BLW, choking & spoon feeding
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Printed Date: 26 August 2025 at 2:09pm
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Topic: BLW, choking & spoon feeding
Posted By: Anonymous55
Subject: BLW, choking & spoon feeding
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 12:58pm
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I just got the book and haven't been doing BLW for the last two weeks (well since I started to offer SOME solids 1/day) because I have a quite strong fear of Nina choking. I'm not sure why tho.
Anyhoo............... I want to overcome my fear and start BLW before it's 'too late'. Is it too late? She has hardly been taking anything from a spoon. Most she's had was 1/5 of a tiny jar yesterday. She just sucks it off the spoon so far. She also has been sucking fruits from the mesh feeder. Will she have trouble if I totally don't put anything in her mouth from now on? Will she choke? (A dumbas* question, I know) Please help me!!! BTW, she still has just under two weeks to be 6 months old.... |
Replies:
Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 1:58pm
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she will almost certainly gag as she learns to chew and swallow whole foods but this is not choking! Its actually a good thing as it shows the gag reflex is working well and wanting to clear her throat of foreign objects...
Jake has never choked on food but he has gagged and an awful lot... it can be quite distressing for mum to watch soits a personal choice... If you dont think you can cope and have a really big fear of her choking then that could affect her self feeding as she will pick up on that. That said, she may never gag and she may learn really quickly how to chew and swallow and it will fine! That amount of food is pretty normal really... its more about learning now than actually eat iygwim as her main food source is still milk. I wouldnt worry about how much she eats rather that she is experiencing different foods and learning how to eat 
Hopefully what I have just written isnt to garbled, my brain isnt working properly today -------------   
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Posted By: High9
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 2:08pm
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Gagging! Lots of gagging and honestly it's a good thing, it helps them learn about what they can and can't swallow in a way.
It's normal to worry. It's all about experimenting with different tastes and textures etc If you don't think you can handle it then don't do it. Spoon feeding, yup they suck off the spoon as that is the only way they know how to feed currently. TBH I have been spoon feeding Lily in the morning and giving her BLW in the afternoon/lunchtime and she is having no problems, you can check out the BLW album and see but it is really messy! We had marmite toast fingers today and I had to bath her after lol! Read the book first, I think it's a really good source of info! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Anonymous55
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 2:28pm
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I got the book yesterday and quickly read the choking section to see what they had to say abou it.
It is really that gagging sound that sets me off. And that annoys me. I just get freaked out to the max until she stops. Booo. It may have to do with her being on Losec and she continually gagged from the granules and it freaked me out until we changed her to the liquid. The point is, I'm already annoyed with spoon feeding (and it's only been 2 weeks) and just want to get over myself and just stop spoon feeding altogether. Just feel a bit stuck about the details, i.e. just swap to BWL cold turkey or 'wean' over a couple of weeks... |
Posted By: MrsEmma
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 2:34pm
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MUM2HIAWATHA I started on puree/spoon feeding and I had always wanted to try blw so about a week or two in, I started giving DS a little bit of my toast which progressed into some veges, cruskits etc and now we do both and he loves it!
I admit that I did panic at first, but he doesn't gag terribly often anymore. Agree with it being messy lol, I make sure he's not in his Sunday best when I give him anything with vegemite on it ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: High9
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 3:29pm
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You could always wean over a couple of weeks I guess, I had planned to go cold turkey on the spoon feeding and dive straight into BLW but Lily is happy with both atm and for us the BLW is more of an experimentation for her with the food than actually eating. ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: mummyofprinces
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 3:50pm
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I always counted to 10 and watched his face...that helped keep my calm and gave him time to sort himself out but I could see if it was changing from gagging to choking iygwim...
i do agree, if its too much for you then dont do it... there is nothing wrong with spoon feeding! -------------
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Posted By: Flutterby
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 4:32pm
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I did a first aid course and they said that the only time you need to be worried is when they aren't trying to cough the food back up or making any noise. DS only ever proberly choked once on a piece of courgette but he managed to get his gag reflex working within a second. And has never touched courgette since.
The first ever food he tried was banana and then we just let him sample what ever we were having. Most of the time in the first month he just sucked the food, though he really enjoyed soft fruits. I have also spoon fed him his yoghurts and what not, just till he learnt how to do it himself. But other then that we just let him help himself to his food and he soon figured it out. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: T_Rex
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 4:58pm
Mel's a wise lady. I also made sure that I read up on the first aid for choking babies in the plunket book, in case I needed it. I'll also admit to grabbing DD out of her highchair and pounding her on the back a couple of times early in the game, before I learnt to relax and give her a chance to deal with it herself. It took me a couple of weeks to feel totally comfortable, but now it's all good. It also has the added bonus that I'm less worried that she'll choke on one of the many delightful things she comes across on the floor or out and about - because she's learnt how to handle lumps in her mouth and what kind of thing she can and can't swallow, she seems less likely to choke on something random. Just my opinion though ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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melnel wrote:Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 7:09pm
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I was scared about choking too but it's so much less likely with a child who has done BLW than a puree fed baby. I'd never heard of BLW when DD was a baby so she was weaned the 'traditional' method. One day when she was nearly 2 years old we were walking home and she was eating chips while DH and I were talking. DH was carrying her and he stopped to figure out why she was thrashing against him. A chip had lodged in her throat and she was choking, she didn't make a sound. It was so scary and it still upsets me to think how close we came to losing her that day. When someone is choking air cannot get into their lungs which means they can't make any noise. That's why the gagging sound is actually a good thing. Gagging means they're breathing. Gagging is simply the sound your tongue makes when expelling something from the back of your mouth (try it, you'll make the same sound too). We did BLW with DS because I am scared of choking and learning to chew before learning to swallow makes so much sense to me. At 14 months old he will happily sit down and eat a bowl of frozen blueberries (for eg) with no trouble. He is so capable when it comes to mealtimes. He's as good with cutlery as his 4yo sister and he will try anything (while his sister refuses to try most things). -------------  
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Posted By: luvmylittlies
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 8:36pm
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The only think I'll add (because these ladies have said most of my thoughts) is that do BLW if you think it'll work for you and you like the principles behind it. Don't do it because "you think you should". There's no right or wrong, just different approaches. ------------- Adoring Mum to Talisin 8/9/11 and Kiara 18/01/10 |
Posted By: monikah
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 8:55pm
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mack choked on puree food beleive it or not. his throat was pretty bung anyway (commonish with reflux) and he did the whole stop breathing, turn blue, had to tip upside down thing and whack his back a few times. i wouldnt let choking put you off BLW as it is possible to choke on other stuff anyway ------------- 
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Posted By: MyPeas
Date Posted: 27 August 2010 at 9:26pm
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Definately never to late to start BLW and she will quickly try most things as just like toys and anything else they get there hands on, it goes straight in the mouth.
Our wee girl is not a great spoon feeder but is more than happy to put pretty much any food we have tried in her own mouth. I think she likes to be in control! We also have a lot of gagging but we have always seemed to gag sometimes on our salvia or what appears to be nothing at all. You do get used to and as others have said as long as they are making noise they're fine. Good luck ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Anonymous55
Date Posted: 28 August 2010 at 8:51am
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Thank you for your lovely advice!
I definitely don't think I *have* to do it but I know I will regret it if I don't because the only reason would be MY fear of choking. I've decided to go with it and hopefully Nina will give me a break today and have a decent sleep so I can get stuck into the book more. She's had pear this morning and didn't gag when she had big pieces in her mouth. Fx
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Posted By: High9
Date Posted: 28 August 2010 at 8:10pm
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Yup definitely agree, gagging they make a funny noise but choking is dead silence and sort of a 'horror/shock' expression on face! I do what Mel does and watch for a few seconds and if nothing then pound her back. It can be really scary, esp at first but you learn to relax when you realise the difference between gagging and actual choking. But if you are doing it then definitely don't leave them alone, have your lunch with them! ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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