Child Forcing Herself to Puke

My son did the samething at the same age and I brought him to the Dr. too, but found out their was nothing wrong with my son other than the fact that he was teething..... He stick his fingers in his mouth because he was in pain.... He would also stick his fingers in and do the coughing thing until he threw up as well, but I asked the Dr. they told me that it is common with most kids as they explore and find new things and nothing was wrong with him..... When I asked about him eating they told me that some kids get to be picky and that they will only eat so much and as long as he was drinking he was getting everything that way..... My son at 23 months stopped the sticking his fingers in his mouth bit and throwing up and finally picked up the eating again........ Hope this kind of helps.....
V. K.

B.,
I know your child is suffering, but do you think she might have discovered the gag reflex and is exploring that? I don't mean to minimize the problem--just wondering. Also, there is no way a child that young could become bulimic. This is a very serious problem, but we are conditioned by society before we develop eating disorders. She is too young to be aware of the social issues.
Amy

Hi, I am talking with my best friend, whom dealt with this issue with her youngest daughter, and she feels that her advice about this situation is: it is a texture issue, concerning food being a foreign object to a child that age, and what happens is: the child does not feel comfortable with the textue of the food against the tongue in the beginning of the throat, and therefore they are trying to remove the irritation that they feel. Her suggestion that worked for her, is, to give the child smooth, creamy food, which complies with the child's tastebuds; such as kid's yogurt, mashed potatoes with gravy, which is also fattening which helps, and pedisure drinks if necessary for nutrition. Scr5ambled eggs with cheese, add just a small amount of milk, which helps nutrition. Flavored milk, and milkshakes, and smoothies, if they are smooth! Her daughter, is a year older, and doing so much better. She says, its kind of like reintroducing your child to different foods,smoother and slower. I hope this helps! Her daughter experienced the same thing, at the same age.......... J.

Hi, B.!
I have a 23 month old daughter. I assure you that at 22 months your daughter is not on the path to becoming bulimic. At this age they are learning about how their bodies work, and seeing what they can control. My oldest daughter would try not to go to the bathroom(poop). She would hold it until it became a problem, she could not go(it was stuck)and I would have to help her in the bathroom. This was not fun. Eventually, I helped her relax about sitting on the toilet for this before it was a problem, and I fed her less bready things like goldfish crackers, etc.

I'm not sure if your daughter is getting a lot of attention for throwing up or not, but if you just deal with it as if it was any other mess, without giving her any special attention for it, including being upset about it, she may get tired of doing it. Vommitting is not pleasant. If she is getting something out of it she will continue to do this. Look for what she may be getting out of it, and try to give her what she needs or wants related to a different event(something that you are proud of her for or excited that she is doing) or a positive activity that you can share together.
Let me know if you have success.
Gretchen

Hi,
I would take her to a pediatric GI specialist. My 2 year old has eosinophilia - a GI condition. She would not eat and had a variety of other symptoms some of which can include feeling like you need to vomit. Although I doubt your daughter has the same condition (it is very rare), there are other GI conditions which could include that feeling.
Good Luck.

B.,
I am a single mom too, and my daughter is bi-polar. She was making herself vomit twice a day. At first I was thinking she was sick, then I saw her stick her hand down her mouth and vomit. I put a bowl beside her bed everynight and asked her to use it when she needs it. She used it twice. I don't know if it will work for your child being only 22 months old, but I hope this might help a little.
T.

my daughter did it too. i just let her ride it out. as cruel as this sounds but i actually stopped feeding her "meals" but instead let her choose and then slowly got her back on an eating schedule. she is 4 1/2 now and healthly. hope this helps.

My son did this at your daughter's age too. He liked the feeling of vomit on his hands and it was a way to get attention. He primarily did it when driving in the car. I think out of boredom. It then became a way to get a reaction from me and my husband. Our doc to us to ignore him and just matter of factly clean him up but not to react to his behavior. It is definitely easier said than done but it worked. Hope this helps.

A little about me:

I am married with a five year old son.

Hi B.,

My son has been doing the same thing the last few days. He's 3 and 1/2. Did your daughter recently have a cough/cold? My son started with a cough last weekend, then had a fever starting last Monday-- got as high as 104.4 Wednesday night. No other symptoms except a little bit of a clear, runny nose. I took him to the doctor Thursday morning, and they said it was just a virus (but, since the cough has gotten worse, I'm probably going to call them again today). Fever subsided on Saturday, but each evening and morning since Thursday he has coughed until he has thrown up (more of a thick mucus, sometimes with food in it or if it's a deep gag, more substantial). He did it three times in the middle of last night. Sorry to be so descriptive. He's a horrible eater anyway, but this week he's eaten hardly anything. I blame the virus.

Again, I don't want to minimize the problem, but maybe she has a cold with a lot of phlegm and is just trying to get it out? She's at the age where maybe she's just trying to get what's stuck in her throat out and the only way she knows how is by using her hands. If it's worse at night/morning, this could be it. I'm not sure where you live. I'm in Lake Villa-- maybe it's going around in your area, too.

For my son, I use the J&J soothing vapor baby cream on his neck/chest and give him warmer water to drink. Last night, I sat with him in the bathroom with the hot water running from the shower. It seemed to help. If only they could learn to spit like football players at this age!

Good luck.