Toddler Gagging himself..HELP?!?!?!

My 2 yr old is doing the same thing. It is frustrating and I too know his is doing it for attention. We are a homeschooling family too. His brothers are 12 & 7. He usually does it in his car seat in the van but has been known to do it in the house too. We all work hard to redirect him and Dad and I scold him. We try singing and laughing about other things. We try to get him to look outside and to play with his cars. Just about anything that may work we will try.

Good news...my oldest did the same thing. And he has grown out of it! LOL

Good Luck and let me know if you find something that works for good, okay?

Take Care, N. =) SAHM of 3 boys 12,7 & 2 yrs old & wife to Mr. Wonderful!

You need to ignore what he is doing. Of course your going to look to see if he's ok but just kind of glance don't bring any attention to what he is doing he will stop in time.

I think it's just a phase (an annoying one!) My 15-month old does the exact same thing. I remember my first born doing it as well. Her pediatrician says not to worry about it....

My son - 16 months - did the same thing briefly - he gagged himself with toys, and would also pretend to gag on food. I finally figured out that he was seeking a reaction. I think learning limits with gagging is natural, but when my son did it repeatedly and it always made me respond (I mean, why wouldn't we respond - our child is potentially choking) - or even worse - made my husband laugh - he started doing it for effect. We both made a conscious effort to "not react" to his antics. He got over it pretty quickly. The "gagging phase" as we called it lasted for far less time than some of his other interesting phases. Hope this helps...good luck!

Hi, G.. One of my daughters (I have 2 yo twin girls)also did this. We just tried not to make a big deal of it and kept telling her no and she eventually just stopped. Just make your reaction as nonchalant as possible but also let him know that it is not acceptable. We just started paying close attention and tried to stop it before it actually became a gag (i.e., kept pulling her hands away from her mouth). Hope this helps.

Hi G.,

The toddler is exploring his own body. Allow him the opportunity to discover himself on his own. If you keep responding to him gagging himelf, then yes, he will keep doing it. Ignore him. You will know when he is really choking.

Good luck. D.

I'm sure you've already heard this - he's doing it for your reaction. If you say and do nothing, he'll stop. My son did that too. Don't worry! It's pretty normal. :)

G.,
My son is 23 months and when was that age he did the same thing. I just kept getting onto him or ignored it. When I made a big deal out of it he would do it more for attention. I hope this helps.

My (currently) 18 mo. old did that. She never hurt herself. It only lasted a couple of months; then she outgrew it. I, personally, wouldn't worry. I also wouldn't give a huge reaction. Everything you give obvious reactions to will be used for attention.

My son did it to when he was a toddler. I don't remember what started it but he did it one time and either liked the feel of it or thought it was funny. He would do it repeatedly and laugh each time. He was about 14-16 and it lasted awhile (probably about 6 months I think) The 1st time he did it, it freaked us out because we thought he was choking, once we realized he was doing it to himself we didn't worry about it. But he never did it when he was eating only when he was doing nothing like sitting in the carseat or just relaxing watching TV. He didn't do it if we were cuddling him or holding him though. We asked his dr and he said that if he didn't do it while he was eating or sticking objects other than fingers in his throat it couldn't really harm him. Good luck.