8.5 month old started gagging and throwing up

[TraceyAC]

Hi

Could anyone help me?  My lo, 8.5 months, has been on solids since she was about 5.5 months.  However in the last week she's started gagging on her food, but not consistently.  There is no pattern to this, and she will eat lumpy and pureed food fine, or throw either up!  This was our weekend:

Friday:
Bottle - OK
Breakfast - OK
Bottle - OK
Lunch - threw up on first mouthful (my fault - too big a piece of chicken)
Bottle - OK
Dinner - threw up on first mouthful
Bottle - took 2oz and threw up

Saturday:
Bottle - OK (starving hungry!)
Breakfast - OK (kept it light - only baby rice and apple)
Bottle - OK
Lunch - OK (again kept it light - baby rice and pear)
Bottle - OK
Dinner - threw up on first mouthful
Bottle - OK

Sunday:
Bottle - OK
Breakfast - OK
Bottle - OK
Lunch - OK
Bottle - OK
Dinner - threw up on first mouthful, asked for it again, ate all of it then threw it all back up on gagging on a bit of banana
Bottle - OK

Do some babies go through this?  She can eat lumpy food fine, so I know it's not that, and she can eat finger food too without any problems, but more and more frequently she's doing this. 

Do we just feed her light food til her stomach settles properly?  Do we try dropping a bottle - is she overloaded?  I'm loathe to go back to full purees as I want her to progress before she gets stuck on them.

Thank you!
Tracey

[Freya'sMum]

Hello! Sorry to hear that your lo is not feeling 100%!

It's difficult to know what the cause of her vomiting is, doesn't immediately strike me as an overfeeding issue, and if it is I would suggest decreasing the solid foods rather than the milk as this is still her primary source of nutrition. It could be a gagging thing, gagging is a natural reflex that isn't directly linked to lumps but to anything that touches that bit of the mouth, even liquid, to prevent choking - it doesn't always lead to vomiting either, but can.

I guess there is a possibility that she is poorly too, some sort of tummy upset or reaction, have you checked to see if there is any pattern to which foods the gag/vomit is in response too? Or it could be those forever tiresome teeth which seem to affect all parts of the digestive tract from icky tummies to red-raw bottoms! Or a simple cold, mucus build up can cause vomiting too?

Sorry that this asks more questions than gives answers I guess I'd monitor it for a few more days and if the problem persists or worsens contact a health advisor... obviously others might be experiencing something similar and have other suggestions too!

Ax

[TraceyAC]

Thank you!

She was sick again this afternoon.  Ate her tea ok then gagged on a piece of toast and threw everything up.

I was thinking about teeth, and she's also had a couple of colds recently and isn't shifting the mucus.  I can't see any pattern with the foods at all - it's all stuff she's had a dozen times before.

I'll see how she is over the next few days.  She refused a bottle today, which is unusual, but the amount of milk she's had over the day hasn't decreased at all - she's just taken more in the other 3.

I think I'll take her to the dr tomorrow just to rule out any underlying issues.

Thanks again.

Tracey

[Freya'sMum]

Hope you get to the bottom of it soon and that she starts to feel better!

Ax

[Lolly]

We have just been through this with my LO. He has reflux though and before he started on zantac we had a few weeks after starting solids where if anything made him gag or cough he would just totally empty his stomach. Once it happened because the spoon went a little bit too far back in his mouth, and another because he coughed on a bit of mucous. Always seemed to happen when I was on my own with him .

In our case I think it was because the reflux was worse due to teething etc and the regurgitating was making his throat sore and sensitive. In the last few weeks he has been able to gag on food without throwing everything up, I think because the zantac is doing it's job or it could be that he has just grown out of it. A couple of the mums on my birth board have older children who had a very sensitive gag reflex too.

I'm not sure any of this helps you, other than maybe it could just be a developmental thing which she will grow out of  Of course it is always worth getting it checked out.

Laura

[TraceyAC]

Thank you Laura, it does help.

I wasn't able to get her to the dr yesterday, and they are closed today, so will call for an appt first thing tomorrow to get her in then.  She's only doing it on gagging, coughing hasn't made her sick ... yet!  And she does cough quite a bit with this mucous.  Nursery say they've had a few babies who have done this, which makes me feel a bit better - I think it's maybe more common than people know.

Thanks again.
Tracey

[TraceyAC]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to thank you for your suggestions and support.  She seems to have stopped throwing up now.  We stopped giving finger foods for a few days and then reintroduced them, and she has gone back to gagging normally and using her tongue to push the food forward instead of throwing up.  We're still not sure if it was a bug or a phase, but fingers x'd we're through it this time.

Now she has another cold ....  - it's never ending!

Thank you again.
Tracey

[Lolly]

Good news! Apart from the cold of course, hope she feels better soon!

Laura

[em_here]

Hi there, just to let you know my DD has just had n awful cold, and she kept doing this on/off puking thing, think it was all the saliva and gunk she was swallowing as that came up too along with the foods. Like you she was very hit and miss as to when she would throw up, sometimes it was milk sometimes food, am glad things have improved for you