Help: My 6 Month Old Is Gagging Herself

D.,
I have a beautiful nine month old that did the exact same thing when she was 6 months old...all babies do this and she is definitely o.k. to be left alone in her crib etc.
it does sound horrible but they are just exploring themselves and you cannot stop it. My daughter use to do it when we were in public!!!!

I have twins daughters and only one of my daughters would gag herself. However it was never that bad where I had to do CPR or worry about leaving her alone. I did think that it was crazy she would do that to herself. Since my twins were delivered early I was able to receive early intervention. I asked the PT's why she would do that to herself and they said that it was normal for a baby to test there gag reflex. They said it was fine. Needless to say it did not last long.

Hi, D.. I empathise with your protective reaction. When I had children, I immediately had fearful thoughts based on nothing, which I chalked up to natural protective measures for moms. Since you have a live situation that approached an edge right in front of you, it lends itself that much more to being fearful and protective. I've later realized (since trusting in the Lord) that fear robs us of our love and peace and faith with the most important job we have. My recommendations - fear not, for God is with you. And pray a blessing over her, often. Keep your peace as you take natural protective measures. What I mean is not to turn away from naturally keeping an eye on things, but not from a fearful heart, but one of peace and love and trust. Keep your mind on the plans the Lord has for your daughter's future, full of hope and prosperity, not of bad things. Enjoy being a mom - someone believes you can do a great job, and so there you are, with your bundle of blessing in hand!

D.,
Hang in there! Your daughter will be just fine :).

My second daughter gags herself a LOT, and though its been difficult to deal with, she is doing just fine. She was born very premature and came home after 4.5 mo in the Nicu using a pacifier or my breast when she needed to be calmed down. Then we went to a baby shower for another new mamma and the new mammas mother, a very wonderful African woman, introduced my little Layla to the concept of sucking on her fingers. Now this woman meant no harm, where she is from they don't have pacifiers so that's what they teach the children to do. I didn't think much of it... it was only about a 2 hour baby shower and that was the only exposure to sucking her fingers Layla had had up to that point. Well when I got home I tried the pacifier and she refused it... and from that day till now ALL she wants is her fingers. It really has made breastfeeding, bottle feeding and spoon feeding a very big challenge.

Compounding this issue is that my daughter has problems with digesting her food... so when she gags herself on her fingers she projectile vomits then will sometimes choke on her vomit. There are many times she has turned herself blue as well. There are many times I've had to help her get her fingers or the vomit out of her airway. She has been doing this since July and even insists on sliding her fingers into her mouth while I'm trying to feed her (takes a bite but won't swallow till those fingers are in her mouth). My 2.5 year old has been incredible ... when we feed Layla she holds her hands down so all the food gets in her mouth and she can't gag herself. My 2.5 year old is amazing at entertaining her sister's hands while I feed her, I don't know what I'd do with out her help!

Since my older child did not suck her fingers it has been a very new experience for me, and while I was laid back with my first daughter, with Layla I've been a bundle of nerves due to her prematurity and many of her medical and developmental problems. With her fingers specifically she has gotten so much better at not gagging herself. Eventually they do learn. As I think about it my first daughter went through a short gagging herself stage but mostly when she was playing she'd scream for joy then reach those little fingers in to try to figure out where the noise was coming from. She learned so much more quickly how to remove the fingers in the event of self gagging.

With both of my girls I've either worn them in a sling/mei tai or had "baby stations" in each room of my home. In the kitchen it is a high chair (as soon as they are big enough to fit into it) or a bouncy seat when they are smaller. In the livingroom it could be the bouncy seat or the exersaucer. I also keep a moveable "station" available for if I need a shower but DH isn't home or for things like when I do laundry. This way my baby rotates rooms like I do and gets to interact with me ~ it helps her development and it allows me to be there if she gags herself... so I am able to get my house work done with out being worried or anxious. It is also more fun for me to have company while I am trying to do my housework :). I do let her nap alone and though she sleeps in my room now, she has no trouble while sleeping.

Your daughter will learn to take her fingers out of her mouth when she needs air. She will be OK :). Babies are incredibly resilient, so even if she forces herself blue or in a more extreme case she passes out her body will recover quite quickly.

I know it can be very bothersome, esp. if your daughter is turning blue at times, but it will get better!

My son started this at 11 months. He would make himself throw up over and over. At first he was experimenting and feeling his mouth etc. It turned into something he would do for attention because obviously when your child gags, you come running. I spoke with the Dr who put him on Pepcid to see if it was some type of Acid Reflux. That showed no improvement. We tried to ignore his behavior and he has mostly stopped. We still stay close and listen, but don't look at him while he is doing it and then try to re-enforce positive ways that he tries to get attention. Since your daughter is younger, it may not be for attention, but those little ones are sometimes smarter than we give them credit for. Good luck and hopefully she'll stop soon. Good luck,

L.

thats serious, you shouldn't be consulting a website you should consulting your pediatrician! I know first time Mom's don't want to seem like their in panic mode all the time by calling their pedi over every concern but do it! thats what they are there for, if you don't speak directly to your doctor then atleast speak to one of the experianced pedi nurses in the office, If your pedi seems annoyed with your calls or has no nurses there to talk to about your concerns then it's time to find a new pediatrician,,,

I don't know if this will help any, but one of my now 3 yr old twins used to gag and choke a lot as an infant. He would overstuff his mouth when eating if I did not watch him closely. I was always on pins and needles and even called 911 once when he choked on a Gerber puff. Last year when I thought that my twins were delayed in speech I had them evaluated and the speech therapist did all kinds of tests including one where they put something in their mouth to test their gag reflex. The twin who had always had a problem choking had no gag reflex at all. That explained a lot to me. Now, he seems to have outgrown it.

My third child has quite a temper. If I didn't respond to her immediately, she would cry, hold her breath and pass out. It scared me to death. I asked the doctor what I should do. He told me she had a temper and just to basically ignore it. She is now 10, and she still has a temper at times, but does not passout anymore.

You do not mention that she was angry or crying when this happened. It just sounds like she gagged herself with her fingers. I would think the gagging action would play a part in getting her fingers out of her mouth. At six months old, she is definitely working on some teeth. Maybe you could give her teething items to mouth instead of her fingers.

Have you tried giving her a binki instead? that way she will keep her hands out of her mouth. She probably was trying to scoop out her moulers. Did you check to see if she is getting any new teeth?
My daughter would gag too, but not from putting her hand in her mouth, usually with food that was too thick like cereal or oatmeal.
My daughter scared me to death one time. I put her down in her swing for a nap and she got so upset she started to cry but she was crying and not taking a breath. SHe started to turn blue, I thought for sure she was gonna pass out. That scared me to death, I hate when babies cry like that. She still does it once in a while.
One tip for you is never leave your baby alone, unless she is napping or sleeping in her crib, she shouldn't be out of your sight. Too many accidents happen with kids that are not supervised.

Good luck, this is the 1st of many....

Ugh! My daughter does it too. She did it once when I put her in her snowsuit. I was so scared, that I quickly peeled the suit off of her and began cpr too. I thought she was choking. She thought the whole thing was hilarious, and now does it every time I put her in her snowsuit because she thinks I will take it off of her. It is very hard to ignore, but I would just gently pull her hand out and not make a big deal about it. Good Luck!

My son also did this. Once he realized he was getting a reaction from me, it became a little game. He probably started at 6 mos and did it until he was over a year. He was my 1st child so of course this behavior was shocking to me and I had no idea what to do! There really wasn't anything I could do, he was in control and having fun getting me all worked up over it! My 3rd child tried this as well, and of course I remembered my mistake with the first, so I would calmly take the hand from her mouth and maybe say a little no. I tried not to make a big issue of it because it was not about the gagging, it was about the game. I wouldn't worry, your daughter knows when to stop, its just so frustrating because they really have control here! Good luck.

My daughter did the same thing & very often made herself vomit. Nothing really seemed to work to get her to stop, it's a hard habit to ignore & paying attention to it made her do it again. Happily, she outgrew it & your little bundle will too. Good luck.

Hi D.! My baby girl was doing the same thing (right around 6 mo too) and it really freaked me out. I noticed that in the beginning, when I would freak out, she would do it more, looking for a reaction. The less I paid attention to it the less she did it. I think they do it initially because it feels funny, and it is something they have control over. Then it becomes an attention-getter. Honestly, it is just a phase they grow out of, and no, she will not asphyxiate herself. Good Luck, this is such a fun age!!!!

Hi There,
My son did this, too. Scared the life out of me the first time he did it because it sounded like he was being tortured! However, he seemed to like the new sensation and "power" he had over his own body so this became a regular thing for a while. He turned beet red every time he did and I don't know why he would WANT to feel that way, but there it is! Anyhoo, the nurse is right. My mom is a speech therapist (specializing in babies) and evidently this happens with some of the more curious kids. Your little munchkin will eventually stop herself or (worst case!) she will pass out like the nurse said, at which point, the whole body goes limp and her hand will naturally fall out of her mouth. You can still talk with the doc about this but there was a light at the end of the tunnel for me - it just took several months to get there! Oh, one more thing... if she knows she gets a rise out of you when she does it, she'll do it more often. My little guy didn't do it much with me but because it freaked Daddy out, you could set a clock by how quickly he would do it for him! Hope this helps!

Hi D.,

I'm not sure if this is helpful...but... My parents say that I often held my breath until I "turned blue" when I was an infant. Actually, throughout my life, when I get nervous I seem to forget to breathe. I'm now 36 years old and healthy. So, I'm guessing she'll be fine too.

My second daughter 1s 5 months and does the same thing. I put socks on her hands at bedtime roll them over her sleves and that prevents the ability to really choke herself.

Hi D.,

First I want you to know that babies will do things like this to see what's going to happen. She is exploring her body. She will keep doing it until she finds another thing that amazes her. Secondly if she were to pass out from this she will be fine. My daughter would cry until she passed out all the time when she as about 8 months old. I'm not saying that it didn't scare the heck out of me every time, because it did!! I can truly understand your panic. I hope this helps!

Hi

Babies experiment in all sorts of ways and this is one of them. She may even make herself vomit once or twice. This is how they learn how far to stick things (fingers, spoons, food) down their throat. Our baby used to gag every time he ate until he figured out eating and swallowing. We didn't make a big deal out of it, and he would just gag up the food and try to swallow it again. It didn't scare hiim.

I got this information from "Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense" by Ellyn Satter. Highly recommend this book.

Good luck.

Jen (mother to Adi, 15 months old)

If babies could choke themsleves into harms way with their fingers a lot of us would probably not be here. Your nurse is probably spot on with advice about not worrying. That said, it is hard not to worry. My first son used to gag a lot - first on my breast milk, then on his food. When it started with the food I was really scared and watched him like a hawk. But he never really choked or needed any intervention. And now he is a happy, non-gagging 4 year old. I hope your gagging stops soon and turns into a story to tell instead of a daily worry.