toddler gagging on everything

irishgirl19

Hi my little girl 14 months. She is not able for finger food at all or anything really lumpy.
I've a knot in my stomach most times I'm feeding her now because I'm so afraid she will choke. We've already asked doctor who has brushed it off as she'll grow out of it thing.
But will she really? My nerves are gone and without being OTT im upset and worried about it lately :-(

mordeith

How long has she been on solids? Is this something that's been happening since the start of solids or a recent development?

irishgirl19

Since 5 months.
All the time tbh. She was never able for liga or rusks even. Im trying to get her to eat more and more stuff now but still gagging, which leaves me afraid to persist really. Anything pureed or mashed she mills! My boyfriend tried giving tomato puffs ( u know the baby crisp things) last week and she ate half of it which I was very very surprised about tbh

January

Kids gag reflexes are really strong, I was like you and used to get a fright seeing my first born gagging but a doctor told me that it was very unlikely that she was going to choke, you need to start building up the thickness little by little, she needs to learn to chew and swallow to help her tongue and jaw to become stronger to help her speech to come on.

irishgirl19

January wrote:

Kids gag reflexes are really strong, I was like you and used to get a fright seeing my first born gagging but a doctor told me that it was very unlikely that she was going to choke, you need to start building up the thickness little by little, she needs to learn to chew and swallow to help her tongue and jaw to become stronger to help her speech to come on.

Thanks January.
Do you have any suggestions? The doctor said last time just keep at it and I said keep letting her gag? And she said no don't let her do that.
So I was more confused going out

mirrorwall14

Can you do an infant first aid course? There is a big difference between gagging and choking. Gagging is perfectly normal while they are learning to eat. Choking is different.

https://learnbabyledweaning.wordpress.com/gagging-vs-choking/

Cakerbaker

I found this useful when starting Baby led weaning with my little guy. I think they do need to be left get used to the different textures which may lead to a bit of gagging but I see it as all part of the learning process. A friend told me to count to 10 before interfearing (unless they were choking obviously!). I was lucky and never got past 5 before he'd work it out himself.

irishgirl19

mirrorwall14 wrote:

Can you do an infant first aid course? There is a big difference between gagging and choking. Gagging is perfectly normal while they are learning to eat. Choking is different.

My dad suggested that to me too. Im going to book once as soon as I'm paid. It would help definitely if feel more at ease

irishgirl19

Cakerbaker wrote:

I found this useful when starting Baby led weaning with my little guy. I think they do need to be left get used to the different textures which may lead to a bit of gagging but I see it as all part of the learning process. A friend told me to count to 10 before interfearing (unless they were choking obviously!). I was lucky and never got past 5 before he'd work it out himself.

God is so scary isn't it. She does cough to try get it out and has her mouth wide open. I suppose thats the hardest thing for me differentiating between what dangerous and whats normal. I dread feeding time most days

RentDayBlues

If you're feeling this anxious your child will pick up on this, you need to be confident that if they did start to choke you could help them.

I blw both of mine, gagging is normal but the longer it goes on the more difficult its making it for all involved.

irishgirl19

RentDayBlues wrote:

If you're feeling this anxious your child will pick up on this, you need to be confident that if they did start to choke you could help them.

Im hoping the 1st aid course will help me with this. I'm really not confident at all

calfmuscle

Go and see a speech and language therapist. They will be able to assess her oral motor and swallowing and give you guidance on how to help her develop.

irishgirl19

calfmuscle wrote:

Go and see a speech and language therapist. They will be able to assess her oral motor and swallowing and give you guidance on how to help her develop.

Thanks so much. My boyfriend wanted to bring her to someone who could help other than gp but I hadn't a clue who to go to

seamus

My daughter was/is the same. Anything even slightly lumpy led to gagging and spitting it out. She's 4 now and still bad for gagging on lumps, though has absolutely no problem eating solid stuff she likes, so it's all in the head. She's getting better but it's been a pain because if we go out for food (even to other peoples' houses) she ends up just eating chips or some other rubbish because she won't touch pasta or rice.

Nip it in the bud sooner rather than later or you'll end up still pureéing food at 4 years of age like us

We'll be going with baby-led weaning on the next one...

LegacyUser

I posted on my phone, but it doesn't seem to have come through.

The short version is that the gag reflex is a protective reflex, so it's good that she's doing it, but at the same time she should by now be able to manage finger foods. She really needs those cheek and jaw muscles for good speech development, but like any other muscle in the body, they won't develop without constant use and practice.

I am currently weaning my second child, who is 7 months. By now she can manage quite thick, stiff purees with some soft lumps, and finger foods like buttered toast and rice cakes.She has no teeth, but she'd take your arm off for a bit of buttered toast......

Assuming there are no medical problems with the child, it's quite likely that if you change your reaction, she will change. And as someone said, deal with this now, before she has the language to tell you that she won't eat something!!!! She should be well able to eat breakfast cereal like weetabix, buttered toast, rice cakes, chopped soft fruits (peeled), that kind of thing. You need to let her gag. I know it's really hard, but you do need to let it happen within reason. She needs to learn how much she can fit in her mouth, and how to move it around, chew it and get it to the back of the mouth for swallowing. You do need to sit on your hands and count to 5 at least- the whole point of the gagging is that she is bringing back up food that isn't quite ready for swallowing. If you are panicking and not giving her food again after she gags once, you're probably not helping the situation. Your reaction needs to be calm. Now obviously, within reason! As someone else said, a paediatric first aid course, might help your confidence a bit. But she's picking up on your reaction and is probably gagging more as a result - be it from nerves, lack of practice, knowing it gets a reaction, who knows. So you do need to try to keep calm. Seriously, try it for a week or two with say one piece of food (for eg, buttered toast, if she doesn't already eat it). Give her a stick of it every day, no crusts, and let her at it. Sit and watch. And by the end of week 2, you will be able to see that she will manage it much much better at the start. They gag more on new foods, because they don't know the texture and thickness etc of them.The gagging stops quite quickly once they have practice at the same food over and over.