Okay, dumb question about Cheerios

[AndyCohen]

A eats puffs, not Cheerios, but any starchy food will dissolve.

[mala]

B will either suck on them until they are soft or she will chew them with her gums. Mostly she chews them.

~~~
Vomit free since '93!

[unclejesse]

Andrew uses his front teeth and chomps on them. He also lets. Them soften and then gums them with his "back teeth".

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[fusion]

gum them to death

[teamhayes]

Gums them, soaks them, chomps them and swallows them whole a lot.

[melis74]

Jan 26, 2013 22:59:46 GMT -5 teamhayes said:

Gums them, soaks them, chomps them and swallows them whole a lot.

This. M only has two teeth.

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[thedahliharpa]

Each one stays in her mouth for awhile and they seem to be swallowed in little bits, not pulverized. If that makes sense.

[lolaburns]

I wonder if the hole in the middle helps keep it from being a choking hazard....


Sent from the bottom of a Clorox bottle.

[Deleted]

I was really worried about giving them also but she does fine!

[mamasaurus]

::headdesk::

[TrudyCampbell]

OMG siggy

[thedahliharpa]

Isn't the reason Lifesavers are called such because of the hole? Or is that something I told myself in the third grade and still believe to be true?

[mamasaurus]

Jan 26, 2013 23:27:13 GMT -5 thedahliharpa said:

Isn't the reason Lifesavers are called such because of the hole? Or is that something I told myself in the third grade and still believe to be true?

Nope.

www.snopes.com/business/names/lifesavers.asp

[mamasaurus]

Jan 26, 2013 23:33:35 GMT -5 @tambcat said:

Jan 26, 2013 23:23:51 GMT -5 mamasaurus said:

::headdesk::

Look, it just doesn't makes sense to me. I know babies don't have to have teeth to chew, but I always thought they still had to have food that was easily gummed. I'm trying to understand what happens when a baby puts a cheerio in its mouth.

No, your question is a good one. I have wondered this myself.

[thedahliharpa]

Jan 26, 2013 23:29:38 GMT -5 mamasaurus said:

Jan 26, 2013 23:27:13 GMT -5 thedahliharpa said:

Isn't the reason Lifesavers are called such because of the hole? Or is that something I told myself in the third grade and still believe to be true?

Nope.

www.snopes.com/business/names/lifesavers.asp

Oh, cool. I never had heard the full rumor of the dead daughter. I wonder who gave me the misinformation as a kid...probably my grandmother who told me stories about little kids being hospitalized because they popped balloons in their faces and choked on them. Basically she was paranoid and made up stories to justify the paranoia.

[teamhayes]

Jan 26, 2013 23:49:47 GMT -5 thedahliharpa said:

Jan 26, 2013 23:29:38 GMT -5 mamasaurus said:

probably my grandmother who told me stories about little kids being hospitalized because they popped balloons in their faces and choked on them. Basically she was paranoid and made up stories to justify the paranoia.

Semi related but I read on Lucies List that balloons were actually one of the leading causes of choking in children.

[thedahliharpa]

Jan 26, 2013 23:57:51 GMT -5 teamhayes said:

Jan 26, 2013 23:49:47 GMT -5 thedahliharpa said:

Semi related but I read on Lucies List that balloons were actually one of the leading causes of choking in children.

Sorry to jack your thread Tamb...basically she told me the kids had to live forever in the hospital with tubes down their throats and the balloons would never come out. I don't let babies play with balloons but she took it a bit far :-)

[laurack]

They do dissolve, it just takes longer than with a puff or melty thingy.

I was freaked out by Cheerios too at first, but they are so cheap compared to puffs and it turns out she does fine with them. She only has one tooth. The Cheerios stays in her mouth a while. Often it comes back out again, sometimes she chews and swallows.

I have also given her Cheerios with milk, which I spoon fed her. This freaked me out a bit too, I'd only give two at a time on the spoon and they were soggy from the milk. She still gagged a little. It's so weird! Hunks of meat she's ok with but she will gag on a Cheerio.

I have been led to believe that babies will not choose to push a food back to their airway if they aren't comfortable with it. In practice I have found this to be true. Though I've only been feeding her for 3 months or so.

[laurack]

Also if a Cheerio did find its way directly back to the airway after going into the mouth I believe either one of two things would happen: it would be too small to block the airway and would simply be swallowed whole and just uncomfortable for baby, or it would block the airway but would begin to dissolve and would have fully dissolved somewhat quickly.

This wouldn't be the case with something like a small grape or a large pea or blueberry however which is what I think the difference between a Cheerio or similar being ok, but certain other small objects not.

[laurack]

Pretty common, I was at mothers group the other day and it seemed many moms with babies our age or older were afraid of finger foods and still feeding purées.

I found that puffs/ Cheerios were one of the later foods she was ok with, even though that seems it shouldn't be the case. As they are often the first food people try. But something about their tiny size bothered her. She was much happier to bite chunks off a banana or whatever.

[mscatra]

I wish I was CatFacts right now.

Fact: Cats often do not chew their food and just swallow it whole.

Boring but true. My toothless cat eats just fine. As does my almost toothless child.

[jenbelle]

Jan 27, 2013 8:16:33 GMT -5 mscatra said:

I wish I was CatFacts right now.

Fact: Cats often do not chew their food and just swallow it whole.

Boring but true. My toothless cat eats just fine. As does my almost toothless child.

Dog Fact: Same as Cat fact. I have removed every tooth from a dog's mouth and watched them inhale dry food hours after surgery.

[rjamz]

Jan 27, 2013 8:23:39 GMT -5 jenbelle said:

Jan 27, 2013 8:16:33 GMT -5 mscatra said:

I wish I was CatFacts right now.

Fact: Cats often do not chew their food and just swallow it whole.

Boring but true. My toothless cat eats just fine. As does my almost toothless child.

Dog Fact: Same as Cat fact. I have removed every tooth from a dog's mouth and watched them inhale dry food hours after surgery.

Side note: are you a vet? Awesome!

J loves Cheerios but I usually give him puffs bc the dog is allergic to Cheerios, but not puffs   *-)

[bebeetmoi]

She hasn't had any difficulty eating them, they kind of just dissolve in her mouth. She will crunch on things too though because I think the texture feels good on her gums.

[Dorothy Zbornak]

Germany fact: Cheerios are unavailable here. Womp womp.

[kdrake8]

Tamb - I have been wondering the same damn thing. DH wants to give her Cheerios and I just have no clue how that works with a toothless baby.

I stared at the boxes of Cheerios in the grocery store yesterday, ALMOST got up the nerve, and then said, "Nope!" and walked away.

[biblionerd]

Jan 26, 2013 23:11:38 GMT -5 lolaburns said:

I wonder if the hole in the middle helps keep it from being a choking hazard....


Sent from the bottom of a Clorox bottle.

whoa. My mind is blown for never realizing it.

I'm not even going to admit how long I broke Cheerios in half for Linus. For some reason he just could not eat those stupid little things

[Deleted]

Jan 27, 2013 8:52:00 GMT -5 bebeetmoi said:

She hasn't had any difficulty eating them, they kind of just dissolve in her mouth. She will crunch on things too though because I think the texture feels good on her gums.

Pretty much this.  Anything new freaks me out, but he's been doing so well that I'm getting way better with new stuff.

[lolaburns]

Jan 27, 2013 10:58:51 GMT -5 biblionerd said:

Jan 26, 2013 23:11:38 GMT -5 lolaburns said:

I wonder if the hole in the middle helps keep it from being a choking hazard....


Sent from the bottom of a Clorox bottle.

whoa. My mind is blown for never realizing it.

I'm not even going to admit how long I broke Cheerios in half for Linus. For some reason he just could not eat those stupid little things

LOL I was being facetious! What if it got lodged sideways? =\ 

[carawestt]

Lincoln chews them with his front teeth like a rabbit haha. But he also sucks on them to make get them soggy and then chews them with his gums.