Eleven Month Old Having Problems with SOME Table Foods

My son had some of the same issues. Everything had to go down just right or he would gag and vomit. But then he would go for days with no issues at all. He is almost 3 now and his gag reflex is still triggered quite easily. Even coughing and the phlegm will still make him gag and throw up. I would say if it keeps consistently happening, then perhaps have it checked out. But if it is sporadic and she is getting enough to eat, just give it some time.

I think a lot of kids get weird about textures at this age. Is there a certain type of food (meat, noodles, etc) that seem to trigger it? See if you can find a pattern. I have a nephew that HATED the feel of meat and any type of noodle/pasta. He has outgrown it. Good luck!

Our little guy had an "itchy trigger" at around the same age. At his one year appointment, the pediatrician told us that this is not atypical for toddlers to do with foods that they don't like. We knew it was an issue with his gag reflex and not an allergy because it happened when he was eating (swallowing) and not afterwards. All we did was to make sure that his food was cut into extremely small bites, continued to offer him variety without forcing him to eat something he didn't like, and made sure that he didn't put too much into his mouth at one time. The other thing that seemed to help was talking him through it - if he started to get upset or to gag, we said "it's OK, take your time, look at me, etc.". We even allowed him to retrieve something from his mouth with his fingers when too much food was the cause of the gag, but I know that's a risky business...

One more thing I'll mention... At one point, he ended up with an acid reflux problem that was due (in my opinion) to a few too many up-chucks. A couple of weeks on Prevacid and he recovered, took him off the meds and all was well. I mention this only because sometimes the problem seemed to magnify itself, and then we had to be even more vigilant until the throat irritation had time to heal.

Hang in there. I know it's not pretty right now, but there are worse messes to clean ;)

It could be a texture issue or it could be a digestive issue. I would call the doctors office and set up an appointment. If the doctor does not know what to do see if you can be referred to a specialist. may be she has acid reflux or something else going on.
Good luck

Hi E.

All 3 of mine displayed similar behavior with foods that they didn't like or didn't like the texture of. My youngest even did it with the pureed baby foods he didn't like. He still isn't a big fan of meat. If she is eating most other things well and isn't otherwise ill, I would wait until her 1 year check up to talk to the doctor, but that is what I would do. If you'd feel better, call the doctor and see what they say.

At about 9 months our little guy started vomiting a lot, almost every day and typically when he was STARTING to get upset or was too hot. We tried addressing those issues, but the vomiting continued. Eventually, and it took us awhile (many trips to pediatrician), we realized that Ian had an intolerance to wheat -- not an allergy, where he would've gotten hives or exhibit other symptoms almost immediately, but an intolerance. We now know that if we give him wheat products (which he loved) for 3 days in a row, he will throw up. So, sometimes he'll get gold fish or cake if we are at someone else's house, but, for the most part, we keep him on a wheat-free/gluten-free diet (at this point, we don't know which it is). It's a pain in the bootie, and expensive, but the vomiting has stopped. Plus, chances are very good that he will outgrow the intolerance by school age. Perhaps something similar is upsetting your daughter. Good luck!

My sister had this problem with foods she didn't like. It started when they tried to force her to eat things she didn't want to eat at daycare, and so for years afterwards she couldn't eat those foods, or even be around them without gagging or having to leave the room. Green beans especially. She wasn't able to eat those again until she was in her late 20's. I myself had a problem with popcorn: I got a bad batch with probably rancid butter at the movies when I was in 2nd grade, and subsequently threw up. Then I couldn't even smell popcorn without wanting to vomit until I was in my 30's.