I think might have cracked the grapes/choking thing…
I've been trying to choose bigger ones, obviously, then washing and cutting them in half before giving them tho Babybear. But they still seemed like solid little suckers just waiting to get trapped in a tiny trachea…
However, and forgive me if this seems terribly obvious, if you kind of pop the grape flesh outwards with your thumb before handing it over it is much easier for them to suck and chew.
Also, I have been making sure that there is a tear at the top of the skin of the grape half (I rip it with my fingers) so that it comes apart more easily for her and hopefully diminishes the risk of it getting caught in her throat. It seems to have worked, yesterday she ate about 15 grapes. Made for a very interesting nappy this morning.
Having said all that, if your baby is brand-new to Baby Led Weaning I would wait until they had got the hang of things before giving them halved grapes to hold themselves. I used to hold onto them between my thumb and forefinger when we first started. You can't be too careful and all that…
Post Script.
Yeah, you can go to the trouble of making a tear in the top of your grape half if you wish… but why not do the more obvious thing and cut it when you cut the damn thing in half? So, you know, make a cross in the top of your grape and half down it. Clearly I am an idiot, it has taken me two months to work this out….