3 year old gags when sticking tongue out

[Nickipars]

Hi,

I’m not sure if I’m posting in the right place but we have noticed this evening that our 3 year old gags when he tries to stick his tongue out. He can poke it out slightly but when we ask him to stick it out he gags!?

Has anyone heard of this before?

Thanks in advance!

HI @Nickipars, we're just giving this thread a bump for you in case anyone's around to answer your query.

I have got absolutely no knowledge of this at all.

But does he have a tongue tie? I mean a depa one at the back. Could it be difficult for him to stick his tongue out.

As hes 3 it may be worth discussing with your HV.

No doubt others may have better advice / experience than me.

This sounds fairly normal to me. Whilst it's not common I certainly wouldn't be too worried

People gag for a number of reasons, and some people have more sensitive gag reflexes than others. Lots of people will gag when you touch their tongue for example, so sticking his tongue out could simulate this.

It could also be a sensory thing. Or because sticking your tongue out mimics being sick with the movement. Because his tongue touches the roof of his mouth etc. Or because he feels like he's choking. Lots of reasons.

It could be psychological e.g. it's happened once so now he always gags when he does it.

I really wouldn't worry. A gag reflex is quite normal, and even though his maybe a little more sensitive than others I can't think of any reason to be concerned.

Obviously with anything if it does worry you there's no harm is chatting to your HV about it.