I'm not a dietician, or profess to have much knowledge in that respect, but my gut reaction was why would does she need to move onto thicker textures when she's only just 6 months? The guidelines are to wait until 6 months anyway, so unless you're going down the BLW route (and if you did the mantra is 'food is for fun until they're one' so it wouldn't matter if at this stage she wasn't eating much anyway) most babies of that age are just starting off on the very smooth purees. I used to really worry about what C ate (she's a picky eater) but I was so much more laid back with S and basically if she ate it she did and if she didn't, I didn't worry. Honestly, S gagged LOADS (C never did, so it came as a bit of a shock). We did mainly BLW with the odd pouch that she'd feed herself by sucking it, and I used to get loads of looks when we were eating out if she gagged as it was so loud! It took quite a few weeks for her to get used to it; she must have been at least 8 months, but she was then fine. I'd have thought that she'd gag more by being spoon fed as she can't control what's going in, so maybe take a step back, put some soft food in front of her, see what she does and try not to panic if she does gag. Give her the chance to deal with the food herself before you intervene, unless you think she's in danger of choking. If you want to try jars and pouches, then do so. What's important is that this becomes a more positive experience for you both. I'd be concerned that if this continued in the same way, she'd be at risk of having problems with food in the future, as you say yourself she can sense you getting stressed. However, there are also conditions that can cause a baby to gag, so it's great that she's going to be checked out just in case.