of 5 times you try to feed it to her). Her vegetables, if she’s hungry, are more like 3 out of 5. And fruit? Well, if you get her to eat it once out of every five times you try? You’re my new hero. She hates all things fruity. Except for ice cream, of course, she’s not that big of a freak. When she does eat any of it? It’s in VERY small quantities. If her belly wasn’t continuing to grow past her waistline, I’d be worried she was starving since I’m nursing her less than I was a month ago. I’m thinking she’s sneaking Twinkies when I’m not looking.
Cagey pointed out that she looks at eating as more of a skill a child needs to be learned, so when her son wouldn’t eat baby foods, they just fed him grown-up food which he eats fine. So, we’ve been enthusiastically introducing her to all sorts of “real” foods to encourage her eating. Anything mushy or brothy, she really enjoys. In teeny tiny quantities, of course. But if you give her anything bigger than grain of rice that is not mushy? She chokes on it because the girl doesn’t seem to want/care to chew anything.
Except ME of course. She chomps the hell out of my boobs when she falls asleep nursing, but that’s another entry for another bloody-boob day.
She doesn’t seem to instinctively know to bite or chew things. She has eight teeth, so it’s not like she’s not equipped for chewing. She just doesn’t do it. I tried to feed her some mushed up spaghetti last night, VERY mushed up. It might have only needed a little gumming, but she just swallowed it like water and ended up with my finger in the back of her throat, clearing her airway as she turned blue.
FUN!
Now, I know I’m more paranoid than most because I’ve had to perform the Heimlich on LilZ twice in his life. Choking scares the SHIT out of me. So, I’m hesitant to give her anything that really requires chewing until I notice her chewing anything. Like, those biter biscuits? There is no way in HELL I’m going to give her one of those until I see her using her teeth more.
So - how do I encourage her to use her chompers for things other than my boobs? Could teething make her unwilling to chew? Because she’s been working on three new teeth for about a month now (those suckers are SLOW). Am I being paranoid? I know sometimes she chokes and just gags up the offensive food, should I quit freaking out when she does that? I mean, I FREAK OUT when she does that. If she shows any sign of struggle I’m ready to stick my finger down her throat in about 2 seconds. Should I, maybe, chill the hell out a little bit?
Have you tried mixing fruit in with her cereal? I used to do that with my daughter all the time because she just would not have runny baby food. The thicker the better for her. Maybe that will help her get her taste buds used to fruit. Also Gerber makes 2 kinds of biter cookies. One is the toast kind the other is the cookie kind. The toast kind I would rule out because of her unwillingness to chew. The cookie kind however may work. It is virtually impossible for them to take a bite out of. They are messy as crap because the turn to a gooey form after being nawed on but my daughter LOVED them! Those are my words of wisdom.
I think the key is to keep practicing and cut into tiny pieces, I still cut up my boy’s noodles (10 months 3 wks) and such just because, while he’s been picking up larger sized items and taking bites out of them for quite some time.
I started to feed Alex all sorts of things very early, I think the key with him was just to make sure I cut them up very small. Then at least, if he swallowed them whole, it wasn’t a big deal.
Here are my suggestions. Yes, chill out. She won’t starve. I know they aren’t suposed to have milk before 1 but my kids would eat yogurt even when they hated baby food. Also, gerber does make food puff things that basically melt in your mouth. You could try those so that even if she does start gagging, they will dissolve before you ever get your finger down her throat. Or at least that was the way with my kids but then as long as they were making noise I let them work it out on their own. Anyway, that’s my two cents do with it what you will.
When my son was around 8 months old, I went to pick him up at the babysitters and found him eating CHEERIOS off his tray! CHEERIOS! i freaked out, but then I realized that my babysitter had been doing this for over 30 years and knew what she was doing, and I stuck one in my mouth and realized it virtually melted in there. I’m definitely NOT a breastfeeding expert, but maybe if you tried a little less boob and more food, she’d have more of an interest in food? I know when my kids were on the bottle, we’d feed them food first when they were really hungry, and only after they ate a bit did we go for the bottle.
I will second the cookie type biter biscuits. The toast kind can break off in chunks, but the cookie kind encourage biting and they are melty. I also thing table food may help. Also the Gerber puffs work great. She’ll be tossing ‘em back like a pro in no time.
And I know how you feel about the choking. When my son drinks water/juice too fast, his eyes get huge like he’s drowning and it scares the hell out of me.
A friend of mine loved these bags for her kids. I didn’t have much luck with them for my daughter, but who knows? Maybe NikkiZ will get some practice chewing this way.
http://www.greatbabyproducts.com/Baby_Fresh_Food_Feeder_p/munc-43101.htm
You know, those bags may work for NikkiZ, but they are really hard to clean. Did anyone else have trouble cleaning them, or was it just me? I ended up having to throw one away because I couldn’t get all of the banana out of the crevices.
I also agree with the cookie type bitter biscuit, my daughter used to suck on them, made a really nice mess. I used to do a lot of mashed potatoes because of her not liking baby food and me not really knowing whether or not she could chew. Big people applesauce was also a favorite, she really didn’t like the baby applesauce but the real stuff she devoured. Some of her still favorites (she’s almost 4), chicken noodle soup, ramen noodles, of course still mashed potatoes, peas, and green beans. I think it might be a little overreaction because my daughter and I know a few other ones, that would gag themselves on purpose, and as long as they are making noise, they are fine. But I do agree still freaks you out. You could also just food process all the people food to mush, I had to do that when I had jaw surgery I ate everything everyone else ate, it was just all baby food consistency.
I’m the same way. My son has had 2 biter biscuits…each of which he got to have for 30 seconds before I snatched them away.
I make his baby food, but any time I try to give him anything with texture, he gags and refuses to chew.
I have given him small bits of tofu since those can be mushed with your tongue and he spit it out. Mr. W gave him tofu from the lettuce wraps at PF Changs and he loved that.
Essentially, I’m useless on this topic but will be trolling your comments all day to see if anyone else has an actual solution!
My youngest is 7 1/2 months. She loves the biter biscuits, but I too am petrified of the choking thing. I want to give her something else as she absolutely devours her baby food. And yes, I am lazy and would love for her to feed herself at some point. Someone told me the zwieback toast. My suggestion? Stand in front of a hospital when you try something bigger. No really, just keep doing what you are doing, mushed up foods and she will eventually get the hang of it.
My doctor was the one who pointed out the skill vs nutritional need. I have also read it somewhere - meaning, babies need primarily breastmilk or formula for their first year and that right now, food is for practice.
Also, I have noticed that Arun gags, rather than chokes, A LOT. However, gagging? Is equally scary.
Also, also, I read somewhere that the chunks should be about as big as their thumbnail, which is a great gauge, because their thumbs keep growing with them, right?
jomama’s right — one of the problems with the bags is that they’re hard to clean….
My daughter loved tofu and it was very soft and easy to mush. I think practice makes perfect. You are doing a great job..just keep introducing stuff and she will get the hang of it!
Okay. I am a total FREAK about choking. I totally flip the hell out if my baby even coughs! So, I feel your pain. Someone suggested I try to Gerber puffs. But I was so scared, that I broke them into FOUR pieces and dipped each piece in water (or my own mouth) to get the dissolving started before I shoved it in her mouth. In just two days of gradually giving her bigger pieces she was eating them whole. Then we moved on to Cheerios (cut into four pieces, of course!) I feel your pain, sister!
I cannot be the one to tell you to take a chill pill because I freaked out when my daughter was first starting solid foods and haven’t shown any signs of calming down, even though she’s two. The poor girl was so frustrated the first time I gave her cheerios because I first soaked them in water (oh no, not milk, she could be allergic to milk, plus she’s not a year yet! oh, no!), so she couldn’t get them off of her high chair tray.
I also freaked about her not getting enough. I gradually accepted the fact that if I was the only one freaking (not her dad or her pediatrition) than it was probably something I shouldn’t worry that much about. It will all come in time.
Yeah, my suggestions would be:
1) Those Banana Puffs — way more dissolvy than cherrios and they usually love them
2) The baby safe feeder
3) Give her some baby food, or yogurt and one of those learner spoons..show her how to get started and get the hell out of the way…be prepared for a big mess…but they will usually love it and go to town
Okay I don’t have kids so I can’t comment on the chewing thing. However, I do have a fruit allergy. It’s nothing severe, it just makes my tongue itch and with citrus it makes my tongue and lips burn and swell. I can usually eat the canned fruit with a lot of water but fresh fruit is out of the question. So maybe she has a fruit allergy that you don’t yet know about and that’s why she won’t eat fruit items.
Kaitlyn loves the Gerber Finger Food Sweet Potato Puffs. She is just a little over 9 months, has no teeth, and a hard time eating a lot of things. But she can do Cheerios, if I hand them to her one at a time so she doesn’t cram a handful into her mouth, and I’ve given her vanilla yogurt already. Catherine (HBM) emailed me about this very topic and said her daughter loves avocado, and mashed bananas.
I’ve also given Kaitlyn bits of toast, and canned peas which I gave her one at a time. Just keep trying bits of whatever you’re eating. She’ll eat!
My doctor gave me the best advice about the choking phobia: They. Can’t. Choke. On. Carbohydrates. They really, really can’t. Yes, they may gag a little if they try to swallow too soon and it sounds scary, but it’s not choking. Carbs will dissolve before they can choke. He told me this at visit after visit, even though I swore I believed him and never broke Noah’s Cheerios up or anything. I guess because most moms are like you. I’m the heartless weirdo.
He also said babies learn to chew from watching their parents, so when we first started finger foods we sat there eating with him, making exaggerated chewing motions. And now he’s an expert at chomping Cheerios in half and gumming them down.
And what everybody else said: those Gerber puffs and biter cookies are also pretty impossible to choke on and great for learning. So are Eggo waffles. And YoBaby yogurt is a gift from God.
But I wouldn’t stress about it. Nikki will eat when she needs to eat. She’s getting plenty of boob and that’s enough. Give her stuff YOU feel comfortable letting her eat too — sticking your finger down her throat probably isn’t giving eating the best connotations for her, you know? Save that for when she eats the kitty litter, like Noah did this morning. ACCCCK.
I second the Gerber Puffs and Wagon wheels. E (almost 8 months) really likes them and hasn’t had any issues with them. She also likes Ritz crackers (low sodium kind) but I don’t give those to her whole. Oddly enough, everything else she eats is organic and homemade. I just couldn’t find anything organic/natural that seemed as safe as the Puffs while she learns.
I am scared of my daughter choking too - she is 10 months old today (have 2 other girls too). Anyway, I started giving her steamed rice and those small baby peas - she loves them. She also likes field peas and mashed potatoes.
I have a question for Shala (commenter) or anyone really - how do you prepare the tofu?? My kids love it in miso soup but I don’t know what to buy at the grocery store or how to “make it”.