10 month old baby vomits on lumpy textures - any ideas?

[Echocave]

Hi all, I'm sure this has been asked before but does anyone have any tips on feeding a 10 month old who gags then invariably vomits on lumpy textures?

Dd2 has always been a fairly sicky baby and very windy (although no one thought reflux when younger). I am a bit lazy/cowardly when it comes to weaning and though I've tried to add lumps to purees, dd2 can't seem to manage them. I wouldn't mind the gagging but she has a soft gag reflex and will projectile vomit after a couple of gags.

She can eat rusks, cereal puffs and biscuity things, bananas too. But the combination of soft plus lumps seems to be tricky.

She had a tongue tie snipped at 3 weeks which hasn't grown back but has severe lip tie which can't be dealt with for a few years now (sister has same but this hasn't affected her so may not be relevant).

Does anyone have any tips on how to deal with this? Thank you.

It sounds counterintuitive but I would suggest offering soft finger food like carrot sticks or sweet potato wedges.

Purée encourages babies to suck the food off the spoon straight to the back to the mouth like a drink, and when there are lumps that need chewing they gag, as you would if you had a surprisingly lumpy soup.

If you give them finger food they can't physically eat it without chewing it first and teaches them how to chew then swallow and gives them more control over the food they are eating. It also teaches them how to move food around in their mouth to minimise gagging.

Thanks for this. Good idea. She can manage single items of food. But will she eat enough this way? Sometimes she seems to throw most of it on the floor....

She will eat much less at first, but you might find she gets the hang of it quite quickly. You can always up the milk or do smoother purée along side. At least she hopefully won't be puking, so getting more than she is now!

DS was just like this and he has tt and upper lip tie. Do you think its worth getting the tt checked again?

It really does sound like a side effect of reflux, as many babies with reflux can't tolerate different textures well. It is well worth asking for a referral to a paediatric dietician just for some advice. It's not uncommon, so you aren't alone, but you could get lots of things checked and ruled out. They can perhaps refer on to a speech and language therapist to ensure their swallow is ok, and that there aren't any lip-tie related issues going on. X