A nice lady whose name escapes me has just written to me on another website to ask me if Babybear ever vomited after a gagging sesh. And of course she did, but because she hasn't done it in a while I had completely forgotten about it. How remiss of me…
So yes, she did do some puking after a big gag, but I just used to put my hand out to catch it and not make a fuss about it. A bit of 'oh, poor Babybear' and then back to her lunch.
What was peculiar about the vomit was that it seemed very mucus-y as opposed to sicky, almost as if her body had produced some sort of emergency lubricant to help clear her throat. I'd be really interested to know if anyone else had experienced this, so comment please if you can?
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Tags: choking, gagging, mucous, vomit
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« The Gagging Thing v. The Choking Thing
yes, I've had the same thing… baby loves eating apple but often bites off more than he can manage, or gets some skin. Then he chews for a while and may start gagging. if this happens then generally the next thing is that it comes out of his month, with a load of clear mucusy type stuff as well.. i wonder if it's just that they might create a lot of drool whilst gagging?
what kind of apples do you give your baby? we've not braved the apple yet…
as regards the drool, i'm sure that you are right, but i am also interested in why they create lots of drool while gagging… i bet it's on purpose, to help clear any obstruction. honestly, the longer i have babybear the more i am amazed at how amazingly her body works.
We eat organic braeburn apples, I have one everyday for breakfast, and he's always been interested in them and seems to want to join in, so we bite off the skin and let him scrape at the flesh part himself – sometimes he gets a bit of skin or too large a piece but by and large has been fine with it and it's one of the few things he has actively wanted to eat. Sometimes I hold the apple for him, sometimes he even holds it himself. In fact, I think this was the first food he ever ate, although I know it is supposed to be too difficult for them…
I think you must be right regarding the drool – it does seem to make sense like that.
Yes, we've had gagging / vomiting too, but not for a while now (DS now nearly 9 months). The worst was actually with baby sweetcorn, and yes, it was rather 'mucussy' – I too, have no idea why!
I'm glad this is so common, before reading this I had only heard about it once in the Yahoo group.
Archie gagged on a piece of toast ages ago so I foolishly thought we were past that stage now.
Archie was happily chewing on a scottish pancake in a playgroup (they give you FREE food, so of course we have to go) I was looking at him feeling proud over my 8 month old little miracle when he suddenly started gagging and very soon after threw up all over himself.
I felt not so proud wiping his trousers with his socks (!) the baby wipes were nowhere in sight of course as I'm a less organised mum than some others who always seem to have everything exactly where they need it, when they need it!!
Yes, we have mucus-y dribble too. In fact, Minky was doing loads of mucus-y dribble on Saturday night and it wasn't until after her bath that I found a leaf stuck to the roof of her mouth. I think she must have been trying to get rid of it!
Good to know, Anonymous, their bodies are extraordinary, aren't they? Welcome to you and Minky.
Not Anonymous, sorry… Anne
I do apologise. And welcome once again.
This makes a lot of sense to me, babies are amazing aren't they? Mind you, I am starting to feel slightly envious that Aph has never produced any compensating mucus. She has never ever thrown up after food… obv now it will happen tonight, I wait in anticipation!
We have had the gagging, then the watery-mucusy vomit a few times. Though only for the first few weeks of BLW. Hasn't happened in a while now (over a month).
One day when it happened I had a friend over who is a doctor (General Practitioner) and he said it is exactly the same as possetting (ie. what babies do when they bring up some milk after a breastfeed). He said it is entirely normal and nothing to worry about.
(Oldnewmummy from Mumsnet).
Very glad I found this. STarted BLW 4 days ago and today my boy happily bit off, chewed and swallowed the end of a steamed baby carrot as I smiled proudly on. THen a few minutes later barfed the whole lot up in a drooly pile.
Was started to worry that I was doing something terrible to him!
i just feel like adding our name to the list of vomiting gaggers, to reassure anyone else out there that we are, I think, a fairly numerous bunch – it's pretty worrying if you think yours is the only child who does it. Our dd is a horrendous vomiting gagger – she had a really bad cold at about 8 / 9 months, in which lots of coughing led to being sick and that seemed to weaken her control over vomiting (i know no biology whatsoever, but am told by her GP that the same muscle controls coughing and vomiting, and babies under one have particularly weak control over it). Whilst we now seem over the annoying habit she had of puking when in any situation she was not happy with (especially bed time), she will still regularly vomit up her entire lunch (isn't it always at the end of a really good meal?) if something makes her a bit gaggy (no raw apple, ever again, until she's old enough to wipe up her own puke). I just wipe up and offer more food and am thankful for the pelican bib, which can hold a surprising amount of semi-digested lunch…
(don't seem to be able to log in today, but it's macaroon here)
Hi, I'm from across the pond, and it looks like the gagging topic has already been thoroughly vetted, but just thought I'd add my own story too, fwiw. Our little Ada would choke when breastfed from the time she was a baby, about once a day. She would cough and clear up the problem, but it could be a little nervewracking. She also vomited up entire meals about once a day, then down to maybe once every three days, and then by 5 months it only happened when she had a cold and coughing from the drainage. We started solids at 6 months, and she's been a constant gagger and vomiter. At eight months I've stuck to foods that will essentially melt in her mouth – cheerio's. She is very determined and puts them in her mouth, but invariably they come back out in bits or in a puddle of clear vomit. We've tried avocadoes and bananas, but she just couldn't deal with the way the little pieces stuck in her mouth – gag and vomit, gag and vomit. So at this point I'm giving her chunks of fruit inside the mesh bag self-feeder, and she really goes for these. It's a way for her to continue to work her oral muscles and explore shapes and tastes without the frustration of pieces that she's just not ready to handle yet. A couple of other moms here had extreme gaggers who suddenly started eating like champs around 11 – 12 months, so I figure she'll get there when she gets there, and best to keep up the oral stimulation and skill-building in the meantime.
Hi Liz, thanks for sharing your story. We're in the same situation with extreme gagging & vomiting. By extreme I mean every meal, and often every mouthful of solids. Even quite mushy things like mashed potatoes and watermelon. The Gagger is nearly 8 months and has been working on solids for over 2 months, but we don't seem to be making much progress and I think we will also return to the mesh bag and purees for a bit of a break; after awhile I start to feel quite cruel for 'making him' gag and retch all the time. He'll eat eventually, I'm sure…
hello! This is my first post – very useful site! My little fella's been eating for a month now and gags at least once at every meal. He never gets upset but it can go on for a while and usually results in the piece of food coming out, followed by a load of mucus and sometimes a full vom! I've been told he's choking by everyone who's seen it but I can't believe he'd be so calm if he were. But how do you know if they are choking? Just wait for the blue lips??!! I'm Rose btw!!
whoops, sorry, didn't see you there Rose. Apologies, I've been spending more time on the forum, the button's on the left there, you should join in. The thing about choking in my experience is that it's very much in the eye of the beholder, and if the beholder is, er, older… then they see it every time the little fella sooks on a bit of food. YOU, on the other hand, will know if he's choking, because you'll feel it. it's not the same as a gag, it's a bit frightening tbh. (i should say i think dd only choked once or twice, both times a slap on the back did the trick. both times it was sodding apple, more fool me.) you see a wee look of panic in their eyes, they're struggling, and you bonk them on the back. it usually clears it fine. if not, you turn them upside down and shake, according to my infant resus class. have you done one? i felt much more encouraged after mine.
Hi there
My name is Rachel (first time Mum) and I'm trying my baby girl (7mths) on BLW as she is not interested in puree and gags all the time. The first real feed went well but since then has started gagging again so I've been reading the many posts on this and have tried to be cool and not make a big deal about it. Her Dad doesn't fully like the 'let her gag and sort it out' but we are getting there. But she has now started gagging with the mucus type spit coming out which is hard to watch, her poor little eyes go watery and that noise they make but once she has spitted up she seems fine and starts playing with the food again. So really I'm just wanting to know how long this phase goes for … can I help things along somehow? I read someone else mention the mesh bag feeder if I use that for a bit longer will that help her get use to having food in her mouth? She grabs everything and its straight to the mouth to suck and bite so I think she is ready its just this gagging that is holding her back :( Any tips would be much appreciated or directions to other areas in the forum