Gagging by putting fingers in their mouth

Anybody's children put their fingers in their mouth til the extent they make themselves gag? My ds has been doing this for a month or so. Usually nothing comes up (or he'll swallow it again, at least nothing comes out), but it's kind of scary. He only does it when he's eating and sitting in the high chair. He usually starts throwing food on the floor when he's no longer hungry (lovely), or pushes the spoon / fork away when he's done. So it's not necessarily related to no longer being hungry. All my kids eat a lot in general anyway. I found some information on the internet that's it's not uncommon, and you should basically ignore it (but mention it to your doctor) and it will go away (unless there is a medical problem, that's the doctor's part). He's healthy and happy, doesn't do it at any other times just during meals.

He did have reflux (spit up blood several times) when he was younger and has been on Prevacid for months until 9 months of age. He weaned easily and without problems.

Any input, experiences?

TIA.

 

DD2 does that sometimes. Pedi. said to ignore it and she will stop eventually. Something about the noise some kids like, supposedly. It's hard to ignore, but I'm trying...

 

Mia does it all the time since she was about 9 months old...

 

My Emmy does it all the time. One thing that I have noticed is that she does it when she has been in her highchair for awhile and she is bored.

Emily, that is interesting what your ped said about ignoring the gagging. I think I might try that.

 

QUOTE(natmarie @ Feb 8 2008, 03:19 PM) [snapback]612459[/snapback]
My Emmy does it all the time. One thing that I have noticed is that she does it when she has been in her highchair for awhile and she is bored.

Felix also does it at the end of meals ... even though he's not rejecting food yet (at least not at that point, and he clearly does reject if necessary).

Interesting?! Thanks for the insights.

 

My 9 year old DD did this and Camden also did this..(he is now almost 3). They did both grow out of it. They did it during the same scenario that you are decribing. They are both my picky eaters and once they would get board with eating or be done...or if they didn't like something, they both did it.

Every once in a long while..Camden may still do it...but he basically grew out of it.

 

Mine will actually do it while playing. The first time she did it, something did come up, I reacted, she liked the combination of the noise and the reaction supposedly, and now we are in a vicious circle. That I am trying to get us out of. She will do more or less of it depending on how much else is going on. Maybe a time or two a day - but that is too much for me.

 

My dd does it too. And now that i think about it, she usually does it in her high chair when she is done eating. Didn't realize that before. She has never thrown up, but on a couple occasions, she sounded like she might!

 

My daughter did this for the longest time, starting when she was about 9 months old and lasting to about 18 months. She didn't do it constantly, but like yours, mostly while either in the high chair or her carseat after having been there awhile. It was the hardest thing for me to not die laughing because (to me anyway) it was the funniest sound. I'm easily amused though . I ignored it as best I could and figured she'd stop doing it, which she did ultimately.

 

My DD does it all the time too. She'll put her fingers in her mouth 'til she gags and then she'll chuckle like its funny. Its awful and makes me cringe every time. She does it at the high chair and sometimes while she's sitting in my or DHs lap. I think she's just trying to entertain herself and figure out how her body works, but it is disturbing. I've moved her hand and told her its "yucky" but for the most part we've tried to ignore it too. FWIW, she hasn't done this since we all had the stomach flu and she experienced projectile vomiting for the first time. But, I definitely wouldn't recommend that as a cure.

 

My dd Arwen did that for months! It was aweful. The sound alone would make me queezy. I finally stopped making a big deal about it and would just ignore it (as hard as it was) but she eventually stopped. I read somewhere that a lot of times, it occurs as a result of them trying to sooth themselves from the back teeth coming in. They try to chew their fingers for comfort and as a result they accidentally gag themselves.