2 1/2 Yr Old Gags When Trying New Foods....

This is very upsetting to you I can understand. My son has gagged on a few - 3 items and has thrown stuff up also. But he is a bit older and I am pressing more foods - brussels sprouts, yams. Other than tiny portions of these foods and a quick wash down with beverage. Set up boundaries maybe a tiny bite of_______ and a big bite of chicken nugget. Let him help himself in that regard knowing he has some control - eat bite of new, get bite of yummy. Try making it fun on a special plate or use cookie cutter and make special shapes. Talk to Dr. to find out if it is a stage for him, or, maybe a start of poor eating habits that can last. What ever you do do not make dinner time battles and stress everyone out. Good luck.

Hopefully I can help you look at things at another angle. I thought my kids may or may not have had any of these problems, when all it took was to find out that my son wasn't chewing his food. He was trying to swallow it. All of it! Once it was discussed, we have been doing MUCH better with him. He simply did not want to chew. So, if all else fails, maybe your little one is doing something similar. Good Luck!

I thought my oldest son now 12 was the only one in the world like this, what you are describing sounds just like him LOL! He was like that from the time he was eating baby food he would gag on the meat anything else was fine, I couldn't even eat meat when I was preggo with him it made me nauseous . He is 12 now and he has been trying more foods lately. He is above average in height and right on the mark in weight and always has been. The Doctor said nothing to worry about, he is probably healthier than us which it seems that he is. He hardly ever gets colds or the flu. Just be patient and keep trying he will eventually come around. It does get a little frustrating sometimes and people always preach that I should force him to eat what we eat(including my hubby) but why should I fight him and force him it seems stupid to make family dinner a daily fight :) I don't force myself to eat things that I don't like just because it is healthy and someone says I should...

Dear S.,
I'm a 64 year old grandma and would like to respond to your email. I, too, as a child was a very,very picky eater with a sensitive gag reflex. I would gag on foods that didn't have the correct texture. Here's how my mother handled it. She did not force me to eat things I didn't want. When I was about 8 or 10 I refused to eat altogether. At that point she was concerned enough to take me to the doctor. I was diagnosed as having worms, was treated and started eating. But still very picky.
When I was about 12 or 13 I began adding more items to the list of things I would try to eat. I continued to start liking many vegtables I would never touch before.
As an adult there are very few foods I don't like. But,
I still have an aversion to trying something I think will make me feel like I'll gag.
I would make sure the doctor is not concerned about your son's development. Rule out any reasons why he won't eat and then relax. Forcing him to eat will, in my opinion, only compound the problem. Most kids will naturally eat when they're hungry. Offer healthy choices that he likes. Vitamin supplements may help. Check witht a doctor about giving vitamins.

Hope this helps

when my son was younger he was the same way the peditrician at first said it was a phase and keep trying. when it continued the peditrician said i can check his swallowing. it indeed up he had a narrow esophacous(spelling?)tube . it did get better as he grew and we keeped trying to wean him off the baby food.it took till he was around 4

My son is a gagger too, so I know how un-pleasant it is! I recently took a toddler class at the local hospital and one of the topics was feeding. The instructor told us that it sometimes takes toddlers 40 times of trying something before they will decide it is okay to eat it regularly. She also talked about how it is common for toddlers to eat the same thing over and over again - they get stuck in a rut.

S.; by this age he should be able to eat whatever you do with it cut up, you can simply set the plate in front of him and if he gags, then i would let him, as you watchfully watch him and make sure he is ok, he seems to eat other things ok, but then dont feed him any else, he may be doing it to control what he wants to eat, and then get cookies or something later, if he is hungry he will come tell you , and you can simply try to give him the same food again? after heating, and stored properly, my oldest son refused to eat for two days, a child will not go too far without eating, but since then ive not had a problem with him, after two days he puked then ate, he was fine, just very very stubborn, if it does not change, i would get his throat checked out, and see what a dr says? since i have been older i cant swallow some foods , if i chew on the right side, so i dont know if a child could have such things, but i would refuse to give him any food unless its what the family is eating, and dont offer anytyihng in between unless its something everyone is eating, it can work, it worked for me and ive also seen it on supernanny, ahahah so have a good day D. s

yes.. some toddlers do this. my daughter does this too..

It is called texture aversion.. there is therapy for severe cases..but most kids grow uout of it..ask your dr for a referal to see if he is a bad enough for therapy.

my duaghter eats a good variety of things .. but it was hard to get her to eat babyt food and then it was hard to get her off baby food and on table food..

she wont eat lumpy things.. cottage cheese, baked beans.. she wont eat things that are new or different..

my son eats anything and everything.. it is so funny cause I fed them the same babyfood .. and they turned out so differen..

Hi S.,
I had the same issue of picky eating (or what I thought was picky eating) with my daughter when she was 20 months. She would never gag or throw up, but she would cry (sometimes hysterical) and refuse to eat anything new. At age 2 1/2 we discovered some sensory issues with her and then at age 3 she was diagnosed with autism. Now, please don't think that I'm implying that your son might have autism. What I'm trying to say is that there can be something else going on besides just picky eating. My daughter loves sweets and special treats because the sugar/sweet taste hides the weird texture and therefore makes her enjoy the food (same with super salty stuff). Other foods she will cry and get so upset when we push her to eat them and that is where the sensory disorder comes into play. We have found that we can't push, she loves her peanut butter and jelly, mac 'n cheese and chicken nuggets and with therapy we are working through the sensory issues that will allow her to try new things. I know a couple of moms who have children with texture aversion (what Lisa O was talking about) and their children participate in OT to help with that. Good luck!

Some toddlers are weird with foods. Maybe a control thing. Also, sometimes there are actual mouth issues that an occupational therapist can deal with. I guess I'd make as little out of it as possible. You could do nutritious smoothies and juices with hidden veggies in them. Also let him help you pick out and prepare food. Make it fun - tidbits with fancy toothpicks or tiny crackers with stuff on them or whatever works. I wouldn't get into battles because it will only make it worse. they are exerting their independence at this stage. He needs to feel he's in charge of it, though that seems crazy from our perspective.

I think you have already figured out that this child will be a sweets/"junk" food eater. They just like the taste and texture of sweets or "junk" food. Each person is different. Try to make the sweets/"junk" food healthy. Cookies/cakes made with oatmeal, applesauce etc. Just try to think that each food they eat has at least one of the 4 food groups it it, chicken nuggets is protein, pb&j would be protein and fruit, cereal is grain, etc. Although it is not the preferable natural food now, at least it is from the 4 food groups and the child is thriving. Just keep an eye on the amount of the sweets/"junk" food eaten and the weight of the child. The child has survived for 2 1/2 years, so obviously you are doing something right with the eating issue. Just don't make it a battle. My youngest child preferred sweets/"junk" food and ate more of that type of food along with the "healthier" food. Yes, he was somewhat overweight but at about age 18/19 yrs he decided he wanted to stop eating so much "junk", eats healthier now and has slimmed down. He is about 6' tall and weighs about 160 and was always a fairly healthy child. Don't stress. It will get better.
V.

Just wondering: was he suctioned after birth?

Lots of children's first experience with the outside world was to have the back of their throat scraped and vacuumed (it might feel gentle and soft to adults, but very small children without any other life experience aren't adults). This is invasive and can lead to mild or pronouced 'oral defensiveness' --that is, they hate having things forced into their mouths, no matter what they taste like. They also tend to have a much stronger than normal gag reflex.

Does he chew his food? I suspect that mom might be onto something.

I wonder if there is a reason to do something about the fact that he's gagging? If he doesn't mind, and he eats the food anyhow, what difference does it make if he gags? It's not dangerous... in fact, it's safer than swallowing half-chewed foods quickly.

I'd say this is a stage. A stage of TESTING you. He obviously doesn't have a texture problem or he wouldn't eat the unhealthy stuff.

Our daughter goes through phases where she won't eat stuff and gags on it, and then a few days later will eat the SAME thing just fine. We always force her to try stuff, chew it and swallow it. If she spits it out, it goes right back into her mouth. It usually only takes 2-3 bites like that and she WANTS to eat it herself. Often she discovers that she really LIKES the food, or that its worth having control and feeding herself.

Learning to eat healthy foods is important at this stage. They're developing their taste buds and discovering likes and dislikes. Its certainly normal and OK to have a few foods you don't like. But when it starts making meal planning difficult and you're making him his own dinner, or serving the same thing over and over, its time for him to rise to the occasion. Get him used to eating whats set before him because believe me when baby sister comes along, he's going to grasp for any control possible and eating will get worse. At least that was our experience. She took about 2 months to go back to how she was before the baby came (she was 2.5 when the baby came). All of this to say that learning to eat healthy isn't always easy, but will be a huge benefit in the long run. Its also a parenting issue, he needs to obey you when you tell him to eat the food on his plate.

I'd suggest giving him a small amount of everything on the table, even if its something he likes already. Maybe one or two bites of each. He HAS to eat everything on his plate before he gets more. Once he's used to this, then you can give him normal portions. Another thing we do since my daughter usually hates soups, no matter what flavor or if it has her favorite things it it, is giver her a chip/cracker for each bite of soup she eats on her own, and they have to be normal size bites. She does well with a tangible reward that is easy to earn. We just let her know that she will be eating what's on her plate, so if she'd like to do it on her own she can look forward to a reward, otherwise we'll feed her. Some days are easier then others, and a lot of the time its not because she doesn't like the food, just starting to exert her 2 year old will. ;)

Good luck and best wishes!

Hi S.,
Food issues can be SO trying for a family. Dr.Harvey Karp admits that the two things a parent "needs" to be able to do for their child is Feed them and Comfort them - and when they cannot, it throws everything off. So understandably, this is difficult because it can become a control issue and truth be told, you can't force someone to eat, just like you can't force a kid to poop on the potty.

That said, it does sound like your little one is having definite sensory texture issues. You describe so well what he will and won't eat. He has a preference for crunchy foods (fries, crackers, cereal, toast) but does not like textured foods that he has to chew - could be a texture issue combined with oral motor issues such as decreased oral motor strength/tone making chewing hard.

You definitely want to get it looked at. This is often not something a child will grow out of. The book "The OUt of Sync Child" by Carol Kranowitz is a great book that the library often has. Another one on food issues is "Just One BIte". You could also probably google, sensory food texture issues, and get a whole host of information.

I don't know if there is a Childrens Hospital or Clinic near you but you will want a pediatric therapist who has some experience in eating issues.

Sometimes, it doesn't take much work to turn things around. Esp when the person making the request is not MOM! Just as for a teacher children will do things they won't do for mom. It can be similar with an Occupational Therapist. There may be other sensory related things going on that you are only seeing in the food issues.

Does he have a hard time with change? Transitioning from one thing to the next? Different textured clothing? Have a preference for something and it MUST be that way - like wearing the same pajamas over and over and over because they "feel good".

There is hope and there is help. You are a wise mom to begin to ask questions about what you are observing.