My 13Month Old Daughter Is Gagging Herself Sometimes During and After Meals!

Quit paying attention to it. Seriously.

She has learned that when she sticks her fingers down her throat it makes this really neat and goofy sensation. Her thought process probably goes something like this: "Wow, what's this? I can make myself make funny noises and feelings when I stick my finger in my throat. Let's try it again! Whee neat - I never knew I had this skill. Whoa, wait what's this? Mommy's making a big deal about this? It gets her attention? Hmmm let's do it again and again! This is neat fun!"

My firstborn did this. Grossed me out. I ignored it and the phase quickly passed. It's totally normal and I doubt you have a budding bulimic on your hands. You do have a smart little girl that is experimenting with her body and learning more about how it works.

Both of my children did this. When my son started this we were very concerned, because we were dealing with weight issues already. He was very underweight. Our pediatrician assured us that is was completely normal. It was a matter of self discovery and a realization of cause and reaction. When I do this with my hands, this happens to me. The pediatrician told me the best thing to do was to ignore it, which I found impossible to do...we tried distraction, telling him no, lightly swatting his hand, watching him and grabbing his hands to stop him. Non of it worked, Eventually a few months later he just stopped on his own. When my daughter started it, we ignored it for the most part. We tried to have no reaction whatsoever. And except for actually having to clean up vomit, I think we were pretty successful at ignoring the behavior. My daughter stopped after just a few weeks. I think it's a normal phase.

you had a great answer already (hopeful at least). if you still think it could be the baby sitter influence on the baby, educate yourself on the signs of bulimia and anorexia, so you can tell if this woman makes herself throw up..just in case it's her, you know. Anorexic women that do this heavily have generally bad teeth (burned for the stomach acids) and suffer from reflux, also they are in a really bad shape (too thin), but some of them (depending on how severe is the illness) don't show at all. Hopefully she'll stop soon as the other mom suggested. Good luck!

Every child in my child care career discovers this new thing they can do. It is just a stage they all go through, give it time she will move on to something else soon.

My 12month old does the same thing! She's even made herself throw up a couple of times. Mostly, I try to just ignore it! I'm a SAHM so I know she's not being "influenced" in any way by someone with anorexia. I figured it was just a normal part of self discovery and that she will quit in time. Thanks for posting! Glad I was able to read your answers and reassure myself that I was correct in my thinking!

It might be a phase, but your daughter is entering a period in which she will imitate all the people around her. This can be good, as my daughter now likes to use the vacuum and sweep the floor, or it can be bad, as if your daughter is copying the babysitter. I think you have to at least bring up your concerns with the babysitter...maybe discuss how you are worried about the impression the babysitter is giving by worrying about her weight, and ask the babysitter if she knows of any reason why the baby might be doing this. Tell the babysitter that you are worried about your daughter's health. It is difficult to approach anorexics and bulimics, because they are very sensitive to discussions of how they look and they often deny what's going on or resist help. What gives your husband the impression that the babysitter is purging? If it seems to get worse, you might want suggest places she can go for help and to look into getting another babysitter, since this behavior can lead to fainting and heart problems, which would leave your daughter unsupervised.