gag reflex

[jennyh]

Hi

Just a quick one from anyone who knows about the gag reflex...my 7 month old is still struggling gagging on any lumpy food, we have been trying on and off for a couple of months. Occasionally she gags and then just swallows the food or spits it out but the vast majority of the time (at least 80%!!) she will vomit badly. Yesterday she gagged on a piece of rusk, there was no coughing or choking noises, rather she just continually vomited until her entire stomach contents were up (sorry TMI!). She finds it quite shocking and a upsetting and then of course I have to deal with a baby who realises she has a very empty tummy at some point in the night!

I suppose I am just wondering if it is possible to have a very sensitive gag reflex or if there could be something else that might cause this reaction? Anyone got experience with the same thing? Just interested in why this might be as most other babies I know will gag but rarely does it result in such a dramatic outcome!

I am not worrying as I am confident she will move onto lumpier food eventually and I refuse to get woud up about her weaning at the moment because she is such a tricky eater!

Jenny

[Saffron]

jennyh Wrote:

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> I suppose I am just wondering if it is possible to

> have a very sensitive gag reflex or ...

Yes, that could totally be the case. It may just take a few months before your baby's gag reflex relaxes. In the meantime, you could try her with some solids she can suck but not swallow, for example, a piece of really tough beef or lamb. She'll be able to chew it, but not to bite off pieces. Even by just gnawing and sucking, she'll be getting lots of good stuff like mineral, vitamins, and amino acids (small proteins).

> ...if there could

> be something else that might cause this reaction?

Well, anything is possible. If you're worried, always take your LO to the GP. (But in my experience, GPs and HVs aren't that great on giving advice about baby-led weaning issues.) I have known another baby with this problem. A sensistive gag reflex will sort itself out eventually.

xx

[simonethebeaver]

My stepdaughter has a weakened gag reflex. The people who assess this sort of thing in depth are speech therapists, but your GP should get some idea of whether there's a problem with a tongue depressor. I'm sure things will be OK though.

[Saffron]

When you say 'weakened' gag reflex, do you mean the reflex is depressed, ie doesn't gag when she needs to? Or the opposite?

Interesting that the assessment is done by speech therapist. Would have thought it's done by neurologists. But there you go, learn something new everyday!

How did the GP/ST differentiate between a normal sensitive gag reflex (not uncommon in babies) and a physiological problem with the reflex? Is your stepdaughter ok now? xx

[childsleepsolutions]

Hi there, my daughter was sick all the time when she went onto proper food. If she coughed while eating she would do just as you described and be copiously sick! It happened all the time, I took her to the gp and he didn't even look in her mouth as she was gaining weight and happy. I have no advice I'm afraid on stopping it or whether it sometimes is a medical problem but its always nice to know someone else has had it! She is now 4 and is fine, it gradually started to happen less and less from about 18 months and stopped completely by about 2.5. Good luck, hope its all fine for your LO too. Nicola x

[Sanne Panne]

Mine had the same, she was a bit more "spitty" prior to weaning than her elder sister was (and whenever she did spit milk up it was clearly gagging and not "stomach centered" and when we weaned her she would gag quite frequently. It wasn't extreme though (max 50%), somehow jars were worse than home prepared food as the texture is so even - we had fewer problems with pastina (e.g. alphabet pasta or other finely cut up normal pasta) in a "wet" sauce. That would slide down without a problem whereas smooth yet slightly crumbly purees made her gag a lot as they get stuck on the tongue.

We just waited it out and it slowly got better. She now shoves broccoli into her mouth like there's no tomorrow.

She also has a very long tongue, not sure if that has anything to do with it, e.g. if the food gets on the back of the tongue when a spoonful of food is taken and the tongue is retracted it gets deeper into the throat before being mixed with saliva... but that's nonsense of course because a long tongue is long at the front not at the back, ok I really don't know what I'm talking about. Ignore this paragraph or just laugh at it.

[childsleepsolutions]

My daughter has a really long tongue too! Maybe you are onto something there!!

[DaisyDoo]

Do see your GP. Your child could have GOR; Gastro Oesophageal Reflux or reflux as its commonly known. & yes, Speech & language therapists who specialise in feeding assess feeding skills.

Good luck

[simonethebeaver]

Saffron, SD has a depressed reflex so doesn't gag when she should. So the opposite of the possible problem, but I thought it would be helpful to explain who assesses these things. She had a lengthy session with the therapist, who watched her eat and drink, and asked lots of questions. Sadly it's part of a degenerative metabolic ccondition so won't improve but it did mean she got a speedy referral from her consultant, and the speech therapist is based in a multidisciplinary team treating such conditions.

[jennyh]

Thank you everyone. I think I am going to give it another go for a week or so and see if there is any improvement with a more intensive approach. Up until this point I have backed off as soon as she vomits and I tend to not try for a few days but perhaps I need to give her the chance to learn and see how it goes. I will then consider what to do next!

Really interesting to hear everyones experiences, thank you for your time as always!

Jenny