Help - BLS & Gagging

[jackrose]

Its so hard to battle your primal fear isn' t it!!!

As the other wise women have suggested above, it is entirely normal and is not a concern to your DD. I would suggest repeating that to yourself as a mantra to help you get through the moment!

Keep in mind that she can most possibly sense your ugency and panic when she does gag so it may influence the way she reacts to it, so trrryyy (I know its hard) to remain as calm as you can.

What I did that really helped me was to go and read up on what to do with a choking infant and I practiced (crazy maybe!) on a doll so that I really felt I would know what to do if my DD got into a real choke. I wanted to know I had 'procedural knowledge' of what to do so would be automatic. Once I was armed with that knowledge, I felt so much calmer when I was feeding her. Maybe that will help you too, try doing a google image search for some good pics of what to do in a choking infant scenario.

Lastly, remember

• babies do grow out of this gagging phase
• DD is learning how to eat in a safe environment
• babies can gag on soft mushy food, not just finger foods
  And most importantly:
• if it makes you feel really really uncomfortable, you are entirely justified in backing off BLS for the moment and possibly trying again later.

You have to feel good about what you are doing and at 6 months you have plenty of time to get into the finger foods

ETA:
Oh and Arimeh, glad to hear things are going so well at your house! Excellent!