So, here’s the deal. Chewing foods is important in baby’s feeding journey for a lot of reasons: wide jaw development, jaw strength, texture progression, developing a wide variety of tastes and textures, and so on. You may have heard me say this before, but we want baby to be chewing foods by the time they are 9 months old. Why? Because research supports that babies who have had experience chewing foods before 9 months of age are less likely to present with feeding difficulties such as picky eating or delayed feeding milestone development (University of Bristol, “Children in the 90s” Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children research study).

I know it can be scary to offer your baby chewable foods for fear of choking and gagging. Trust me- as a mom, I get it! So, here are some ways to help your little one have experience with chewable foods while keeping your anxiety a bit lower.

Move from Purees to Mashed Solids

If you’re not ready to go full blown baby led weaning and offer a slice of a whole food, it’s okay. But, if baby has been eating purees for a long time (more than just a couple weeks), it’s really time to introduce some texture!

Mash down the banana instead of pureeing it, make a baked potato with butter, or offer cottage cheese right on the spoon. Work UP the texture hierarchy and get baby off of purees all the time.

Pick Squishy Solids

Start with super soft food like banana and avocado. Give baby a long piece to hold (e.g., the size of two fingers together) and let them take control of bringing it to their mouth. Even if they just spit it out and don’t actually chew it- this is progress (and it’s normal)! Keep offering throughout the week to get baby used to holding a food, and the feeling of that texture in their mouth.

If you’re noticing that baby is gagging a lot, back down on bite size and texture and try again later!

Baby having trouble holding softer solids? No problem. Roll it in crushed crumbs from a baby Puff or other dissolvable and then offer!

Offer an Open Cup (trust me).

If you’re not having success with offering chewable foods, take a break and switch to offering an open cup. Put baby’s favorite puree in the cup, fill it to the top, and help baby drink! Regulating a puree or liquid from an open cup requires a lot of jaw strength and oral coordination, so it can only help baby on their chewing journey.

This is also a great skill to work on if you need to take a break from offering solids. It can feel stressful if baby is not interested in chewing or is gagging a lot at mealtimes! So, taking a step back and working on cups can help with that!