My 10month old has a BIG problem with choking on food? I cant move her to stage 3, she refuses to try and chew...any help?!?!

Erin - posted on 12/11/2008

I never put any of my 3 kids on stage 3 food for that very reason. Does she chew table food?...or bites of things that aren't baby food? If so that's the problem. I also babysit full time and I have never had a child that could eat stage 3 foods. They think it's babyfood like before and can just swallow it. They don't know to chew it. You need to just start easy to eat table foods...she will know if it comes off a spoon you swallow it and if it's a bite you chew it.

Emily - posted on 12/11/2008

i had the same problem with my daughter and she had a barky cough all the time so i brought her to an ent and found out she had a floppy trachea and a cleff in the valve at the bottom of her vocal chords. ask your doctor about it

Shain - posted on 12/11/2008

hmm.....THANKS guys you have been a BIG help! Mayb I will get a blender/babyfood grinder and start choppin up! I guess I just needed some reassurance that she would get through this, and I would too haha, I LOVE the idea about the mesh thingys with the handle. I did actually use these when she was teething early on, but never thought about using them to teach her to chew her food! It gets frusterating when I have everyone tryin to give her cookies and other things. I have to keep close eye over the holiday's to make sure no one gives her anything thininkin im jus over protective.

Megan - posted on 12/10/2008

Helena this is also what I did with my son. We cooked regular veggies and such, put them through a food grinder (from and baby supply store, or a blender works well), then froze it in ice cube trays. We could then thaw an individual "food cube", and it was a perfect serving size! It really helped on the cost aspect, but I also knew exactly what was going in my son's mouth.

Helen - posted on 12/10/2008

ok well i dont have much expereance because my daughter is still to young to eat but my mother always told me that i was the same way i didnot like to chew my food so what she started to do was make her own food for me but it was a little thicker than my ragular food all you have to do is find a food that is thicer like yams cook it and put it into a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to make it smooth you can make alot of it and just freeze it its cheaper than buying jared food all the time slowly after i started to chew normal food hope this helps

Sandy - posted on 12/10/2008

I wouldn't go for the stage 3 baby food.....it's really more of a convenience food anyhow. I agree with Mary Hossain on this one, just take whatever everyone else is eating and mash it up really good. One thing that I did that was a major help to me was I bought a "Little Chopper" and I would put meat & veggies in there and it make it quick and easy to add meat & veggies....at first I would just run it through the chopper and add a little to some creamed potatoes, and gradually I added more. That way it isn't a choking hazard at all. She'll be able to handle the chunky stuff when she gets more teeth, don't worry about that. I hope this helps!

Alicia - posted on 12/10/2008

with my gals,ie: i would put a piece of toast in front of them let them help me butter it and the more I let them get involved with the food the more mucking and eating they did. colour and arrangment make a diference.

Megan - posted on 12/10/2008

Have you tried the little teether bags that you can get in the baby sections of most chain stores? They are little mesh bags with handles for your baby to hold. You can put a piece of soft food inside (like a banana, or any cooked veggie, for example), put the handle on, and the little ones "chew" on it to get the food to come through the mesh. If may not get a lot of actual eating accomplished, but it will teach her how to chomp down on things. :) (They are also great to put ice cubes in while teething!) I Hope this was helpful!

Eva - posted on 12/10/2008

You can also try to put the baby food in a blender and puree it a little bit more and add the applesauce to make it taste a little better too.

Mary - posted on 12/10/2008

Canned baby food may have chunks in it that your baby isn't ready for. Skip it. Boil carrots and mash them down with a fork so it is a thick paste but not chunky. Add applesauce if it's too thick. Same for peas, rice, avacado. If they like to self-feed, separate the mush into small tip-of-your-pinky size dollops and shape into a cone for easy grabbing. Offer 1 at a time. Let fruits sit out of the fridge for a couple of days so the are warm, ripe and soft, then mash them up too. A 10 month old should be able to grab a 'cone' and go to town. Also, offer sips of water before and after bites. I would dose about a teaspoon of water in a tiny cup and let my baby drink it (or spill it) herself.