6 Month Old Gags When Eating

My son use to gag or just keep his mouth shut with cereal so I started to mix fruit with it or applesauce. He ate it up.
Baby food, Gerber greenbeans, peas,etc. he hated he only ate carrots and sweet potatoes and for the past 3 months he will not touch it. He will be a year in a few weeks and has been eating table food since he was 9 mos.

I am married (10 yrs)and a mother to 2 boys, 8years old and almost 1 year old. I work full time for an Oil and Gas Co.

My gagger is now 3.5 yo. Still gags occasionally and is the fussiest eater. Try a NUK brush to desensitize their mouth. You can also try those net things on a pacifier like thing that lets them chew food but not swallow it. I wish I could offer more advice.

J. -

Yes it certainly is frustrating! I have been through this - it's gag-reflex and may also be referred to as gag-reflux. Thin out his cereals as much as you possibly can and try that. Then let him direct to you, what he can handle and cannot - and just go with that. This will work itself out by 2 years at latest. Until then you have to get somewhat creative and keep trying different things with him - there really is a huge assortment of foods to keep trying, mixing, etc... And, btw - sweet potatoes are one of the best foods on the planet - they are packed with nutrients and good stuff so that is great that he likes those - I'd give him those every morning and more if he'll take them!

You can do this - just re-adjust. That's what these kiddos do to us - help teach us to re-adjust and keep trying - not a bad lesson really, just seems inconvenient at first but you will get the hang of it and it will seem normal before long.

Good luck,
Alli

I have twin, almost 7 month old boys. One gags, the other one doesn't. I noticed that if I dilute the food with more water he doesn't gag. BTW, I usually mix the cereal with water to thin it and then add the veggies/fruit. I truly believe it is a texture thing. If there are any lumps then he gags. He has gotten better about the food being thicker. Also, the pureed meats are a no go unless they are mixed with something like sweet potatoes or carrots. I just try to think about how I like my foods and what sides I enjoy with the main course. Usually they eat the things I would eat. Just to give you an idea of our meal plan for today: Breakfast consists of Bananas mixed with the single grain DHA oatmeal cereal, for lunch we'll have peas mixed with single grain DHA rice cereal and for dinner, ham and gravy mixed with applesauce. I always save the protein for dinner so that their blood sugar will remain stable and they will sleep longer throughout the night. I hope this helps!

J.,
I am sorry but I don't have a solution for you ~ I can only offer you comfort in your concern by telling you that all three of my kids did that from time to time and they are all grew up to be healthy.
I would talk with your doctor about it and just keep giving him the foods that don't make him gag. Unfortunately you might have just a picky eater on your hands.
Best of luck.
Deborah

Some foods tend not to flatten out on a baby's tongue as easily as others. Might be that there's more cellulous in green beans and its not as easily to get off the tongue as fruit purees and sweet potatoes? Some websites say babys don't develop the ability to swallow solids correctly until 4 to 6 months of age... So, your son's mastery of swallowing might be just a touch too young for certain types of foods. I'd hold off on the green beans for a while since he didn't do well with them.

BTW, I don't recall starting green beans at 6 months. Admittedly my recollection might be fuzzy, but I think my DD started on rice cereal just over 4 months, did that for 3 weeks, then my pedi said we could introduce "yellow foods" (apples, pears, bananas). Then we did those at least for 3 weeks (one week for each fruit), and then it was the other types of cereals: rice with fruits, oats, bran (one week for each of those; can't remember when we did wheat cereal). I think we then moved on to "orange foods" (carrots, sweet potatoes) when she was 6-7 months. Then there were a few weeks when I combined 2 of those foods together (like SP and apples, apples and carrots, etc.), just to get her used to mixed flavors. Green foods were introduced when she was a touch older, maybe around 8-9 months. Of course, its possible we were just going really slow because I was paranoid about signs of allergies-?! Or maybe I was just too exhausted to go any faster! LOL

I'm going through the exact same thing with my 6 month old. She was doing great on rice and oatmeal. She was even enjoying the gerber 1st foods. Then she caught a bit of a stomach bug. She has since gotten better but now clamps her lips shut with solids. If some happens to make it in her mouth she gags too. I have managed to get her to take a few bites of squash. I didn't experience this at all with my other 3. I'm just going to keep trying.

At six months, he will need to be on solids shortly.
If I were you though, I wouldn't force the issue but leave it completely for just a week or ten days, then try again.
Ensure that the meals you offer him are really tasteful when you begin again so that he doesn't balk but enjoy the taste, even if you have to start off with something relatively sweet.

Do not feed him solid food yet. It should not be a big battle. I nursed mine exclusively and then just sat them at the dinner table with the rest of the family in their high chair and would offer them finger foods and mashed things that we were eating when appropriate and they all learned to eat food and felt part of the family. I never used commercial baby food. I also did not feed them. I put it in front of them and let them pick it up and explore the tastes etc. Very pleasant and not stressful.

Hy J.,

I have a 7 month old baby girl. I started her with 1st foods gerbers at 3 months and a month later she started gagging with foods she didn't like. What I dis, is that I now mix her cereal with a fruit flavor gerber in the mornings. She really likes it that way. As far as vegetables, she loves sweet potatoes and carrots, she doesn't really like anything else from the gerber brand. I tried the beechnut brand for other vegetables and she liked the sweetpeas and squash. Try changing the brand of his food. Beechnut is sweeter. Hope it works.

I would wait until he is older and try again. Some kids just aren't ready yet.

At 6 months he really doesn't HAVE to be eating any particular food. What I would do is keep giving him what he will take and when he's half finished with his meal, offer a taste of something he has been having a problem with. IF he spits or gags, then offer what he likes. Eventually he'll get better.

Sensory issues can come and go- they can increase with teething, stress, illness, ect. So it's not unusual to be OK with something one day and then have problems with it later.

S., mom to 5

My son did kind of the same thing. His was a texture issue and sometimes a flavor issue. I had to stick with Gerber 1st and 2nd foods until after he was about 14 months. He would gag and vomit if I gave him the 3rd stage foods because they were a little chunky. My pediatrician said that this was normal for some babies and that he would grow out of it. She said that if he didn't seem to grow out of it that he would have to have some sort of texture therapy. Luckily we have no issues and he is now 2 and will eat anything from carrots to avacados to cauliflower. You may just want to ask your pediatrician. I hope this helps.