7 month old weaning baby- Constant vomiting

[MnM156]

Just as the thread states. My 7 month old vomits a lot when eating. I started at 6 months with purees which is completely fine with. No vomiting when given smooth purees. However, he vomits when the texture of the puree gets thick or if given proper solids.

So far this is what I have observed. He loves finger food and self-feeding but takes HUGE bites which make him gag and he vomits as soon as he gags. I know gagging at this stage is normal and all babies do it but he vomits almost every day as soon as he gags.

He eats very enthusiastically and loves food. He eats solids and thick textures well for a little bit but as soon as any little tiny bit gets stuck in his throat, he gags which leads to vomiting. Or the big bites lead to gagging and then ultimately vomiting.

I read online that some babies have a sensitive gag reflex and it takes time for it to settle. He was born 2 weeks early at 38 weeks and has always had reflux issue for which he takes medication. Google says to give him teething toys etc to chew or give him melty crackers to chew on so that he becomes confident with food. I have tried these for a month and no improvement.

I am just so confused. No baby in the family or friends babies have had this. I am not sure if I am doing anything wrong. Should I just stick to purees? For how long? Should I get medical help? Anyone with similar experience? Please help.

Anyone out there to help a first time mama here

Not really got much advice. As we are in a similar situation. DD gags ALOT when eating, and then will be sick. She will then get upset and meal times is over. I feel like we have starting making some progress, then she got tonsiltius and various other infections, so just starting again. We did start weaning at 5mo following advice, so 4month: in. Like your LO, DD does love food, but the gaging is stopping her. She also loves self feeding, and won’t take a spoon very well.

DD also has reflux which is medicated, with omeprazole. She’s under pediatrics and a dietician , due to CMPA. Is your LO? They have increased her omeprazole dose, which has helped. They have also done a referral for a speech therapist, to check the reflex’s in her throat (not speech), but we are still waiting for the appointment. They have also noted her tonsils are “extra large” (before the tonsiltius) so waiting ENT referral too. But these are just precautions, and it may not come to anything or be a cause. They have said reflux babies can have an extra sensitive gag reflex.

But the main thing which is working for us is time. Which is hard when your sitting back watching everyone else’s baby scoffing food down. I have found things are gradually getting better. But I would speak to your GP if your concerned. Hope that helps, just to know your not alone.

@DressingGown87 Thank you so much for your response. My baby is on Omeprazole as well and the GP ups the dosage every other week depending on his weight. Nothing else wrong really. I love to cook and eat. I always thought weaning would be a very interesting journey. So far I am only praying for no vomits at every meal time. My baby just turned 7 months yesterday so I guess I should wait and see how time changes things. It really is not easy seeing others babies. Also this whole BLW thing going on. I would love it if my baby feeds himself and eats well. I would love to cook new meals for him but so far we are stuck on purees because that's the only thing he keeps down.

@MnM156 glad your GP is keeping an eye on the dose. We use to do monthly weighs in, to make sure it was correct. My HV wanted her weaning off the omeprazole, but the pediatrician disagreed.
It is still early days, and whilst I would say most babies take to weaning like a “duck to water”, remember some dont. I think my main issue, was comparing her to others, and thinking weaning would be fun. Both my sisters have babies the same age, so it’s hard not to compare. We use the self feeders (like dummy’s) for fruit, and I’ve found they have helped, and introduced more of a chewing technique and more textures. The gateway food too was banana wafers.

@DressingGown87 I use those feeders too and the banana wafers are my baby's favourite as well. I guess you are right. It's just so hard not to compare your kid to others. I wish things were different. I cannot wait for him to start eating properly.

My dd was born 2 weeks early and also had reflux, although she was never medicated for this. Her gag reflex was terrible, and it really put me off finger foods for a long time because I was terrified of her choking - a little different to yours in that she managed mostly fine on lumpy purees it was mainly her finger foods. From around 11 months or so she did get the hang of it, and we've not had any gagging or vomiting for the past 6 weeks! I would say it's only been the last 4 weeks she's been properly able to feed herself, she turned 1 last week too and I thought we would never get there!