1 Year-old Son Gagging Himself Till He Throws Up

My kids did this for a day or two but it didn't last longer then that. I would put him away from you when he does it and be stern. Getting negative attention will eventually sink in. Try the second you see his hands in his mouth give him a toy or distract him. It is basically a phase and you just have to keep him preoccupied as much as possible to break him of it. I think my son did it a few times and would chew on his fingers, then get them too far back there and puked. Not fun, I don't envy you but it will pass.

I think you need to see the pediatrician about this!

Infants will continue behaviors that produce bigger responses from their parents. That may be why the behavior has continued. Like you said, he thinks the things you are doing are games... maybe he's just trying to get you to play with him at that moment.

When my 17 yo was about 11 months went through a phase where he stuck his fingers down his throat, and he'd bang his head against the wall. His pediatrician told me this was due to him being a sensory oriented child, that he'd stop the head banging when it hurt. I don't remember how long it lasted but it wasn't very long. He explored other things, like staying in the bath tub after all the water ran out to get cold enough to shiver.

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/04_inf_vo...

Cant believe I actually found an article on self-induced vomiting in infants and toddlers! The article basically says that gross behaviors are often just a phase where they are testing things out (or testing you) and to talk to your doctor if you suspect any physical distress causing it or if the child is not gaining weight normally. Also if the behavior persists.

It did mention that becoming overly excited or scolding, etc. can reinforce the behavior so try to treat it very matter of factly. Just clean it up and move on. I agree that in short order he will learn it isnt much fun without your response.

Good luck!!

Is there a way to catch him doing it and to redirect him to something else? My daughter tried to cough herself to gagging when she was a little younger than this. I could tell she just liked the sound of the cough, and was seeing what she could do with her body.
But when I caught her gearing up (at least I could hear that "motorboat" revving up, you don't quite have that luxury) I would go over and take her by the shoulders and direct her to something (ANYTHING) else I could find, saying, "Oh look, there's your blankie (block, book, etc.)!" or some such thing. I tried not to make it be something extremely interactive for fear that I would be rewarding her; just a quick change of attention for her.
If this is below your son's developmental stage then I apologize. I'm just offering it up because I know how it feels to be at the point of trying all suggestions!

Since he's one..he's doing it because he gets a reaction. Stop reacting and he'll stop (unless of course it is causing harm)

Maybe you should Make HIM clean it up. It is not so fun then

K.,

It is interesting that both your responds so far is from C.. I am torn right now about the answer that first came to me. My first reaction: Have your 1-year-old clean-up the mess. Not in a discipline type of way, but
simply "oh, that is something that you created and it gets to be handled" type of way. This however seems too mature for a 1-year-old. I agree whole heartedly with what the other C. said... Don't make a big deal out of it!

Is there something that is more desirable to both you and your
son that can get his mind detracted from his current behavior?

It's amazing how intesting life is with children these day.

With my whole heart,
C.

Hi K.,
I think you have to give him a time out facing a wall or in a corner where he can't watch or enjoy whats going on around him. No matter where you are he needs to be immediately shown that what he is doing is not ok. He is probably a little young to make him help clean it up but that is a possibility also.
Good luck,
SarahMM

I have a suggestion but it's really gross. My oldest used to do the same thing before bed. He'd throw up and therefore get to stay up longer. After about two weeks of this I let him stay in his mess for an hour or so. Now, this was in bed so it wasn't all over the floor or anything. After that he never made himself throw up again.
Recently, that came up in therapy and he was so mad at me, he yelled and cried about it. When I tried to explain he was making himself throw up, he calmed a little. It had been such a tiring mess to always clean up. If you're giving your son any extra attention, either negative or positive, he's going to want more of it.

My son did the same things when he was 1. I will agree with Lisa that your son is doing it for attention. So if you ignore his behavior I am sure he will eventually stop. Mine did.