refluxy 11 month old gagging on purees but fine with finger food...

[verybusyspider]

is this normal? driving me slightly crazy, if I give ds same food as us in big chunks he eats fine, give him anything on a spoon and he gags and throws up most of dinner, laughs and (after being cleaned up) carries on eating - its only just started happening and coinsides with us getting rid of dummy.
I know its not a 'problem' really, just annoying that he can't cope with stuff like yoghurt, he's dropped all his milk now he's on beaker and is a bit grumpy and I think its because he's hungry, I guess I'm looking for a reason

How about putting chunks into the puree things like fruit in the yoghurt. Blueberries, strawberries or banana are good.

I tried strawberries in pear puree today and got it back - its never first spoonfull usually gags on 2nd or 3rd them chucks up... not tried it in yoghurt tho, will give it ago

How about giving a spoonful then allowing him to finger feed on the side.

My DD gets bored with the spoon so I always make sure she has something to pick at or hold and feed herself inbetween spoonfuls.

just give him finger foods - he probably likes feeding himself and is objecting to being fed by you. You can dip fruit chunks or pitta bread fingers in yoghurt for him to suck off. Or load the spoon for him to feed himself (yes its messy but bet the gagging will stop soon).

Is he hyper sensitive to anything, for example some textures on his skin, temperatures, certain noises, light, etc. Just wondering if the dummy was orally calming and now he's finding the input a bit too much.

Well, for dairy, stir Philly into pasta sauce, buy thick greek yoghurt and roughly mash banana and other fruit into it, etc.

Then just give him finger food!

Those yoghurts in "Ella's Kitchen" type screw top pouches are excellent for giving yoghurt to babies who want to feed themselves. Sainsbury and Tesco do them in the kid's ranges.

bikerunski - I am ok with giving finger food it was the youghurt style foods I was struggling with and he is putting the spoon in his own mouth so I feel like he is leading the way he just can't cope with the texture for some reason, I don't even think he's putting spoon too far in mouth either, tried bigger spoons so he could kind of lick it off but same issue, maybe he'll grow out of it, thanks for youghurt suggestion, its worth a try

jollyma - I can't think of anything he's sensitive to, loves being touched - baths, baby massage etc - but not 'messed' with, not keen on wearing hats, hates suncream, being manhandled into car seat or buggy but fine once in... not sure what that means though?! I don't want to go back to using dummy as it keeps him in light sleep and he is sleeping better since we got rid

I would stop trying to give him textures he doesn't like and just feed him finger food. If you keep feeding things which make him retch you could and up causing anxiety around food which you really don't want to do.

Do put it on his high chair tray still though so that he still gets to experience the textures. He may even end up feeding small amounts to himself while he plays with it.

but he's pretty much, very messily, feeding himself, so I'm offering it and he picks up spoon and trys it, its ok, 2nd spoon, gags and chucks
I need to stress after the first couple of times this happened I stopped feeding him myself and let him do it, what I don't get is why is it now an issue? and I completely agree I don't want to create any anxiety about food but then neither do I want to stop offering anything

Sorry! I didn't realise he was feeding the sloppy stuff to himself.

Well at least he can stop if he doesn't enjoy the sensation so it is less likely to cause food issues.

That is a hard one because he needs to keep experiencing all the textures but obviously vomiting in the middle of every meal is not desirable. He mustn't find the feeling of nausea (if there is one) unpleasant.

I think I might be tempted to ask for a referral to a dietician. They may have come across this before and have some strategies for dealing with it.

It is good that he's not distressed but you must be mightily fed up of it by now.

at least the weathers nice to dry all the washing! todays sick was in buggy whilst out - it was only biscuit and water and I did discover you can remove a maclaren buggy cover off and get it in washing machine...

am very fed up, we're meant to be seeing family tomorrow and I don't know whether to take him because (1) he might be sick at their house (2) 2 hour drive to get there (already had to clean car/scrub seats twice this week!) (3) maybe it could be a bug?!?, am giving him till Monday to maybe have one day of not being sick, if not we'll be off to doctors, I'd stay at home if it wasn't for my other 2 boys, seems really unfair to be house bond when ds3 is fine in him self... thanks for your comments anyway

My thinking about the sensory side of things is as follows: some input is alerting and others are calming. Sucking is calming and dummy use is calming. If this problem coincides with stopping dummy use it could be that without the calming use of the dummy at other times he finds the sensory input of feeding too much.

Some children really need to experience certain calming sensations to cope and one of the consequences if they dont get enough is to vomit. Try to substitute the dummy with other sucking sensations eg drinking yoghurt through a straw, using a beaker with a straw, etc. Also give lots of crunchy and chewy foods if he can manage them. It may have nothing to do with this but its worth looking into just in case. If you want to look up more info google sensory modulation or processing disorder.