dunno what to say, really. it does sound like she was doing pretty well before you got in on the act... as far as i recall Babybear used to swallow what i thought were surprisingly large pieces of food, particularly carrot, straight down. i'd see it in her mouth and think 'blimey, that's going to come out' and then i'd see her swallow and it would be Gone. i'd say that so long as you've steamed the carrot to oblivion there's not much harm in letting her get on with it. in answer to your question about confidence, though, i'd say the single best thing to do is go on an infant resus course or at the very least look at the info online. of course i'd say that to anyone, BLW or not. For me, it just made me think that if something bad happened that i would be able to deal with it, if you know what i mean? as i think i've said before, i reckon Babybear choked twice, both times on apple, so i avoided that until i could give her a whole one to scrape on. thing is, you don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with, so if you decide to do a mix of finger foods and purees then that'll be fine. remember, the goal is to have a happy, healthy child who eats food, that's all. but if you do decide to give finger food a try again, just try not to stress about it. Steamed carrot is a great place to start. or soft fruit like peaches or apricots... good luck anyway.