Is This Normal? - Scottsdale,AZ

Hi C. I have a 20 month old little girl and she did the same thing. She did it because the first couple of times she did it got my attention and so she thought it was cute but when I started to ignore it the less she did it.

Holy Cow!! My little girl does that too!! She's 14 months old and has been doing it for a little while. I try to ignore her but it's really hard! When I tell her no she just keeps doing it so I try to distract her with something else. I hope you get some helpful responses - I'll have to come back and look at them so I can get some good advice too. Good luck,
M.

Hi C., my son did the same thing. All I can say is that I just would distract him as soon as he would do it. It would always freak me out. He never threw up or anything but it was just weird. But by immediatly taking his hand out of his mouth and distracting him, seemed to work he only did it for about two weeks and hasn't tried it since. Oh and I also never let him see me get diturbed or laugh at it. I never gave the habit attention I just would give him a toy to play with and most the time leave him alone until he was done trying to gag himself then I would reward him by sitting and playing with him. Hope this helps :)

This is very normal, gross and disheartening but normal. He is playing with his new vocal instrument. If you ignore it you'll extenguish the behavior relatively quickly.

L. JH Pinson Pediatric Physical Therapist
Owner of PEDI Center

hi C.,
my niece used to do that, too. i think it's just a weird phase of self-discovery. he'll get over it soon. but i would still double check with the ped dr. we just used to take her hand out of her mouth if we saw it happening, and say "no" or "stop that", or give her "the look". as with any of those things, sometimes you want to laugh, but i'm sure that would only encourage them?!
good luck,
jen

I thought it was strange when my daughter did it too. I asked other mothers if it was normal, and apparently it is. For some reason when babies realize that they can make themselves gag by putting their finger down their throat, they keep doing it like it is a fun thing to do. I think that it is like any other new thing babies discover they can do, they want to keep on doing it over and over again just because they discovered they can. And if you react to it, it just makes them want to do it more for some reason. I don't think it is something bad or wrong, its just a new discovery.

Yikes! That is probably frightening since you're always wondering if he's going to make himself throw up ! Yuck!

I'm thinking that maybe he's figured out a cause and effect sistuation with his body and gets a kick out of it. If he hasn't made himself throw up yet, he might not think it's so funny if he accidently does. I'd probably either wait till he does so he can feel that it wasn't such a great result, or scold him when he does it and see if that works. Good luck.

C.--My daughter did this exact thing at this age, and I freaked out. I asked her pediatrician, and she said it was just a pahse. She advised me not to give it any attention, as she was looking for a reaction from me. She is 2 1/2 now, and hasn't done it in a long while.

B.

Thanks for posting this, my dauhter started doing it with her spoons 3 weeks ago. After my reaction, she kept doing it too. I too gave her the AHHHH! Noooo! reaction. Good to see it is normal =)

So far, all my kids went through a brief period of this. They are rewarded by your reaction! I would jump up and over to them to be sure they were OK and that was great fun. I had to stifle my motherly reaction. It usually happened in the high chair or carseat, situations where maybe they don't have my full attention. May or may not be the case here, but figured I'd share!

Yes, my son did the same thing at that age. And occasionally he will still do it (he's 2 1/2). I think it's just a combination of curiosity, reaction from mom, and boredom. We found keeping his hands busy and giving him water to drink helped. One time he did it in the middle of Walmart and threw up all over the aisle. Boys. :)

My son is 14 mos, and sounds very similar. I have realized that he tends to repeat those "silly" things when I have once "reacted" to them (like laughing at the behavior, sternly telling him NO, etc.)--i find that he stops or there is less of doing those things if I can ignore him when he does it. It's hard, becuase sometimes those silly things catch you off gaurd and you can't help but react. Don't give him your focus or attention at all when he gags himself... maybe you've already tried that?

My son did the same thing and yes he thought it was funny too. I found out that alot of kids do it from the daycare to people we know too and the dr said that it is a learning process and they will stop doing it one day but because they get your attention doing it they think it is funny so don't worry it is normal.. Kids are goofy and do weird things sometimes it gets better with age....

I suspect he is enjoying the reaction either that he gets from his own body, and/or the reaction it gets from others. Try totally ignoring it and see if he stops doing it after he doesnt see any reacions. It will take more than one or two non-reactions.

I can't tell you whether or not its normal, but my 16 month old son does the exact same thing!! I guess its some comfort that they are not the only one! :)

Totally normal. My daughter (also super smart for her age) did the same thing around 10-11 months. The dr. told us that it's just a new sensation to her. That and understanding that she had the control to make herself feel something different. A phase that will wear off in other words. Once she got no reaction from us for doing it, and made herself throw up once of twice she stopped. Hope this is just a little bit of reassurance for ya!

My daughter did that a few times. It was something new that she figured out and she thought it was funny. It passed in a few weeks. She was about the same age as your son.

oh my gosh, i can not believe it is not mine only. I have a 15 month old that has been doing since he was 12 months. i freaked out and thought his older brother taught him. Crazy, i think he saw my reaction the first time and i freaked and since he wants a reaction. It is normal, they are learning that they can draw reactions from us from their actions and i do think it is a learning thing. He has even done it in his crib trying to get us to come in their to pick him up. Kids are toooooo smart, your not alone. it has dwindled and he did it for the first time yesterday and he was laughing, crazy kids. good luck

Sounds like he is just figuring out cause and effect of things and how his body works:) Very normal for kids to be doing stuff like this all the time. Just make sure he doesn't start putting objects in his mouth, and just enjoy him learning about his world...even if his learning is kind of different:)

Happy Parenting

A.
mom of 4, Birth and Parenting Mentor

Hi C.,

My little girl decided to start doing that same thing at about the same age. I chalked it up to a way to get attention, once she realized that it got an immediate response out of me. (And its a fascinating bit of self discovery for them, I'm sure.)

I decided not to react to it, and just told her it was a really gross thing to do and if she kept it up, she might actually throw up! Well, sure enough, she gagged herself a bit one day and hasn't done it since. Perhaps he'll grow out it, as she did. It took her about 2 months to discover what can happen.

J.