Help in preparing my nearly 7 month old's food?

Question

I have been giving my son homemade food for the past week now without much success. I have the lindam mini blender and what I do is steam the food I am going to give him and then when it is super soft I put it in the blender and blend it. But after doing this I have found that there are still little bits of food and it isn't as super mushy as I expect it to be. The jars of food I have bought in the shops are very smooth with no bits. For example I have done chicken & potatoes but there were still bits (very small though) of chicken even when I added some water and used the blender for ages. Also today when I tried with fish and with the pasta. I just cannot get the super smooth consistency that you get from the jars. I am just concerned that if I give him the food with bits in that he could potentially choke even if they are very small (he does have 2 bottom teeth but obviously used to super smooth food). Any advice would be welcome....

Answer 1

Ah don't worry about little chunks, Heidi had lumpy food from about 6 months!

If the bits are super tiny, he's not likely to choke - just give smaller spoonfuls until he gets used to the new texture, you're soon going to have to up the lump to smooth ratio anyway.

If you're still worried, pass the mixture through a metal sieve.

Good luck

Answer 2

A 7 month old baby will be able to cope with small lumps, you should introduce these as early on as possible, if you only give smooth foods babies find it harder to move onto lumpy foods later on.

You can also start to give finger foods at this age.

Answer 3

it's good that there are bits in it.  honestly at 7 months the baby can have more bits, he needs to learn to chew (they can chew without teeth), there really is no need to puree, if you are worried you can just mash things with a fork..

my son is 7 months and eats table food, potato salad, baked carrots with cinnamon (slice carrots thin the long way), stuffed shells, enchiladas, steamed broccoli, steamed asparagus, cheese sliced long and thin so he can pick it up and he bites pieces off, etc.

(none of these are pureed just cooked so they are soft and he chews them fine)

Answer 4

I was advised by my health visitor to start using more textured foods from 6mnths 3weeks old, the later u leave it the harder it is for them to get used to the texture.. From 7mnths they can eat just mashed foods it doesnt need to be totally puree, get the meat as small as possible. When u feed him he mite gag but dont panic, he will try remove it himself if he cant tip him forward slightly or use ur finger to scoop it out..He will get used to eating it. From 10mnth they move onto chewed foods. M daughter 10.5mnths and when i 1st gave her mashed food she gagged a lil but she removed it herself and loved chewing and was fine after that, ive recently put her onto 10mnth stage food which is bigger lumps and shes been no prob.. Did u get a birth to five book??

Answer 5

Hi there

If you want to make it extra smooth then use a sift. At 7 months old I think it is ok to give them lumps. I have stopped sifting my 6 month baby's food.

At six months + it is advised to give babies finger foods to chew on . I have read that you should always watch a baby when they eat. I think at some point in their lives all kids will choke and it's up to up mums to be prepared for it!

Here is something I copied and pasted from the babyworld website:

y around 7 to 8 months you can introduce finger foods. Your baby may find it easier to pick up food with his fingers than use a spoon at this stage. These finger foods can be made out of anything that’s not too sloppy to cut. Here are some ideas:

  Slices of bread or toast. Press the bread firmly with a rolling pin before toasting or cutting into fingers to make sure that no crumbs or lumps will fall off

  Strips of pitta bread, nan or chappati

  Fingers of pizza

  Cubes of cheese, or a pile of finely grated cheese

  Peas

  Cooked pasta in sizes and shapes your baby can pick up

  Cooked vegetables

  Chunks of dessert apple or finely grated apple

  Slices of carrot, celery, cucumber

  Tiny sandwiches with fruit or savoury filling

Note: you should always stay with your baby when he’s feeding himself in case he chokes. Usually, babies will cough or spit food out if they cannot swallow it. Occasionally you may have to pat him on the back or put your finger in his mouth to remove a piece of food.

Good luck x

Answer 6

I pureed all my sons food at home too & though the veg purees go super smooth when you add meat it is impossible to make them as smooth as the jars, i always had tiny pieces (more like shreds) of chicken etc in mine but they were so fine my babies didnt fuss. Remember they slowly have to get introduced to lumps so the tiny bits in your purees could be your starting point- if baby's get "super smooth" for too long they will reject lumpy food & cause you a lot more hassle in the long run.

DON'T worry about choking! Your baby's throat is approximately the size of a penny in width so it would take a lump as large as a whole grape to choke him!

Good luck xx

Answer 7

If they pieces are tiny then I wouldnt worry but if they are like as big as a pea i wouldnt give it to him or pick the pieces out.