Gagging and Puking while eating solids Please help!

[sees_2]

Hello, My Son is 10 1/2 months old and we have been having some troubles with transitioning him over to more finger foods/textured foods. I am so confused! I don't really know if I am on the right track. He seemed to be doing OK, but then we went on holidays for 2 weeks and I think we messed him up.

In the morning he will have his baby cereal with mashed up bananas and will eat a lot with no problems. He will also eat toast no problem, and he loves those Mum Mum rice cracker things. He will eat them no problems and will not gag.

He use to also eat cheerios, and those little rice puffed pieces, but he now he will spit them out or else he will start gagging. Also any chunky mashed veggie or fruit he will gag.

But he has eaten them before. he gobbled up strawberries and pears. But now it is instant gag.

We went on holidays and I think this might have something to do with it. We gave him more of the stuff he LOVES because it was easier going out to eat or eating at family's houses. BUT I am pretty sure that has back fired! The last 2 days i have stopped giving him toast or mum moms because he wouldn't even try to eat the other stuff. He would just hold out and wait for the 'good stuff'. But he still needs to eat So i have just been offering him other foods. The first time we had a total melt down. I just took him out of his seat and tried again later. He didnt even really want to try anything else. But I gave him some yogurt and he was happy to eat that of course. Today I gave him some yogurt with lunch and I put some veggies on his tray and he kind of played with them but didn't want to try and put them in his mouth. I thought if I mashed them up (Like I do with his bananas and cereal in the morning) and put them in his yogurt that might be better for him. Well he gagged and then threw up some of what he just ate. So that was not a good thing to do

I am trying to just relax, keep offering him stuff and just wait it out, and not panic. But I am wondering do I just feed him pureed food until he gets over it? Should I keep not giving him toast until he tries other stuff? And I don't understand why he is gagging now when he didn't before? I am so confused! Please help!!

[creations]

The gagging could be a sign he is not hungry, it sounds like he is having a big breakfast so there's a chance that by lunch he is not so hungry that he is interested in the variety of food you'd like him to try, instead his appetite may be satisfied with a small meal - so he feels he can hold out for the yoghurt or toast or the things he likes.  When my DS went through a GS and ate lots I kind of became used to him eating that amount so it was always a worry when it dropped below that, but we have to remember that baby/toddler portions are actually very small and the chances are you're baby is not going to let himself starve.  LOs often have more of an appetite for solids in the morning hours too, unlike older kids and adults who space their food intake a bit more evenly.  So a large breakfast and smaller lunch and dinner is not something to worry about.  You might offer a finger food vegetable at breakfast when he has a good appetite if you are concerned about him eating from all the food groups.
Gagging might also be that he doesn't like the texture. He might well be ok with puree and with harder/drier solids such as toast but have an aversion to 'bits' or 'mashed'. Maybe try some of the foods he likes in a dried more solid texture so perhaps a whole hulled strawberry rather than puree/mashed/bits, perhaps a roasted/baked wedge of sweet potato which is dry on the outside and soft on the inside.
LOs do need several portions of grains/carbs in a day which can look a bit out of balance to us. A serving of veg can be as small as 1 table spoon, just 1 or 2 finger sized batons/wedges for finger food.  You could try some spreads on his toast to introduce some different flavours.
Any signs of teething? This can really have a great impact on solids intake, many times LOs will just eat their favs during a bad patch of teething and then expand the variety again once they feel better.

Lots of things there as to why this may be happening. Yes try to relax, easier said than done

[sees_2]

Thank you so much for the reply! He did just pop out a new tooth and I am suspicious that there could be another one on the way. I didn't even think to switch things up for breakfast, that is great advice. I thought 'He's eating that well let's just keep going with that.' I tried that this morning and I think it will help things along. I put out some apple slices and some cheerios for him to try and he actually picked them up and started to chew them. I'm not sure that he actually ate much or any of them, but he put them in his mouth so that is a good thing! At least he will get use to the textures/tastes again. I like what you said about the GS. I think that happened because he was eating a lot more and then all of a sudden it feels like he eats nothing. I gave him a grilled cheese sandwich today and it seemed to go over well. Thank you so much for the advice! So I should probably just keep offering him different finger foods and give him some of the purees until he can handle more texture maybe?? Who would have thought that eating could be so difficult 

[creations]

I probably wouldn't focus too much on purees at this point. Yes a little if you are concerned that he is hungry but over the next couple of months you'd be looking for him to join regular family meals. Maybe put aside a small portion of what you have for your evening meal and serve at breakfast when he is more interested in eating, this way he becomes accustomed to the tastes of your regular meals and gets a variety of veggies etc as well as carbs and fruit.
If he's teething the toast could be a comfort on his gums.