# toddler gagging herself to induce vomiting..



## mommy2julia (Mar 15, 2005)

My DD who is almost 17 months old, does this every single night.. She has been doing it for about a week and half. She does it until she vomits, and doesnt stop. I dont know how to handle this, and i've never heard of it. How do you handle it, or how would u handlie it??


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## mamababamba (Jan 26, 2005)

I am not exactly sure what you mean but at about that age my son started coughing until he threw up. He did it a bunch in the car....it turned out he is an asthmatic with allergies and was just gunked up and needing to clear out his system.

Don't know if this rings true for your daughter. Good luck and hope it passes soon.


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## mommy2julia (Mar 15, 2005)

no she sticks her fingers down her thorat and throws up, like a person who has an eating disorder would!!! Thanks for your concern!


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## speairson (Jul 25, 2005)

I can certaintly understand your concern. Is she doing it because she doesn't want to go to bed? If you really believe she's doing it intentionally to get out of something she would rather not do (like going to bed), I would try to ignore the behavior as much as possible. I had a friend who's dc would do what you describe your dd doing when it was bedtime. My friend would just very calmly take the child out of bed, have her dh hold her and change the sheets, and then put the child back in bed. It finally stopped when her child realized that she was going to have to go to bed anyway.


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## ledzepplon (Jun 28, 2004)

My dd also does this from time to time. She's been doing this type of behavior since infancy. So far I've just tried comforting her if she's upset, but ignoring the behavior. When she does this when she's NOT upset, I just calmly remove her hand from her mouth and work on a distraction ("Hey, let's read a story!" or "Would you like a glass of water?"). I wish I knew what makes her do it . . . it must be some sort of stress release?

I hope you find a way to curb the behavior, but don't stress about it. Your dc will pick up on that and perhaps do it more to elicit a response. I wouldn't totally rule out the allergy thing even though she's sticking her fingers down her throat. Could her throat be itchy?


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## ledzepplon (Jun 28, 2004)

P.S. I love the photo of you and your dd--precious!!


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## Shaunam (Oct 8, 2004)

My 17 month old has been doing that too. And I remember my neice doing it at this age too. It's most likely just a phase. Just a new thing to try again and again until they get tired of it. Try not to worry. Everytime my DS starts to gag himself, I just pull his fingers out of his mouth and say, "Please don't gag yourself honey." Usually that's enough to stop him. Sometimes I have to remind him a few times.


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## mommy2julia (Mar 15, 2005)

I dont think shes doing it b/c she is upset. It is like a game, and new sensation or something.. I think I am going to just keep saying.. Please dont gag yourself in a sweet voice. It just freaks me out to just watch her do that, and not react in a terible way.. Her eyes get all watery and she vomits, then comes and nurses to get the nasty taste away.. Probably just a phase, I'm glad we're not alone, and thanks for hte comment on the photo, means alot!!!!

As for allergies, I'm going to bring it up at the ped office at her 18 month appt, she odesnt show any other signs of allergies but its better to be safe than sorry!!!

Thanks for all your replies, they are very helpful and reassuring!!!


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## aprons_and_acorns (Sep 28, 2004)

My nephew is 17 months and has been doing that for a while, although it is a LOT less frequent than it used to be. He seemed to do it either to get out of doing something (going to bed) or just out of the sheer novelty of the sensation. Anyway, my sister was just about at her wits end with the vomiting, awful, stinky chunky milk-and-supper vomit







It was very, very frusterating. The ped said just to ignore it as much as possible, even to the point of letting him sleep on vomit bedding


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## faithnj (Dec 19, 2004)

*Another Baby Bulimic.*
My daughter used to do that a lot too. I just kept taking her hand out of her mouth and preventing her from doing it. Right now she seems to have stopped. If she picks it back up again, I'll just take her hand out of her mouth to prevent it from becoming a habit. She also can make herself throw up from coughing. She's only 17 pds, 10 ozs at 18 months. I can't have baby anorexia added to her already troubled feeding habits.

Faith

***edited to add....I don't think the really know what they are doing when they do this. I'm not sure they even intend to make themselves throw up at first. They just don't know how far is too far to stick there fingers in, and the voila! They gag and throw up, and they don't seem to mind it much.


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## Cardinal (Feb 6, 2006)

My DS did this last month! He was 13 months and was doing it at least twice a day. It lasted about three weeks. Now he has stopped. Perhaps he forgot the "trick"??? I tried to just ignore it (rather than show any emotions toward it because he seemed to like that I'd get upset and worried!!)


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## apple_dumpling (Oct 20, 2004)

My 16 month old dd does this too... and has been doing it off and on since she was about 14 months old. Like the pp have said, I just remove her fingers from her mouth and tell her calmly that we do not stick our fingers down our throat.

My dd does it mainly at naptime... when I am trying to cuddle her in the bed, and she doesn't want to go down. I'm not really sure if it is an attention thing or not... I am always right there with her when she does it. It seems to me that she uses it as a technique to try and get out of doing something that she doesn't want to do... or maybe she is just exploring a sensation, I don't know... but either way, I do stop her.

Is your dd a "spirited child"?







FWIW, my mom said that my younger brother used to do the exact same thing, and it lasted for a period of a few months... and he was a very spirited child. My dd is a very spirited child... so I wonder if it is just something that these kids do for some reason? Just throwing that out there, I'm not sure if there is any connection or not. Perhaps it is a sensory issue as well.


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## Crazy Basil (May 22, 2006)

Our DS also started doing this around 12-13 months. We also just assumed it was a phase and tried ignore it and gently discourage it. However, around this same time he also got VERY particular about food and COMPLETELY stopped gaining weight. He actually lost weight for a couple months and then didn't gain any back for a LONG time. Long story short, he was diagnosed with acid reflux / GERD.

It probably is just a phase, but after our experience I would say that if she has a little, dry cough that doesn't seem related to anything or does any "re-swallowing", I might investigate further to see if she's having some troubles with acid reflux. The fact that it's right at bedtime also makes me wonder since laying down can make it worse. Just a thought... hope it gets better, cleaning up puke all the time STINKS!


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## mommy2julia (Mar 15, 2005)

She is sprited -but I dont think it is a sensory issue,she doesnt have any of the "signs" or "symptoms" Your conncection could be valid, I really do think it is a game to her, I dont think its acid reflux, she doesnt really do it at bedtime, just at night when we are just playing and winding down.. Probably just a phase.. glad that I'm not alone!!


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## minkajane (Jun 5, 2005)

DS started doing that at the exact same age (about a month ago) where he'd stick his fingers down his throat until he gagged. He never vomited because I always pulled his hand out of his mouth. It only lasted a week or so. I just pulled his hand out of his mouth and put a toy or a snack in his hand. The distraction worked well.

I think it's a case of "Ooh, new sensation!" when they figure that out.


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## SerafinasMommy (Dec 18, 2005)

ugh, my daughter does this too







:


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## marymamma (Mar 22, 2004)

My DD (19 months) does this too, except she doesn't throw up, just makes herself gag. She thinks it is funny or likes the sensation. She seems to do it more when she is bored, like in the car. If I make too big of a deal about it, it makes her do it more, so I try to destract her with some other activity or toy.


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## faithnj (Dec 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Crazy Basil*
Our DS also started doing this around 12-13 months. We also just assumed it was a phase and tried ignore it and gently discourage it. However, around this same time he also got VERY particular about food and COMPLETELY stopped gaining weight. He actually lost weight for a couple months and then didn't gain any back for a LONG time. Long story short, he was diagnosed with acid reflux / GERD.....

My DD also has GERD (Reflux). She was diagnosed at six weeks, and it still hasn't gone away. I don't know if her occasional self-gagging has anything to do with the reflux, cause I just never thought of it as a way to help her deal with any of the throat or stomach discomfort. But now that you bring it up, I'll pay attention. (Still, since she's back on the Pepsid, I don't know if it will matter or not.)

Faith


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## christiab (Jan 13, 2004)

DS used to do this as well. It went away when I started to ignore the behavior. He never vomited, but it sounded close several times. IIRC he was around 20 mos or so.


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## Mom2Joseph (May 31, 2006)

my ds did this in the car at that age because he couldn't have my full attention. At first it freaked me out but once I ignored it it went away. We called him "baby bulimic" too! Now he just tries to gag me - he thinks it's hilarious!


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## wombatclay (Sep 4, 2005)

DD (14mo) did this several times a day for three or four weeks straight. It really bugged me, but she was obviously healthy and not gagging due to any health issues...and now she only does this maybe once or twice a week, tops.

I think it started when she was trying to pull her tongue out of her mouth to look at it (she'd been looking at ours, and realized she had one too). We figured that she probably thought the sensation was interesting and the reaction (from mama and dada) made it fun to do as well. Basically we decided to act very boring and blah about her gagging, and to offer her books/cups/toys that required two hadns to hold any time she started gagging herself. Either the sensation/lack of response made it boring or she outgrew the phase, but it's been a few weeks since she's done this.

Good luck mama...it's nice to know this isn't an uncommon behavior.







(oh the things they don't tell you in the books!)


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

My dds both did that but not regularly like you describe. With both of them, they were cutting molars and had their fingers way back there trying to find comfort and ended up gagging themselves. Could that be what's going on?

Some toddlers will do this self-inducing vomiting as a form of tension release. It's rare, but I read about it somewhere while researching for my own dd's eating issues.


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## Crazy Basil (May 22, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *faithnj*
My DD also has GERD (Reflux). She was diagnosed at six weeks, and it still hasn't gone away. I don't know if her occasional self-gagging has anything to do with the reflux, cause I just never thought of it as a way to help her deal with any of the throat or stomach discomfort. But now that you bring it up, I'll pay attention. (Still, since she's back on the Pepsid, I don't know if it will matter or not.)

Faith

Yeah, we really hadn't thought much about either until the gastroenterologist asked about it *specifically*. (I can't even begin to tell you how much it pains me that we have an "ologist". Bleah!) Once she explained it, it made sense though. That acid-y, heart burn feeling that gets in the back of your throat - apparently it's a common symptom for babies with acid reflux problems to gag themselves as they are trying to reach in there and "get it out".


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## musicoholic (Jun 26, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *marymamma*
My DD (19 months) does this too, except she doesn't throw up, just makes herself gag. She thinks it is funny or likes the sensation. She seems to do it more when she is bored, like in the car. If I make too big of a deal about it, it makes her do it more, so I try to destract her with some other activity or toy.

my ds too!!! he's 18mo, sticks his fingers down his throat till he gags but doesn't throw up. it's a huge game to him!!!







:














weirdo. must get it from dh's side....


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