My Son Gags Himself!!!!!!!

wow it sounds like my son! ha ha ha! both my son (age 2) and daughter (age 6) did that. well my son still does it. and yes sometimes he vomits. however it is just one more of thier discoveries i think. i used to work at a daycare center in the toddler room. and would say 8 out the 10 children did it. some were more intrested in it then others. this one little girl i had did it ALL day long!! it drove me NUTS, but a few weeks later she just stopped. i think they just like to discover the feeling. (that is what my doctor told me) to a toddler all feelings are NEW. no matter what they are. but yes it is nasty, but not to worry it too will pass.

I would mention this to your Dr. but it may just be something he has discovered. More than likely he will outgrow this. Sometimes the more attention you draw to it, the more he is going to do it. HTH! Good luck

My daughter who is now almost 6 used to do this a lot when she was little!! She ended up having such huge tonsils that they were what was actually gagging her and they had to be removed. Her tonsils were actually going down her throat! They didn't actually take them out until she was 4 but in the long run she was gagging herself because it felt totally natural to her since her tonsils were doing it anyway. Okay I know reading this might not make a whole lot of sense but it was something that I never would have thought to check out and we didn't until she was much older. Good luck!!

My niece used to do that when she was around a year old. She would use her hands, toys or anything she could fit that far into her mouth. She's 2 1/2 now and doesn't do it anymore. I think its just something that she figured out how to do.

Hi!! My name is M., and I have a five-year-old boy. When he was the same age as your son,he used to do the same thing, and it freaked me out too. I think it's just a phase; they're beginning to discover things about their bodies, and I'm sure that's all it is. I wouldn't be concerned, unless it continues for an overextended period of time.:)

My daughter was about the same age when she started doing the same thing. We knew it was all about attention, because she started it when her barely older brother had a stomach bug and was vomiting a lot!

We ignored her, it didn't work. We told her no, it didn't work. We tried distracting her, it didn't work. You get the point! We figure once she learned how to do it she liked it because it was one thing she could control.

She's now 17mo and doesn't do it as often. She still does it and I think I'm starting to pinpoint it to times when she feels to over-scheduled... Back to the lack of control issue!

Just know your child isn't the only one getting some perverse pleasure from choking himself!!

Hi H.. My daughter just turned a year old and she does a similar thing. She will fake cough or make a fake gagging noise for attention sometimes. I think she does it because she sees that she gets an immediate response. Maybe if saying "no" and taking his hand away doesn't work the first few times, maybe just try to distract him or redirect him to do something else to take his mind away from it. At this age I have noticed that my daughter has started testing me a lot more, and sometimes instead of saying "no" over and over just redirecting her seems to work. Good luck. I hope this helps.

K.

Your kid is not wierd! My son did that for a short time, maybe a month or so. The more i made a big deal out of it, the more he did it. He never made himself throw up, but it was still disturbing. I would say, keep an eye on him when he does it, but dont make too big a deal...it should fade off. I think its mostly curiosity, that they can get a wierd reaction out of them selves physically!

Good luck

My daughter did this around the same age. It was usually when we'd get her loaded into the carseat & start talking in the front seat. It was totally an attention/entertaining herself thing. We finally stopped getting all excited when she did it & I'd just calmly change her and go about our business. I didn't ignore her, just didn't make a big deal out of it other than stressing that now her clothes were all dirty & that was yucky. She grew out of it pretty quickly.

Maybe try distracting him with putting something in his hand and telling him to play with it. Maybe something that is musical or makes funny noises to divert his attention.
Or....I just thought of this and I don't know if it would work. Every time you see him do it at home, pick him up and put him in the (empty) bathtub with no toys in it. If he is going to make himself vomit, he might as well do it in there where it is easier to clean up. And it won't be fun for him because there are no toys and it is taking him away from the fun environment he is in. Tell him he can come out when he is finished. Don't give him warnings - when you see him start to do it, immediately pick him up, say "no gagging," and put him in the bathtub until he stops. He will associate the behavior with "no fun" and stop. I think this would work.

My response won't offer any suggestions for stopping him or tell you why he's doing it. But, my son does it too so at least you know your kid isn't the only one. My son is 3 1/2 and constantly puts his fingers in his mouth. Its kind of like thumb-sucking for him - his comfort zone, I guess. But when he gets upset he jams them back in his throat and gag himself. It's weird - I agree. His older sister was a thumb-sucker and she gre out of it eventually, so we are just hoping that he'll grow out of it, too.

H.,
You are not alone. My son is 17 mos. old and he has been gagging himself for a few months now. He usually does it when he is bored in his high chair. I really don't have a solution for you other than distraction. I will tell him no and then give him a toy or some food. He doesn't do it obsessively and it has decreased since he started. I think it's just something that he can do himself that gets a reaction out of me and out of himself! I think it is more common than you may think. Sorry I don't have better advice, but I wanted to let you know that you are not alone and this too shall pass!

H.,
I had to laugh when I read all these posts because this is my 20 month old's newest form of amusement. Not even 3 hours ago I caught him gagging himself with a toy spoon (just big enough to choke on!). Anyway... I just try to make sure he's using his hand and nothing he can choke on. I think one of my other two went through the same phase and we just kind of ignored it. None of mine did it until they threw up, though. I would just wait and see if he stops on his own. I think it's just something they figured out how to do.... so they just do it?!?

My daughter is now two and she did the same thing. My family even joked that she would be balimic (I didn't think it was funny). The only way I got her to stop was to ignore it. I stoped even acknowledgeing that she was doing it and she stoped doing it after a week or two. Hope this helps!

D.