My son is 18 months old and he does this very strange thing and I was wondering if anyone had ever heard of it or could give suggestions on what to do. Occasionally my son will stick his fingers down his throat and gag himself and sometimes this makes him vomit. He will continue to do it after he vomits. He has been doing this for about the past six months. When we try to get him to stop he gets angry. Has anyone ever heard of this before? He doesn't do it everyday but it is really starting to bother me.
Thank you all for your responses! It feels better to know that I am not alone. We have pretty much just started ignoring my son when he does this and it seems that he quits doing it when he doesn't get a reaction. Hopefully he will grow out of it soon but I appreciate all of your help.
My son was doing the same thing when he was about 12mnths. he would do it in the car, in his bed and it was very upsetting. I consulted some friends and family and my sister said my nephew was doing the same thing. It is not uncommon. I stopped making a big deal about it as adviced by my grandfather who is a psychologist and it seemed to work,
Hope he stops soon!, C.
Angela,
Is he teething? I know my daughter put her hands in her month, when she's teethinng maybe thats what he's doing and getting them to close to his throat. Just a thought. L. O
Both of my sons have done this before. It is just a phase that he will grow out of. I used to try and stop them and tell them NO and found they would only do it more. Once I started ignoring it and making them help clean up if they did vomit it slowly stopped. I took this parenting toddlers class and this subject was brought up there too. The instructor told us it is just one of many ways that toddlers try to gain independence over themselves as they learn that they can control their own actions and make things happen by the things they do. It's just a cause and effect learning experience that your son will outgrow. I hope this helps. Don't panic, your son will not cause any serious harm to himself and with the lack of attention you give him it will no longer be an appealing way for him to get a reaction out of you. Remember that he is too young to know the difference between good and bad attention!
sorry i have never been thur that i would talk to you your son doctor
Hi Angela.
My sister's son and daughter both did that and their pediatrician said they do it because they like the oral stimulation. Their doctor advised my sister to just tell them not to do that, take their hands down from their mouths and redirect their hands to something else. (toy, book, etc...) Also, you may want to use a pacifier for the sensory issue. It worked for my sister's kids. And I'm sure that my 4 month will try it too and I think I'll follow the same plan.
Good luck and take care.
I feel your pain and frustration! My son started this around 13 mo. (he's 15 mo. now). There were days when I cleaned up vomit and washed clothes/bedding 2x. I called his dr. and she said that it's the teething and like others have said cause and effect and the fact that he is becoming his own person. He doesn't do it so much now. But he will fake me out. He'll put his fingers in his mouth slightly and make the gaging sound because he knows he'll get a reaction out of me. When I turn to see what he's doing he'll laugh at me. So he has made it a game. He makes the sound and he's wins because he gets a reaction out of me. I did start to ignore him and it's been a while since he's done it. It was hard because everytime I heard him gag it made me cringe but I kept ignoring him and he has backed off. Now he does other stuff to get my attention : - )
Good luck and hang in there!
~Kim
my son did this shortly after he turned one. but this was because his father thought it was funny to watch. I quickly put a stop to it. but my son kept doing it because it made his daddy laugh. Thats just not right.
My daughter does this also. She's 25 months, but she's been doing this for as long as I can remember. When she does it I grab her hand and pull it out of her mouth. She usually only does it when she's choking on something. Like her juice went down the wrong tube or she swallowed some bath water. But pulling her hand out of her mouth DOES work. She doesn't do it anymore after that. I don't think she does it cause of teething, and I don't think she does it for attention. I think that she thinks she can get whatever it is, out. I would suggest just pulling his hand out of his mouth and telling him no, or yucky or something like that.
My son did it so much we started calling him our little bulimic. Eventually, he just got bored of doing it and it didn't get the reaction out of us anymore and he stopped...but now my 17 month old daughter has started doing it too, but we've already learned not to react to this new behavior. Your son will move on from it. I just suggest keeping a spare change of clothes, and if he will, put a bib on him in the car to catch any of it (seems like when my son was bored and trapped in the car seat he would commence his regurgitation act the most). Good luck!
My son used to do that a lot too. It started around the same age and he did it on and off until he was 2. He made himself vomit multiple times (in the car was the worst) and nothing we ever did got him to stop. Finally he just outgrew it. I know that's not very reassuring, but I wanted you to know your son is not alone in this behavior.
My son has done this before though not to the point of vometing. He's 2 and still does it once in a great while. Not sure why kids do this, but it seems like they outgrow it.
I agree with the other posters, it's a phase. Basically he's trying to figure out cause and effect. They go through that with several things, like hitting. They're not doing it to be mean. They think "when i hit little Sammy, he cried. I wonder what will happen if I hit Jessica?" Same basic principle. They're checking to see if they'll still gag/vomit. or how far they have to go before they will gag/vomit. It's ok to tell them 'NO' and pull his hands down. He'll figure it out on his own and move on to something else soon enough :)
My daughter did that too!!! She was between 18mo and 2yrs I think. She did it to the point of vomiting twice, but after she would vomit she would stop. She only did it for a month or so and then stopped on her own. I think they just discover a new feeling that they can control, so they do it. He also might like the reaction that he gets out of you. When my daughter would do it, I would grab her hands and hold them down and tell her no. Usually she would do it in the highchair. Try to be very persistent and very serious when you tell him no, no matter how angry he gets. Don't go into explainations with him or anything just a stern no and a stern face. If you can't get him to stop ask you're doctor, but I think it's just a phase thing. Good Luck!!!
