How to start BLS?????

DS is 6.5 months in corrected age. He has been on solids for a month or so. Whilst teething, he went off his solids & is still just not interested in being spoon fed. However, he's happy to eat if he's feeding himself. I give him banana, watermelon, cucumber & anything else I can give in sticks. I would love to do BLS but

.... I FREAK out at the gagging.

Is there something I am not doing right?

Is there better foods to start him on?

How long will he gag for?

How did you introduce BLS?

Any tips whatsoever would be appreciated.

hi there

Sounds like he is doing well so far on BLS hon. You have given him heaps already as you mentioned. I do also give Tara buttered lightly toast in fingers or bread with avocado on it or vegemite in fingers for her to much on and hold she loves that. Arrowroot bickies also a fav here too. I have tried sprial pasta and she likes them too as she can hold them and they break up in little bigs. Also ravioli too she loves to hold and much on, but Tara's a bit older, maybe some of the girls can say when they introduced Pasta? with the bread I just make sure she has water after and see if she has bread stuck anywhere in her mouth and remove it if she does.

Your doing really well! sounds like you are doing it right to me. Does he like the cucumber? I havent tried that.

Best wishes with your BLS journey!

Wow, thanks for the encouragement Belle. I am really uneasy about giving him bread cause I have read here that they gag on it and considering that is what is freaking me out most, I won't do it. Hmmmm.. Maybe I should just give it a go and see what happens. I like the idea of the pasta but not sure when bread and pasta should be introduced. I do have a booklet on starting solids so I'll check it out. Do you have a sauce on the pasta?

He LOVES the cucumber. But DH and I have been cucumber lovers since a very young age so I guess it runs in the family lol. He LOVES rockmelon too. He also likes the teething rusks but I don't think they have any nutritional value.

Thanks again Belle

Your welcome Georgi. Thats interesting re bread, if you are worried the greatest thing is cruskits, they seem to melt in the mouth! Tara loves them. Funny thing is im scared to do veges such as carrot and brocolli as they get stuck in Tara's mouth, she hates lumpy food but will much or mangle vegemite sanga's go figure! she loves holding things.

do toast over bread..
pasta..penne. spirals any veg thatis cooked well but not sloppy

i freaked out at the start too! My DD was like yours, started out being spoon fed, but wasnt interested after a while so we just started giving her steamed veg lik broccoli, she would eat the heads off and discard to stems for the first few months! She couldnt handle bread, she would always gag and only in the last few weeks has managed to eat and enjoy it, but i kept trying every week. Some of our faves were pasta, started on the small shells, easy to pick up and not to big to gag on, maybe in a sauce like abit of your bolognese sause from dinner or a cheese sauce.
Trying to think of some of DD other faves at that age, like Belle said, cruskits are a great one! peas she loved and once she got the hang of picking them up couldnt get enough! i would squash them a little at first, easier to 'catch' and i felt better thinking they werent going to get inhailed like peanuts (but that might just be me). :) One that i just started doing but wish id found earlier is a grated apple mixed with yoghurt, makes the yog easy for her to eat and she loves the apple too. and spaghetti was a good one at the begining but now she just fings it round her head like a helicopter!! lol
I just kept trying to remind myself that babies have a really strong gag reflex and aslong i didnt look worried she would be fine, doesnt stop your heart stopping everytime they do it though! Most the time she would gag, spit it out, look at it and pop it back in again and carry on!! :)
Good luck!!

ETA: also i brushed up on my first aid, look on the 'raising children' web site they have videos of what to do if baby chokes (which is different to gagging!)and how to do CPR. it doesnt beat doing a proper first aid class but it really put my mind a ease knowing that i would be able to help my DD if something like this did happen. just a thought.
:)

Hi Georgi, welcome to the wonderful world of BLS!

Wrt gagging - this is more of an issue for you than him. If you are confident you know what to do when your baby chokes then it is probably okay to let him be. Gagging is a reflex and your DS will learn how to manage the food better that makes him gag over time.

It is usually not painful or distressing for him as long as you are not too upset! Gagging will usually bring the food back up into his mouth where most babies seem to either go on chewing it or spit it out. I'll never forget the first time my DD gagged quite badly (she wasn't generally a gagger) and she pulled the offending piece out of her mouth, looked at it, and put it straight back in and down it went!

Some babies gag more often than others.

I always cooked enough of what we were having to save some for DD, so if we had potatoes I would do an extra small one for DD. Vegies cut into cubes that are easy for them to pick up work well (not too small, about the size of baby's closed fist). My DD also loved rice, she could pick up handfuls and eat it at her leisure.

I second avocado on toast, I cut it into soldiers. I started giving DD leftovers of whatever we had very early on. And one of her favourites was a chop bone with most of the meat cut off - you should see a baby gum away at that! No vegetarians in this household LOL.

BECKOES Thanks for the tip to check out the Raising Children website. I have done numerous first aid courses in the past as I held a certificate for 10 years, but let it expire a few years ago. I checked out the video on choking. It was great, i'm feeling more confident now

JENNIFER DS also picks up the food he was gagging on and carrys on

Thanks for all your replies. I have joined the BLS chatter so hopefully that will make me more confident.

BJ has done really well today. He's gagging has definately reduced. I guess he's getting use to more solid foods. Or I'm getting use to what foods are easier for him to eat. I think i'll continue his fruit & vege for a couple more weeks then start to introduce meats and pasta. I like the idea of the ravioli