10 Month Old Gags with Any Texture

I say just be patient. 10 months is still pretty young & she may just not be ready for the stage 3 yet. My little girl also gagged on the stage 3 foods & table foods at 10 months. She would even gag on some food & throw up... So I just waited a little while, now at 13 months she is shoving in table food!! So, just be patient no need to rush her on the stage 3 food. I say just try again in a month.

I would recommend having her ears checked by an ENT...I had this problem with my son and it went unchecked until he was nearly 3 with speech problems (we discovered he had fluid on the ears)...I guess the pressure changes how they bite and chew and many textures become unpalitable...I was told by my son's ST that they like to catch this by the time they are 2 because that's the point where they will really just entrench themselves solely in pre-processed foods (believe me, I'm living that hell now!).

I would also check with your local Parents as Teachers coordinator and see if they have any other suggestions.

Have you tasted that stuff? It's horrible in my opinion. I would give her more table food if possible warm like you eat it or give her some stage 2 or 3 with a little stage one for a little and see if she starts adjusting to it. Maybe it's the meal you're picking too. Some kids don't like certain foods in stage 2 or 3 and may like something else to start with. It's not uncommon for them to gag when there are more pieces and texture in the food but they will adjust. If choking please be careful and maybe she's not ready for that stage yet. You could try carrots, sweet potatoes and things like that that you grind up and they're so much tastier.

My daughter did the exact same thing. She hated the texture of the Stage 3 foods. I think it was the combination of textures that was the problem. She ended up going straight from Stage 2 to table foods. Once she started eating table foods she would still not eat meat because of the texture. This went on for what seemed like forever. I just kept giving her the meats and eventually she started to eat them. Now she eats almost everything. I would say just skip the stage 3 and keep giving Stage 2 and trying new table foods. Good Luck!

Hi K.,
My baby used to be gaggy when she was that age too. Try grinding her foods and adding a little water to whatever you're giving her to help her swallow it more easily. That worked with my little one. Once your daughter gets more teeth and is more used to swallowing things, that gag reflex probably won't be a problem anymore. Oh, and if the baby food grinder doesn't work, try the blender.

Good luck!
Hilary

Two of my kids did that, too. They never were able to eat the stage 3 foods. They ate stage 2 baby foods until I started gradually adding in some finger foods. For some reason, that stage 3 is tough....they still think it's baby food, so they're not expecting texture, and then they don't really know what to do with it. My doctor said don't worry about it. They don't have to eat the stage 3 foods if they don't like the texture.
BTW, my two kids that had trouble with the gagging as babies still have a pretty quick gag reflex if they don't like something or if they accidentally take too big a bite of something. It may just be that way for your little girl.

I never did buy the stage 3 jars. My kids ate stage 2 until they started eating our table food. I didn't feed them the whole jars either. I had a divided dish and would put 2 Tablespoons of a noodle type food, veggie,(sometimes 2 different veggies if we didn't have a noodle type) and fruit/sometimes mixed the fruit with rice cereal, then had a 4 ounce bottle after they ate. This is what they usually ate for lunch and dinner so their baby food jars lasted a few days. I didn't feed them out of the jars so they wouldn't get bacteria mixed in them from their saliva off of the spoon. Use the divided plates, they work out great and 1-2 tablespoons is a serving for most foods at their age even table food.

Just keep introducing new foods and you will figure out what she likes. Sometimes they will eat that food they didn't like before a week later so keep introducing foods at different times, even if it's just a bite, she may like it the next time around. Toddlers are hard to figure out. There were times my kids loved a certain food and knew they really liked it but they wouldn't eat it sometimes and acted like they didn't like it, but the next time we had it they would eat it again and love it.

I guess the saying they eat what they need shows truth at times. It is frustrating though and we have all been there.

I like all of the other responses! Once you rule out medical/sensory issues, then how about taking the finger food idea even further? Just put some diced food/Cheerios/etc on the high chair tray & let her go to town! By 10 months, many children have mastered the whole finger-pincher thing & are able to self-feed! My sons were doing this well before 10 months, but they were both early eaters.....

have you spoken to her pediatrician about this? is it only with proteins that she presents this problem with? I would keep a food journal for a week or 2 and present it to the pediatrician.

Good Morning K., your little one might have a sensitive gag reflex. It happens.....I have had to use a child's tooth brush for years because of it.
Other then that have you Tasted some of those baby foods? Yucky Yucky .. I used to mix fruit and the veggies together to make it more palatable. I have used a pinch of salt or sugar to make them taste better also. Once we did that and mashed them up more it was better. Most kids do not like any type of meat texture for a very long time. They may chew it for ever and look like a chipmunk, then spit it out. Corbin is 4 and he will eat chicken nuggets from McD's or fajita meat chopped very small and that is it. No hot dogs or burgers or chicken legs. Zane won't hardly eat anything. Sure is a big boy even though he doesn't seem to like anything.
Our boys loved chewing on chicken legs.

Doctor the food up a tad bit and see if she likes it better.
God bless K.
K. Nana of 5
PS Congrats on your future little One.

I would say its the baby food they taste nasty. I made all my daughters food and just used a food processor or quick chop depending on the size needed. She loved the food I made her and she turned her nose up and would gag with most store bought baby foods. It makes it any easy transition to eating what we ate. Here is a useful website. http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ Also Walgreens has a small food processor for I think like $5 perfect size for 1 meal.

I have 3 kids and 7 grandkids, a couple of the grandkids have strong gag reflexes, one could make herself throw up by just thinking about it too hard, she's 9, she used to choke a lot, but if they are still breathing (this usually means they sound like they are choking) you should let them take care of it themselves. I also have had a couple that would gag whenever you would change foods you were feeding them even at the same meal, one of those now try's to take the food out to look at it before she will chew, very messy! I even have a grandson who gags with his bottle almost every time!
Yes I'm going to say don't worry, but I'm pretty sure she's ready at this age, they usually like feeding themselves too so give her something she can handle and look at while she eats. All of my kids skipped baby food and went strait to table food, you'd be surprised at what those gums can chew up and it help the teething too. Just last night I sat by my one year old granddaughter while she ate chips and salsa at Jose Peppers, we gave her a salsa that was almost gone and small chips and she could handle and she loved it! I know most parents won't go for this, but I want you to know that it is possible at her age.