When it comes to weaning, the biggest concern that many parents naturally have is around their baby gagging or choking. The first step in being prepared for this is to know the difference between the two.
This blog explains the differences between the two. What foods are a choking risk and how you can help prevent your baby from choking.
What is Gagging?
Gagging is a natural reflex, also known as the ‘gag reflex’ that occurs by pushing food or other objects out of the mouth to prevent them from blocking the airway. So it is a bit like having a safety mechanism in the mouth.
Why do babies gag themselves?
Gagging is a really normal reflex and part of your baby’s weaning journey and is simply a way for a baby to remove any food that isn’t ready to be swallowed. Some babies gag more than others and have quite a sensitive reflex.
A baby’s gag reflex starts to lesson at around six months and gradually integrates so it is more similar to adults. Exposure to multiple textures, including purees, lumps and finger foods, helps babies to learn how to cope with foods better and can lessen the gag response.
Choking is much less common than gagging and you can read all about the difference between choking and gagging below. If you’re nervous about it, I recommend doing a first aid session before your weaning journey starts.
How to prep for weaning when it comes to choking?
When it comes to choking there sometimes isn’t anything you can do to prevent it happening entirely. However, three KEY things can help you prevent choking in your little one.
- Always sit with them when they are eating
- Feed them sitting down, upright and in a comfortable position
- Prep foods appropriately for your baby’s age and skill set
Some of the things I would recommend you try to get your confidence up and help reduce anxiety around choking before weaning begins include:
✅ Do a child first aid course BEFORE you start weaning your baby – this can help you to learn life-saving skills that should make you more self-assured. I actually have one included in my Online Weaning Course.
✅ Check out some of the videos online to refresh/teach yourself how to cope with your baby choking, if it happens to your little one. Also watching videos of babies eating can be reassuring too.
✅Wait until baby is ready before offering solid foods. It’s essential that your baby is able to sit up and hold their head and neck steady so that they can swallow solid foods more easily and concentrate on their hand and mouth movement instead.
Gagging Vs Choking – the big difference!
The gagging vs choking poster below shows the big differences between them and what to look out for/what to do if the incidence arises.
Gagging during weaning is very normal
If your baby gags when eating solids, it is completely normal and often you will see your baby gag on food. It happens a lot during the weaning journey and in early infancy, a baby’s gag reflex is in the middle area of the tongue/mouth.
During weaning and between 6-7 months of age (roughly) the gag reflex in babies starts to move further towards the back of the tongue. Therefore a baby gagging on food usually happens less as they get more experienced with food.
Feeding behaviours during weaning
There are actually four types of feeding behaviours that infants use when eating:
1.) suckling
2.) sucking
3.) munching
4.) chewing
Suckling and sucking are innate but munching and chewing are learned as a result of offering baby a wide variety of food textures. That’s why it is SO important to offer babies smooth, mashed AND lumpy textures. As well as an array of different finger foods during their weaning journey.
Starting weaning with smoother textures and super soft finger foods is fine. But it’s important to move baby on to thicker and thicker textures and more firm foods as baby gets more confident. In fact, some research suggests that offering baby lumpy foods BEFORE they reach 9 months of age is important.
Early munching behaviours are seen between 4-7 months of age. Chewing usually starts to occur from around 7 months of age – when baby’s tongue starts to be able to move foods around the mouth more effectively. The process of chewing & also dealing with firmer & more textured foods becomes more efficient throughout the first few years of life. Especially with plenty of practice and experience.
Ultimately, it’s important to offer lumps & finger foods to baby, even from early on during weaning. Keep progressing to firmer lumps/textures and finger foods to help baby cope.
Preventing Choking During Weaning (as much as possible)
Often with the parents I speak to, one of their biggest fears when introducing solids is is worrying about their baby choking on food.
In all honesty, children and adults can realistically choke on anything. However there are certain foods that pose more of a risk of choking for young babies and children…!
During weaning you will soon learn your own child’s abilities with food. Some babies have excellent chewing skills (& teeth) early on & are able to cope with harder foods and textures more easily than others. It’s about being led by your baby. Watching and observing their skill set and trying to encourage, role model and support them to move forwards gently as they go.
What foods are a choking risk for my baby?
Here is a list of some of the potentially most risky foods when it comes to babies and choking.
- Vegetables – hard raw vegetables such as carrots, cucumber, celery, olives, cherry tomatoes
- Beans – such as whole butter beans, chickpeas, kidney beans and large beans.
- Fruits – hard/uncooked fruits like apples, pears or those of a choking risk size such as grapes, blueberries, cherries, large, solid berries and small round strawberries. Also fruits with hard pips and stones in them such as apricots need to be removed as they are a choking hazard.
- Raisins and other dried fruits – whole ones are too large and sticky for babies such as raisins and dates. They can be soaked and cut into very finely before giving to them .
- Meat –sausages and hot dogs cut into chunks. Hard/tough pieces of meat and meat with small bones
- Fish – fish with hard bones
- Cheese – cheese sticks, hard chunks of cheese
- Nuts & seeds – such as whole nuts and large chopped pieces of nut and large seeds also large lumps of nut butter can be a choking hazard
- Bread – pieces of bread that are soft and a bit tacky – such as untoasted white bread, crackers and breadsticks.
This is obviously quite a long list, but sometimes it depends on the size, shape and texture of the foods above. For example very small beans or a very large, ripe strawberry are unlikely to be such a risk. Additionally you don’t have to avoid most of these foods, just present them in ways that are more manageable for children. For example grating, steaming, chopping, soaking, spreading etc etc.
Find out how to prepare these choking risk foods appropriately for the right age in this blog coming soon!
What foods should I not give my baby?
The following foods you should not give to your baby at all because they are either too hard or sticky and will cause a blockage in their airway.
- Popcorn – is too large for babies to swallow and is dry and can swell up when wet
- Chewing gum and marshmallows – these are tacky and will be hard for babies to manage
- Jelly cubes – raw jelly cubes are too large and sticky for babies
- Boiled sweets – do not give any kind of boiled sweets or cough sweets to babies as they are too hard, gooey or sticky.
- Ice cubes – are too large and too hard.
What to do if baby chokes
The NHS and Start for Life publish a guide to choking and gagging in feeding babies which explains what to do if you think your child is choking:
- shout for help
- get them out of the high chair
- support their chest and chin with one hand and – with the heel of your hand – give 5 sharp blows between the shoulder blades
The page also shares a video demonstrating what gagging in babies looks like that you may like to watch. Read this guide for more (non-food specific) NHS advice on preventing a child from choking.
Hope this was helpful. Please check out more about food textures, finger foods and choking on my IG highlights. Many thanks to Stacey at Feed Eat Speak for her help in putting this post together.