My son is 3 years old and has a habbit of gagging on food. he still loves his baby food and will not eat hardly anything else. He will eat crackers and goldfish and cookies, cake, but for dinner he usually eats grill cheese sandwiches or these little quiches or #3 baby food jars and baby food fruit or yogurt. If I try to give him something different, he will either not eat it or take a bit and throw everything up. Please help andy advice would be greatly appreciated. He will be 4 next month and I really don't want to buy baby food anymore.
2007-02-28 16:50:37 · 6 answers · asked by Deb3 1 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Toddler & Preschooler
This does not sound like a medical problem to me, but a psychological issue. If he can eat crunchy hard crackers, fat-laden cookies, heavy cake, and greasy grilled cheese, then he has a good, competent stomach. These are non-baby foods that should be DIFFICULT to eat, IF he has a sensitive stomach, a stomach that has a hard time digesting things, or reflux.
Therefore, the problem is most likely not physical.
Kids are very resistant to change and often refuse new things -- especially new foods. The emotional upset of trying something new may even trigger a vommitiing reaction, in some cases.
In addition, some kids are highly sensitive to tastes (or smells, sounds, sights, feels), and will react pretty strongly to certain tastes. You might want to read up on SID (sensory integration disorder). For example, my 7-year-old will actually gag from the flavor of 95% of the toothpastes on the market.
There is only one situation in which I would suspect a medical issue. The foods you listed contain mostly simple carbohydrates. If the foods your son throws up are mostly complex carbohydrates (brown rice, whole wheat bread, corn, lentils, beans) or foods with lots of fiber, I would wonder if he has a medical problem that prevents him from handling such foods.
Here's my advice. For the time being, keep serving him his baby food, but serve a new food next to it.
Do not introduce a new food every day; instead, choose one new food and serve that SAME new food next to his baby food every single day for a week. If he tries it and gags, fine. Just serve the same new food again at the next meal. Over the course of the week, the new food will become familiar: the sight of it, the smell of it, and the taste of it.
Don't force him to eat it -- he will probably try it at least a couple of times by the end of the week (after all, he will be seeing for 3 meals a day, for seven days!).
In this way, you will desensitize your son to the new food, and he will learn to accept it.
Once he has accepted enough new foods, slowly phase out the baby food.
Best of luck!
2007-02-28 19:32:15 · answer #1 · answered by Victoria 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It sounds like he may have some sort of aversion to food with textures or has difficulty swallowing "regular" food. Did he have trouble latching on to a bottle as an infant? Does he drool a lot? Does he have trouble with speech? Still a very messy eater (I'm talking like a 18 month old)? He may have a medical issue.Talk to his pediatrician, esc. if he is having those problems above.
2007-03-01 05:31:50 · answer #2 · answered by stargirl 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You should talk to your doctor, my daughter is 19 months and does the same thing. She is now seeing a therepist to help her learn how to chew her food properly. She has reflux so she was gagging on everything. She has been seeing a pediatric gastric specialist and it has helped with her feeding tremendously. So talk t your doctor, it could been a medical issue.
2007-02-28 18:35:58 · answer #3 · answered by Cocoa 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I know that its the cliche answer, but if he gets hungry enough he really will eat whatever you put in front of him. Just stop buying the baby food, he is way too old. Have you taken him to his pediatrician to rule out any physical problem?
2007-02-28 17:09:12 · answer #4 · answered by Heather Y 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It sounds like your son has sensory integration disorder, and has sensory issues with food. My son was similar - he's on the "beige diet" as we call it - will only eat bland, beige colored foods. He was nearly impossible to get on solids as well. You need to just stop with the baby food. He will honestly eat when he gets hungry enough. Start with mushier foods, like soups or pastas. You should also look into a therapist that can work wtih him on his food sensory issues.
2007-03-01 02:02:20 · answer #5 · answered by Mom 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Sounds like a physical problem. See a doctor.
2007-02-28 17:14:45 · answer #6 · answered by peaches 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋