8/17/2023 0 Comments Soother gaggagging: What parents need to know when introducing solid foods to children.Pacifier, Binky, Nuk, Soother, Dummy. Solid foods: How to get your baby started. Breastfeeding FAQs: Spitting Up, Gagging, and Biting. Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies.Īmerican Academy of Pediatrics. We believe you should always know the source of the information you're seeing. When creating and updating content, we rely on credible sources: respected health organizations, professional groups of doctors and other experts, and published studies in peer-reviewed journals. These foods should pass the squish test – they should squish easily between your thumb and forefinger or between your tongue and the roof of your mouth – so they're easy for your baby to eat.īab圜enter's editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world. If you're doing baby-led weaning, you'll give them large pieces of soft foods to grab and gnaw on. To help keep your baby from gagging on finger foods, feed them soft, easy-to-swallow food that's cut into bite-size pieces once they develop the pincer grasp, at around 8 or 9 months old. Let your baby work out the gagging on their own, but keep an eye on them to make sure they're not choking. Your baby's learning to feed themself, and that's naturally going to come with some bumps along the way. If you're introducing your baby to solid food through baby-led weaning, gagging is also a normal part of the process. If your baby is still pushing food out of their mouth or having trouble swallowing food after a week of trying, they may not be ready for solids yet. Feed them slowly while they get the hang of it.Īfter a few tries, they'll start using their tongue to move the food to the back of their mouth. If your baby pushes the food out with their tongue, it doesn't necessarily mean that they don't like it – they're probably just trying to figure out this new way of eating. Tip the spoon to get a bit of the food on the front of their tongue, rather than putting the whole spoonful in their mouth, which may trigger the gag reflex. When you think your baby's ready, start by putting a small amount of food on a spoon. This usually happens around 6 months old, once your baby is able to sit upright, has good head control, grasps, turns away when full, and shows an interest in food, leaning forward and opening their mouth when food comes near. Make sure your baby is ready for solid food before you introduce it. If you're starting to introduce solid foods and your baby gags, here's what you can do. Because of this, gagging might be more common when first starting solids and lessen once your baby gets older (around 9 to 12 months), when the gag reflex moves more to the back of the mouth. Try not to worry when it happens, as hard as that might be.įrom birth to around 7 to 9 months, the gag reflex is actually triggered closer to the front of the mouth. It's scary when your baby gags on food, but it's part of the normal process of learning to eat. Nipples with faster flow have more holes, and can allow too much breast milk or formula to come out at once, causing babies to gag. If your baby is bottle-fed, make sure the nipple is the right size. Let your child continue to gag and cough – it means their airway isn't completely blocked. Here's how to recognize the difference between gagging and choking:Ī child who's gagging may push their tongue forward or out of their mouth and do a retching movement to try to bring food forward. Choking means your child's airway is partially or completely blocked, which prevents breathing. The difference between gagging and choking And until they get the rhythm of sucking, some infants will gag while breastfeeding or bottle-feeding, especially if it's flowing too quickly for them. Some babies will even gag on their own fingers until they figure out how far they can put things in their mouths. Prodding your baby to eat more than they want can cause them to gag, as can having too much food (or food they don't like) in their mouth. Still, gagging on or pushing out those first spoonfuls of pureed food isn't uncommon. This tongue-thrust reflex can make early solid feedings a bit of a challenge, so it's best to wait until the reflex is gone to try solid feeding. Until your baby's around 6 months old, they also have a reflex that causes them to thrust their tongue forward whenever the back of their throat is stimulated.
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