Problems re-introducing solids after stomach upset

[emilyandjohn]

hi
DS2 is 8 months old. He had a mild stomach upset on Thursday night (sick a couple of times and one very runny nappy). He is now okay except for a bit of a cold. His nappies are a bit soft but not runny, and he is fine with breastfeeding.

The problem is that he is gagging over all food except yogurt. He does a funny blinking thing and pulls away as if he is having trouble swallowing. Any lumps or texture and he'll gag immediately, sometimes to the point of vomiting. Previously he was doing really well, eating quite lumpy purees and baby porridge. The odd thing is that he can still manage finger food like bread.

So, what should I do? I am struggling with pretty much exclusively breastfeeding him (up every hour and constantly hungry in the day), so any advice would be gratefully received!

I remember doing some milk-only days after DS was ill and it is quite weird going back to that, isn't it? 100% milk for an older baby is harder work so I can empathise with your frustration.

Re what to do, it depends on what you would like to do. If you're happy spoon-feeding then I guess you continue trying with the foods he's used to. If he's ok with finger food then perhaps do more of that? I did Baby Led Weaning which is self-feeding from the start, and I found it very successful. So if he is managing to keep down things like bread, then make the most of it and give pasta, chunks of fruit, things on bread/toast etc?

thank you so much for that. Yes, I had been thinking about BLW. I thought about it at the beginning, but purees seemed easier because we have such a rubbish salty diet! I think I will try to change him to finger food as he seems happier with that. I can use the purees as salt free pasta sauce and dips

thanks again, Emily

that's a good idea about the pasta sauce and dips - also you could dip the bread into them before giving to your DS, like soup. Hope your LO is better and he's enjoying his food again.