BLW question about gag/vomit reflex

[Gurke]

DS is picking up, licking and sucking some of the things I've given him - apple slices, pear slices, oat cookies, rice cakes, etc. He has now also developed a new skill of 'biting' off bits (doesn't have any teeth yet), but the attempt to swallow them, or just move them with his tongue, invariable makes him throw up. Sometimes it's only a small posset, but often more. He now vomits at every meal of solids.

Is this normal? If you have experience of this, how long did it take your DCs to get over this stage and to learn to swallow without throwing up? Did you do anything to help them learn faster?

Any stories or advice would be gratefully received. I'm starting to worry that he leaves the table with less food in his belly than when he started...

I should have said that he is 8 months old, 5 months corrected. his reflux got a bit better in recent weeks.

Anyone?

My DS started swallowing rather than gumming and gagging about 9 months old, ten months before he ate reasonable amounts. It is nerve wracking waiting for them to eat decent amounts, isn't it?!

Thanks Souper, yes it really is nervewracking. After a decent milk feed he sat down to gum some sweet potato wedges very enthusiastically, gagged on a tiny piece and threw up all the milk he'd had before.

Did yours also vomit or just gag? Did he just stop doing it one day, or did you do anything in particular?

He quite often posseted and gagged really dramatically, to the point that every time we ate out in a restaurant we would have waiters running over ready to do the Heimlich manoeuvre on him, thinking he was choking! He just gradually grew out of it. I suppose some children just have a more sensitive gag reflex, just as adults do. My own gag reflex is quite strong, I often make myself retch when I am brushing my teeth.

At only five months corrected, with a history of reflux and any swallow/ gag related stuff, I would be very careful. Some babies need longer to be ready for blw, or indeed, don't do well on it at all.

My eldest two could have coped, but dd2 was never going to be a blw baby due to her start in life.

Does he have any residual effects of his prematurity in terms of oromotor stuff?

Thanks Prissy - no, his oromotor and fine motor skills are closer to his actual rather than corrected age, so that doesn't seem to be a problem.

To be honest, we didn't have much choice but to go with BLW because he refuses to be spoonfed. Sometimes I can give him a preloaded spoon with some baby rice or purée, but more often than not he refuses. (He also refuses to be given a bottle, and every now and then goes on a nursing strike - so he certainly has his views on things...) The pediatrician urged us to start weaning a few weeks ago - so giving him finger foods is the only thing we can do really. And DS does seem to enjoy playing/ gumming/ 'eating' them, which is great if it weren't for all those possets.

Hi Gurke. I was really keen on blw but we have had to go with purees for the moment for exactly this reason. DS is six months and retches/vomits v. easily. (Apparently I was exactly the same!) But after just a few weeks of trying he is already getting better. For instance he is managing toast now, if I make it a bit squidgy with milk or puree first. He is also coping with e.g. smooth porridge (so just a teeny bit lumpier than fruit puree) which he couldn't a week or so ago. It's pretty annoying (and messy) when they chuck up everywhere but I tell myself that it is a good safety mechanism against actual choking! Perhaps your son is at a similar stage?

Thank you Kalidasa - that could well be it. Sounds as though you're making progress, which is heartening to hear. Good luck with the weaning adventures!