baby gagging on food

[ionesmum]

Hello, rubbish mummy here again! I'm worried as dd has begun gagging on her food. Since Friday she's been having breakfast, baby yoghurt for 2 days, then apple and pear cereal (jar). Last night she gagged on her dinner (carrot and baby rice) and wouldn't touch it. This morning I gave her the same cereal but made up from the packet and mixed with her formula, and she didn't take even a mouthful. Then I made her carrot and courgette with baby rice for dinner and she gagged on it again. In desperation I gave her a jar of puree which she took. The only thing different with her evening meal is taht I have increased the amount of baby rice by a teaspoonful to about 1 tablespponful. Dd has been weaning since 17 weeks and this is the first time I've seen her gag. She is otherwise well and taking her milk okay.

Maybe it is the carrot? I know that you say that your dd wouldn't take the cereal either, but that may be a coincidence. My ds HATED carrot with a vengeance, and refused anything that was mainly carrot. I used to sneak it into sweet potato, which he loved.

Just a thought. I'm probably completely wrong! Hope you find the problem.

Maybe she isn't quite ready for it yet. You don't say how old she is, but the NCT now recommend leaving weaning until your baby is 6 months old. She is getting all the nutrition she needs from her milk right now, weaning should simply be to get her used to different foods and textures being in her mouth, the vitamins and minerals aren't that essential until around 6 months old. Baby rice is okay as it is so like her milk anyway, but perhaps she isn't quite ready for the jars yet. I would suggest sticking to baby rice and yoghurts and trying again with the jars in a week or so.

I agree with Rhubarb... She isn't very old is she ???
Having said that Ionesmum... don't talk yourself down PLEASE! You're doing fine and this is only a minor issue.... she'll get better at it soon.
Take weaning slowly. It does not add any real calories.
How long has the weaning process been ? She seems to have 2 meals now ? Do I read you right ?

Thank you for all your messages. Dd is nearly six mo and is 25 weeks. She has been having runny puree since 17 weeks to cure her constipation. She is fine with jars and has been fine with most home-made puree until this weekend. (I'd guess that she has home-made 85% of the time). She's only just moved onto 2 meals this weekend.

Basically dd has been on 1 meal a day for 8 week's and that has been puree or baby rice. (We did try her on cereal but she wasn't keen). The hv is dead keen to get her onto at least 2 meals and everyone from my antenatal classes has their babies on 3 meals. I don't want to rush dd but equally I don't want her missing out on a wide range of tastes. Even Annabel Karmel says that dd should be on 3 meals..

Anyway, I am trying to chill out about it. Dd wanted a night feed last night which is most unusual. Chinchilla, I think that you may be right about the carrot. Although dd has always eaten it before, she may have discovered that she has preferences. I tried carrot again tonight -same result - but she polished off apple & pear in no time!

So, am I likely to get a picky baby? And lots of veggies (e.g. swede, sweet potato) make dd windy, so what can I give her if she doesn't want carrot - I don't want to overload her with fruit? Or should I try introducing windy veg now that she is bigger? Baby rice used to disagree with dd but she's okay now.

Thank you for so much sensible advice. I don't seem to get it elsewhere!

Ionesmum... my DD was VERY picky until she turned 10mo... so don't worry too much (she now eats all and in massive quantities). One piece of advice : do not turn meal time into a battle ground, you'll get nowhere and be frustrated. She won't starve herself ! Follow your instinct, give her what she likes but keep it healthy and regularely re-try new things but don't fuss if she doesn't want it... and don't stare at her when she eats - let her do it at her own pace!
My SIL has always (IMO only) pushed her DS to eat .... his meals last 1hour and he is now 19 mo, eats only pureed food and according to my PIL... this child is an amazingly fussy/bad eater.... I really don't think she did him any favour early on.

You are right : take it easy

No, you won't get a picky baby. My ds is still not 100% keen on carrots, but I give him roasts (he is 13 months) with carrots and other veg chopped into small lumps, and he shovels it all in! The only thing that he seems really anti about is mushroom, which I can totally understand, as I hate it myself.

All the milestones with babies are scary I find. I was dreading weaning, and it was hard work, but now I don't remember what I was worrying about. I almost can't wait to have another one, just so I can enjoy it all, having been there before. I'm surprised that my ds is so well adjusted, having me worrying about everything

Good luck.

ps My ds loved sieved courgette puree. At 6 months, I think it can be thicker and less sieved can't it? It's amazing how much you forget when you are past each stage isn't it!

Thank you pupuce and Chinchilla. Dd munched her way through a quarter of a mango at lunch-time and took an extra milk bottle this afternoon. I will try her on just courgette for dinner, I do worry about her eating too much fruit and not enough veg/savoury type things. I don't worry when I'm feeding dd but as this behaviour was new I was a bit concerned esp. as dd eats (or rather, ate) so many carrots & I thought she liked them!

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Ionesmum - have you tried just giving pureed vegetables without the rice? Carrot and ordinary potato went down a treat in my weaning days.

I have to say that I often used dried food in the early days prior to liquidising what we were eating. I also used jars. Couldn't be bothered trying to think of various things to make by hand only to be rejected.

I used jars when out with ds. The Heinz 4 month pots of fruit or vegetables are excellent. My ds especially loved the broccoli and cauliflower one. The jars at that stage are brilliant, but the flavours get more samey for older babies. One flavour of 12 month baby food tastes very much like any other!

I have given up on taking jars out now, and give ds his sandwiches for lunch instead of dinner if we are out, as it is usually hard to find anywhere to heat home-made food up.

The benefits if an older baby food-wise are that they eat pretty much what you do, which is so much better. The only problem is that I have to cook more now, instead of relying on frozen foods! My dh thinks that is great though

Anyway, I'll stop drivelling on now!

Chinchilla, you are definitely not drivelling on -I've found your replies most helpful. Robinw, it's interesting what you say as dd has definitely gone off carrot as she used to eat it by the bowlful.

Mears, I CANNOT tell you how relieved I am that you used jars too, every time I open one I can't help feel like a Bad Mother! I ususally cook dd's meal fresh each day so I'm hoping that once she's able to eatt the same things that we do our eating habits will have improved - she's certainly not getting the rubbish that her daddy eats at the moment!

I'm sorry to ask another question, but do you think it would be a good idea to try dd on 'windy' veg i.e.broccoli, potato, cauliflower, and also re-try food that made her windy before? Or should we leave it?

BTW Chinchilla, dd seemed to like the courgette but we'd been out all afternoon without a nap and she spent most of dinner-time rubbing it in her eyes!

Dd is now gagging on ALL veg (home-made or jar) and will only eat fruit (again, home-made or jar). What can I do now?

Don't worry...give her what she wants for a while, she will soon go back to veg. As Pupace said, don't try to make her eat things that she doesn't want to, as she will pick up on your angst, and realise that refusing food gets your attention.

My ds is going through a phase where he won't eat much fruit. I manage to get a mushed up banana in him each day, but anything else depends on his mood. He only really wants Petits Filous and Organix cereal bars at the moment

You could always do what someone else suggested, and give her carrot and apple, or other combinations. Does she like sweet potato?

Good luck.

ionesmum, weaning is just a distant memory for me so you may wish to ignore this (will have to get clued up again soon mind you). If your DD is not taking any veg have you thought about mixing a little veg, sweet things like parsnip, carrot, sweet potato, with the fruit. You could just start with a small amount and then gradually increase it if she doesn't mind it.

Thank you, demented and Chinchilla. Dd gagged on sweet potato this week which she used to love. I've given her apple with veg in the past so will try that again.

Dd is now in her high chair so that I can see her expression. She opens her mouth but when I put veg in her face looks as though I've tried to get her to eat carbolic soap! Unfortunately, this makes me laugh, which makes her laugh. I think that I will have to sit stoney-faced in future.

What worries me is that too much fruit might give her an upset tummy. And I don't understand why she is suddenly rejecting veg. Surely 6 mo is a bit young to be starting to assert her independence?

SofiaAmes - ages ago you gave me a tip for making baby rice yourself and putting it through a mouli. I've been making it for dd these past few days now that she is less windy and she loves it! What's more, she even ate it with veg last night - including carrot! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Good news Ionesmum. And I can't believe you feel guilty about jars when you make your DD fresh food most days - I bet there's only a few Mums do this. Although I never gave DS jars (always intended to do for trips etc but when I surveyed the aisle I was too overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of labels to read that I gave up...)I certainly used to make up batches of food and freeze it. I would have gone mad if I'd made him fresh stuff every day. Also I bet not many Mums make their own baby rice (I certainly didn't) so well done - especially considering it seems to be a success (at least at the moment )

Oh, Bozza, you are so kind. I've never really got the hang of freezer cooking and have a horrible feeling I'll give dd food poisoning by not heating it up properly or something (I'm not very practical).

Demented, I've been adding apple to dd's veg and she's eating it, along with the rice! Hooray!

So you can't manage the freezer Ionesmum and I can't manage the baby food aisle!! I guess we are about on a par.

Good news Ionesmum, hope it continue. You'll be a pro by the time I am weaning DS2 and can pass on some tips to me.

ionesmum, glad to hear things are going so well! Other things that mix well with the mouli'd rice are boiled spinach and beets (not together). They both make awesome colors once mixed with the rice.
I agree with Bozza, I found the labels on baby's food so overwhelming that I never ended up buying any. I just gave my son homemade food, though I did make batches and freeze some. I'm sure it's why he eats everything now. And I mean everything, including bitter black olives, spicy papadums, chiken sate, tandoori chicken etc.

I'm glad I'm notthe only one Sofiaames - it just seemed like such a chore. And my DS (hold my breath on this one) is not fussy at the moment (18 mo). Had a bit of a tricky moment though when he decided to rub his eyes after dipping into his chicken jalfrezi - must have stung a bit!!

SofiaAmes and Bozza - jars are essential in this house to be left with dh so I can go out! I think that mastering the freezer is slightly more impressive than reading labels, although to be fair I am good at removing dark chocolate choc-ices from the freezer and eating them.

Demented -here's a tip I've just discovered. It's not a good idea to feed your baby carrot whilst wearing your favourite white shirt. Or perhaps you've thought of that one?

LOL about the DH issue. When DS was 6 months I went on a hen night and left him with DH for the first time. DH managed to defrost a few ice cubes but his reading skills were not up to the difference between carrot and apricot. So I returned to find DS happily tucking into a combination of potato and apricot. I knew immediately of course because apricot has such a sticky texture.