HELP! 7mt old with severely sensitive gag reflex

[thealicesmum]

Hi

I'm new to Mumsnet and desperately need advice about my little girl. After seemingly coping alright with solids, she has started to develop an overly sensitive gag reflex and regurgitates a whole feed if she has the smallest lump in her food.

I have tried giving her her solids on an empty stomach but this makes her choke as she has nothing in her stomach to push out the food.

I've tried being ready to hook out the food with my finger.

I've now stopped giving her solids and have returned to purees but she now seems to only want to suck the food directly from the pouch!!

However, this evening at bedtime, I was giving her milk before bed (she's still breastfed) and she began to cough at the end of the feed which she regularly does because the boob has become empty and I think it tickles her throat. Instead of coughing in the normal way, she gagged and proceeded to vomit all of the milk and all of her dinner from a hour earlier.

I now feel totally gutted as she's sleeping on an empty stomach and I'm concerned that this will happen again and become behavioural. She has had runny stools and seems to be teething, along with being snotty.

Is this a teething thing or is it a bug - should I take her to my GP or is it a phase that will pass???

I stay very calm whenever all this happens because she never seems distressed or alarmed and I don't want to start giving her issues by being reactive, however, the frustration is starting the get difficult to contain!!!

Does anyone have any help or advice?????

It's been a while since mine were babies but I seem to remember some pretty dramatic vomiting up of whole feeds on occasion! Regarding the feed before bed, do you think maybe you're possibly feeding her when she's already a bit full as I seem to remember that it takes 4 hours for the stomach to be empty after feeding?
Also a friend of mine said her health visitor advised that choking is worse when there are lumps in runny food rather than thicker food.

My problem also is that I was at work all day and she unfortunately won't take anything out of a bottle/beaker yet so that last feed before bed today was really her only fluid all day!

I can't imagine giving her her last meal at 2.30pm if I feed her for bed at 6.30pm - is that what you mean?!?

Is she practising with water in a beaker then with meals... or will take water off a spoon? Must be worrying for you.
I just mean that if she's full of solid food then 1 hour later it will still be in her stomach when you breastfeed. I'm not sure what you could do - combine the meal and breasfeed, or breastfeed later?

Yes, we get her practising daily with a beaker/bottle. She likes to suck the bath water out of the sponge so that might be the way forward!!!!

Thanks so much for your replies - I think I should rethink the PM time feeds routine, however, its the ridiculously sensitive gag reflex that frustrates me as I get no warning before being covered in sick!!!

You have my sympathy - once I just called to DH "heeeeelp" when DD2 covered me and herself and the sofa with milk (somehow turned into 'cottage cheese'). Never seen him move so fast as he ripped the cusion covers off the new sofa! By the way DD2 was breastfed and ...(warning, smug mum moment) has just got 8 As/A* at GCSE. I'm sure it helped. (BTW, she eats fine now!)

LOL!! Congratulations!! Every right to be smug!!! Like the old saying goes...everything passes.

DD does this sometimes. She's now 16months. She generally does it when teething, when she has more saliva (and possibly is less willing to chew properly). She did have silent reflux when little, and I wonder whether this is a bit of a hang-on from there. It is disheartening though!