Baby Food

Question: Why is my 8 month old gagging on baby food now (repost from yesterday)?

(Posted by: *Holly* on 2010-02-04 06:18:46)

I am reposting from yesterday- I only got one answer (although it was a good one), I just wanted to get some more opinions! :) I can barely get Rylee to eat baby food anymore. (I know it isn't that appetizing). She used to eat the veggies, but even now, she is gagging on them. Yes, I know she is 8 months old and can eat table food. She does when we are having something that is good enough for her to eat. A lot of times I am sorry to say that we do not eat healthy enough for her. So, I either give her some peas, green beans, toast, cheerios, cheese- as finger foods. Other times (especially during the day when she is being babysat), she eats baby food. She eats the fruits just fine, but gags on the veggies and the mixed foods. I tried the 3rd stage foods last night becuase she can chew just about anything, and she wouldn't chew it. She would just swallow it whole and then gag. I don't always have fresh or frozen veggies in the house for her to eat when she won't eat baby food. Why is she all of a sudden gagging on purees and why won't she chew the 3rd stage baby food? Any ideas?

Posted by: elijahguy@ymail.com on 2010-02-04, 06:22:17

Perrrrhaps she she she doesn't like it.

Posted by: mcbrides07 on 2010-02-04, 06:25:10

Maybe her teeth are bothering her? or you can try some mashed potatoes and gravy.... when my daughter was that age she ate about everything that we did... including pizza and stuff like that... now she's 3 and very healthy.. don't worry, try something new.

Posted by: Mom of Ethan and Sophie on 2010-02-04, 06:29:10

It sounds like she just knows what the good stuff is. There are plenty of things she can eat at this point. There are some great Gerber baby meals that are microwavable in the baby section. You can cook some chicken/ turkey in the crock pot at the beginning of the week and she can eat that at dinner time for up to 5 days. You can buy chicken breast strips that are already cooked and sliced in the fridge section of your store. Both my kids love that chicken, it's very flavorful. She can have cut up pieces of fruit-buy the snack packs. They will be the perfect size. She can have a grahm cracker, saltines. She can have slices of cheese. She can have pudding/ yogurt/ cottage cheese. Don't look at dinner/ lunch time as planning a whole meal. Think in terms of finger food. They make small cans of corn/ green beans/ carrots that you can heat up super fast. Small pieces of hamburger are fine-she can have red meat. She can have pieces of banana, cut up grapes, cut up apple pieces. You could give her chicken noodle soup minus the soup part. She could even try mac and cheese at this age. I think you are fighting a losing battle.

Posted by: x ♥Carly♥ x on 2010-02-04, 06:42:30

My daughter is also 8 months and she can eat Rice cakes, egg, toast.. But when it is dinner time it has to be smooth and not lumpy. Just because your daughter is 8 months old it does not mean she has to have table foods. There is no rush for that at all. Your daughter will eat lumpy foods when she is ready. Just keep at her with the smooth dinners and stick to a time if you can. My daughter will gag on stage 3 foods as well. I am in no hurry to have her on lumpy dinners just yet. I just want her to eat and enjoy her meal. So my advice would be to forget lumps for a while. Try different dinners other than veggies like chicken and potatoes or bolognese dinners for babies and see how you get on. Some babies take to lumps great and some don't. Your daughter is a normal 8 month old with her own likes and dislikes. Call it trial and error. Keep trying with baby foods that are smooth and get to know what she likes. There is plenty of time for lumps. So don't worry there. Hope all works out for you.. Best of Luck

Posted by: Jared and Em on 2010-02-04, 06:54:18

Our son doesnt like the really thick stuff. Right now he is just getting into stage two and he will be 9months next month. We also found he loves fruit when its cold and veggies when warm. So we keep all his fruit in the fridge and he loves it that way. And we warm his veggies up a little before serving them. This is what we did with isaac we starting gradually thickening up his stage one foods with the same stage 2 untill it was straight stage two and now he loves stage two. As far as trying new foods Isaac usually gags the first time or two with new foods its a reflex I think. But I will give him a bite or two if he gags I will move on to a food I know he likes. then the next time I feed him I will start with the new food. If he gags go on to the food he likes. The only foods he didnt accept and eat the whole jar on the 3rd try was chicken and noodle and tutti frutti he didnt like either one.

Posted by: beachgirl on 2010-02-04, 07:02:01

I'm not sure if we have similar problems, but I went though a similar experience with my son. He was a little more extreme he gaged on all baby food after a couple of weeks of eating it except for stage 2 cereal in a jar. He would not eat cereal that I mixed with formula or any table food. He also had bad projectile vomiting from formula. He was always healthy and gained weight because what he did eat he ate. Know he is six and does not eat hardly anything. I mean that people say "oh my child is picky too " he's not picky it's beyond. He has oral sensitivity and gag reflux that's what the conclusion is so far. It seems as though your daughter is better than what I dealt with. My son has to see an occupational therapist to try and get him to try new food. I have found out that this is somwhat common in children and if it starts getting worse talk to your pediatrician about it know. Mine would not listen and just kept saying well he is gaining weight and theres nothing wrong. I switched pediatrician but the younger they are it is easy to get them to eat. It's nothing medically wrong it just some sort of sensory issue and possibly your daughter just may not like certain food she is given and that would be great. If it continues to get worse or harder to feed her that may be a reason. I just wanted to fill you in because it is very hard and know I have a 6 year old who goes all day long without eating at school because he only eats the same food everyday and they do not have it at school and what I pack is to mussy by lunch time. Like I said she may not be this extreme, but I have been told if his pediatrician would have done something when it started he would be eating better now. I hope this helps and your daughter starts eating better.

Posted by: Ethansmommy0209 on 2010-02-04, 07:07:36

I went through this very same thing. I have a nearly 12 month old and at about 7-8 months we began feeding him stage 3 food and he did this gagging thing as well, and for me being a 1st time mommy it was very discouraging because he had done so well on all the other stuff I had fed him. It turns out it was just certian foods that had a lot more texture than he was used to and this was a protection reflex for him because he felt he was going to choke on them.(and the purees which she will not choke on she is relating them to these because of them being spooned to her) Like I said he is nearly 12 months now and he will still do it from time to time when I give him too big of bites. As for the stage 3 foods what I had to do was give him super small bites and when he would gag I would give him sips of water he eventually learned what the new texture felt like and could eat larger bites.