Making themselves throw up

Okay, do I have the strangest babies on the entire forum?? Nate has started sticking his fingers down his throat and gagging himself until he finally pukes. Now Jack is doing it too! At dinner last night we spent the entire meal pulling their hands out of their mouths, and Nate still managed to barf up everything he ate! And smiling while he did it!

What gives?? :wacko:

 

Yikes, that does not sound like fun. My DS who is 6 to this day will still gag on something he does not like until he pukes it up! Oh what fun. My girls though, if they don't like something they just spit it back out, or chew it up and then hand it to me. It sounds like yours ate the food just fine though, and then decided to gag themselves. How odd. Hope they quit soon!

 

how fun! aren't toddlers grand?

 

My guys don't stick their fingers in their mouths to gag, but they do work themselves up so much that they throw up. None of my other children have ever done this.

Hopefully they get over it pretty quickly! How many times have they done it?

 

Mine will do this stunt if we feed them something they don't want/like. They'll get upset, then continuously stick their fingers down their throat until everything that was fed to them comes up. Keeping this in mind.. once I see the signs I quickly give them something else to eat. I think of it like, would I rather have them have good food in their bellies minus the last few bites of green beans tonight? Or would I want them to have nothing from the meal??

Or.. you know what I've found that works 70% of the time while feeding them foods they don't particularly enjoy? I find a way to distract them. I give them a plastic spoon and ask them to help me 'mix' the food in the bowl - they love doing this. Then while they're 'mixing', I use this opportunity to shove a spoonful of the 'goodies' into their mouth. Usually they fall for it. I guess you'd have to be creative and find something that works with your kiddos ^_^ But it's worth the shot IMO.

 

They do it mostly during/after meals while still in their highchairs, but Nate has done it once in his crib. They think it's funny! I would think that throwing up would be so unpleasant that they would stop, but it's almost like they *want* to throw up. Nate has actually made himself throw up at least 5 times, and Jack has so far just gagged himself.

It's not like they're overfed or don't like their food because they do it even if they've eaten just a little or while they're eating stuff they like. Maybe they just like the gagging sound and throwing up is a value-add? ardon:

Suzy, maybe I'll try switching foods or offer them something new when they start gagging to see if that distracts them. Thanks for the idea.

BTW, DH actually asked me to post this to TS 'cause he's stumped too! :lol:

 

Hmmm... enjoying the feeling of gagging and vomiting would be something I'd bring up to the pedi

Depending on how long they've been doing this, they could just be fascinated by it. They might be experimenting with their bodies.. kinda like okay when I tickle my feet - this is what happens, etc, etc.. Mine went through a phase where they'd spit [it'd look like monster DROOL, but really they're making it come out of their mouths in large amounts = spitting.] I tried to ignore it the best I could and just clean up after them. The cooler they think it is - the longer they'll do it.

 

It's most likely just the latest new trick and if they get a lot of attention for it, they're all the more likely to continue. We had the same fun phase here and I thought I was going to lose it when Trevor made himself puke in his bed. For us, it meant absolutely nothing. I learned to ignore the behavior and they stopped. Also, I noticed a correlation between being finished eating and starting the puke trick so I would pay close attention and take them out of their chairs as soon as they showed signs of being finished eating. That helped a great deal.

 

That sounds about right. Thanks for the sanity check!

 

[quote name='Nate and Jack's Mom' date='18 September 2009 - 09:40 AM' timestamp='1253281255' post='1456356']
That sounds about right. Thanks for the sanity check!
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Hi Valerie .Just wondering if your boys stopped doing that.I hope they did!

 

My LOs do it for attention and Im careful not to make a big deal out of it. If I see DD about to gag/be sick, I just remove her hand and divert her. It usually happens when they are bored, in the highchair or wanting mum´s attention. They´ve stopped doing it now and it only happens occasionally during a tantrum. I think, & hope, they´ve given up on it!! GL!