B.L.W

Gagging is totally normal and actually encouraged. He doesn't need teeth to eat. Their gums are rock hard and have their teeth just behind. Anything that is soft enough to squeeze between your fingers is soft enough for them to eat.

As for what you can do you can start with a puree and hand the spoon over, that still counts as BLW! Or start with a very soft food like avocado or carrot. There's really no rules other than keep an eye on them and encourage them to spit if they take too big of a bite.

With my first daughter I gave her like things she could pick up, sliced chicken ,beans, nothing that would get stuck then I would also giver her my food like whatever I ate no matter what it is. Also when they start to gag do not freak out you have to be calm and see if they are struggling first. My now 3rd she is 9 months well tomorrow she will be but she eats everything I make the kids chili Mac and she loves that with any bread lol

Is his adjusted age at least 6 months?

I really would recommend Solid Starts. If you can get the whole program that really helped me especially in feeling confident. Their articles, posts and app are super helpful even if you dont get the full program.

And be patient! :) It took my baby about 2-3 weeks of being offered solids everyday before she actually started eating them and not just playing with them.

You've got this!

Thank you all so much for the advice. I’m going to definitely give it another shot.

thank you. I’m going to look into this program

Solid starts app is great to lean how to serve different foods. Also start slow so baby can learn skills like chewing and how to move foods around in their mouth. So a waffle was not probably the easiest 1st food to try. There will be some gagging at 1st no matter what but it's normal and a long as you are serving foods in a safe form you don't have to worry. Maybe start with some softer foods like ripe avocado, ripe pears, sweet potatoes and work your way up to things like toast and waffles

We started with basic boiled or steamed vegetables that I overcooked so they were very soft and easy for her to gum. Started with Broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes or raw bananas. Cut them into strips that she could hold herself.

Have you considered starting with purées instead of BLW?

and yes we’re doing purées now