How do they learn to chew?

[jamsmu]

Just had lunch today at Ruby Tuesday's. After feeding DS, he was still hungry, so I went to the salad bar and got some cottage cheese. (He'd never had this before). I put 1 1/2 curds in his mouth, and we watched as he made faces of a new food. Then he started gagging and when I picked him up, projectile vomitted all over. So, obviously, he tried to swallow this like he does everything else.

Can I teach DS to chew? Or do I just try this again and again? (believe me, I don't plan to try to feed him cottage cheese again for a while, but I know he should be gumming things at this point and he just isn't.)

Any advice or past experiences would be very helpful!



PS Amy, if you're reading this, then you know this is me! Thanks for your patience at lunch today!

[COElizabeth]

I had better luck giving James something bigger and letting him gnaw on it, rather than putting a piece of something in his mouth. If your DS has had wheat, for example, you can let him gum on a whole bagel or strip of toast. FWIW, though, James ate only purees (except for Cheerios) until over a year old. He just wasn't an early adopter of the chunky finger foods.

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02
EDD #2, 10-30-04

[JElaineB]

Until around 10 months old Jacob really only had chunky baby foods, not any "real" foods. I waited until he was really good with texture before trying many finger foods, because he would gag a lot too otherwise. I just kept giving him chunkier and chunkier baby foods until he started to accept finger foods. The first finger foods I used dissolved easily, like Gerber Wagon Wheels, Gerber Cereal Snackin' Squares (both of these broken up into smaller pieces), and Cheerios. You might try a mesh feeder, like the Baby Safe Feeder. Jacob really liked it, got him used to some "real" food tastes and allowed him to practice gumming foods in a safe manner.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02