Toddler making himself sick

[HoggleHoggle]

Ds is 18 months and has been sticking his fingers down his throat to make himself gag since he was about 12 months. Spoke to HV who said it was for attention and to ignore it. Believe me, ds gets PLENTY of attention - he's a very full on child! - so I wasn't sure but went along with it. It did quieten down for a while.

The last couple of months or so and it's started again, worse than before. Have again been ignoring it as I wondered if he was just exploring the sensation etc and it had to run its course. Anyway, he just made himself vomit up his entire dinner and I've had enough. It's horrible to watch, hear and clean up.

I've tried distracting him when he starts to do it and that sometimes works, but tonight was the first time he really made himself properly vomit rather than gag. I don't want to make a big deal out of it but equally I think I need to do something to try and tackle it.

Does anyone have any ideas, or had experience of this? Thanks

[NickyEds]

Has he got any molars yet? Could be teething. My ds shoves his fingers in his mouth and I think it's to do with his molars coming through.

[HoggleHoggle]

Thanks nicky. He does have one set of molars already but he def has his 4 incisors coming through so it could be that...they've been cutting for the last month or so which probably tallies with the gagging getting more frequent. Will keep an eye on it to see if it calms down once these teeth are through.

[dimples76]

I understand your frustration. My little boy used to do this and I think it was a mixture of enjoying the sensation and attention seeking. I adopted a similar approach to you mostly using distraction which sometimes but did not always work.

If it's any comfort now at the age of two with all his teeth through he hasn't done it for several months.