Making my own baby oatmeal - what am I doing wrong?

I am trying to make homemade oatmeal according to the directions on wholesomebabyfood.com. I took some steel cut oats, ground them into a powder using a coffee grinder, boiled water, mixed in 1/4 cup of ground oatmeal, stirred constantly for 10 minutes, and added a little breastmilk to water it down.

There were lumps. So I strained the oatmeal and then gave it to DD. The problem is she is gagging pretty badly when she eats it. Why? Is she not ready for real oatmeal? Should I be giving her something else? Is it normal for babies to gag when they first eat? She never gagged on the ready made oatmeal.

TIA

Message edited 12/13/2009 6:06:29 PM.

Re: Making my own baby oatmeal - what am I doing wrong?

I think it's normal. They are not used to anything "solid" in their mouth. You could try watering it down more and letting DC suck it off of the spoon. Or, you could wait a little longer, maybe they aren't ready. How old?

DD didn't "get" eating at first when we tried at 4 1/2 months so I waited a week or so before I tried again. Gradually she got used to it.

Kudos to you for making your own oatmeal

Re: Making my own baby oatmeal - what am I doing wrong?

Posted by organichic

I think it's normal. They are not used to anything "solid" in their mouth. You could try watering it down more and letting DC suck it off of the spoon. Or, you could wait a little longer, maybe they aren't ready. How old?

DD didn't "get" eating at first when we tried at 4 1/2 months so I waited a week or so before I tried again. Gradually she got used to it.

Kudos to you for making your own oatmeal