Any table food ideas for gaggers with no teeth?

Both girls still gag pretty easily, one has two bottom teeth almost 1/2 way in and the other only has a small part of one bottom tooth coming in. So far the only table foods they can handle are cheerios(w/some gagging), puffs, very small very soft pieces of carrots, small pieces of cheese (also some gagging and puking), banana if I pinch off pieces and give to them. Boy, I think that is about it. They don't like yogurt - i've tried several diff. brands and flavors. I have been sitting them down w/us at dinner to try what we are having, but somebody always pukes, so we stop and then feed them baby food when we are done. They do okay with the pureed, but are just sooo interested in what we eat. As of yesterday, I decided to try pushing the sippies more and not be so persistent with finishing the formula...not going so well...neither took in much yesterday and the same this morning.

Any suggestions would be so helpful. I would like to try to keep it as healthy as possible while they still don't know any different
Thanks for your help. Stephanie

 

My only advise is to just keep trying. They don't need teeth to be able to mash up foods. One of my girls first table foods that they mastered was green beans. I was surprised. I do think that it will get better in time, just keep trying and one day they'll just "get it". My girls really eat everything that I'm eating nowadays.

Good luck, I hope that you get some great advice!

 

I agree with pp. Keep trying different things. Be sure that everything is cooked soft enough that they can mash it. When they first went to table foods I always tried to demonstrate how to chew. I would do exaggerated movements and tell them to chew chew chew. I think they will get the hang of it. Also at 11 months we still did mostly baby food. I don't think we transitioned to full table food until they were closer to 15 months.

 

We had one of these: http://tinyurl.com/3a4ybr

It doesn't puree food but makes does completely grind it. I could fuss with the wetness of it by adding water/milk/broth/whatever and make little balls of food that they could then pick up and eat. We never used babyfood, only table food, as we were just able to get everything in a nice texture with this thing. I've seen them at resale shops for 25-50 cents so it may be worth it to look for one that way to try it out. Good luck!

 

Have you tried frozen pancakes? Mine loved those. I'd make a double batch of silver dollar pancakes and freeze them on cookie sheets. Then I'd dump the frozen pancakes into a big freezer bag. It was incredibly handy. I made them more healthful by using whole wheat flour, fresh fruit, chopped dried fruit, pumpkin puree, shredded carrot/zucchini/sweet potato, etc. Oh, and they liked them straight from the freezer... feels good on the gums.

Also, they liked noodle based casseroles. They still go bonkers over lasagna or salmon-noodle casserole.

 

We were in the same situation (gagging) a month ago. I dreaded feeding time b/c they were spitting purees in my face, but wouldn't eat much else. We also have only 2 bottom teeth.

Then I realized (thanks, TS) that I was drowning their appetite. We cut back to 3 bottles (16 total oz) a day and were on 100% table food within a week. I haven't given them a puree in 3 weeks. They couldn't be happier, I am enjoying feeding time again...and life has gotten sooooo much easier.

As far as what worked...they are still going to gag as they learn. Mine still gag occassionally (especially if they are trying a new food/texture), but I don't have to yank them out of the chair and do the finger sweep anymore. I just remind them to "chew chew chew" and also make overexaggerated chewing motions and eat with them as suggested in pp.

Foods we tried in the transition:
*diced peaches (perfect 4-oz cups sold near applesauce)
*toast strips
*pancake strips
*hasbrowns
*waffle strips
*pasta pick ups ravioli (I started out cutting these in half (WARNING: messy), then when they stopped gagging on that I gave it to them whole
*Pasta wheels (hands down their current favorite)
*Canned Green beans
*Goldfish (another staple & favorite at the moment)
*Pieces of cut up cereal fruit bars (WARNING: messy)
*Black Beans
*Rice & beans (black/refried)

A big thing for my boys was that they REALLY wanted to feed themselves. They'll try just about anything I give them; but if I try to feed it to them they turn their head and purse their lips as tight as they can. If I drop it on the tray they pop it in their mouth.

One last thing. Feedings got VERY messy for us for about 3 weeks. In the last week I have noticed that I clean up A LOT less food out of their chairs/floor when they're done than I did when we started. They have gotten a lot better about getting the food in their mouth.

Wow...didn't mean to write such a novel. I just hated the transition phase and never thought we'd make it to the other side; then one day it just sort of happened. Hang in there. I'll bet that you make it before their bday.

 

Gagging is actually a result of not knowing how to handle some foods over others. Since they are used to swallowing their foods, that is probably what they are still doing, instead of chewing. So, you need to help them learn to chew. Try giving them whole graham crackers to nibble on. It's basic, but as long as they are moving their foods to the back of their tongue they are going to gag.

We learned this at a food clinic because one of my girls was throwing up all the time. The graham crackers worked wonders, then we graduated to half cheerios to whole cheerios, then to half puffs, whole puffs ...

Be careful of some of the fruit advise above as slippery/slimy fruits can also be challenging for gaggers. I think you will see a big improvement by starting with crackers.

 

Thank you SO much everybody! I will try some of these things today. I had seen another post about drowning their appetite, so yesterday I tried to do only sippies w/meals and bedtime bottle. One DD did great, the other was very hungry at 1 am . I'm gonna try again today!


SWEETPEAG - The things you mentioned in 'strips' - do you buy them like that, or do you just cut everything into strips? Glad to hear that they can manage w/o teeth. Poor babies! Hope you guys are having a good birthday - loved your pictures!

Thanks again, Stephanie

 

My girls were gaggers to, andI had to grab them out of their chairs more times then I like to think about. It was very frustrating.

I agree to try a cracker type thing, to get them to knaw on it some..it may help them to get the chewing thing down a little better.

I also agree that it wasn't till much later that my girls were on table foods. Probably not till aobut 15 months or so.
Good luck!

 

Jessy only had teeth on top when we went to all table food. I just made sure everything as in pieces small enough to not cause choking(mine still gag everyone and a while).

Suggestions:
*Gerber graduates greenbeans(these are handy and already prefectly sized)
*Noodles(pasta roni, mac & cheese, & ramen are all good)
*Very small pieces of meat(small enough they don't have to chew)
*any cereal not just cheerios(mine like kix because they are balls)
*the freeze dried gerber fruits
*cereal bars
*goldfish or better yet the gripz cheezit bites(on cracker ailse the are the size of an eraser on a pencil)

I do also recomend giving them things that are large than their mouths like graham crackers or club crackers because then they'll get used to taking bites. if they don't get used to taking bites then you have a baby who tires to shoove the whole thing in her mouth and then chokes.