I think I will start with the question... I hope this is something that another parent has had to deal with because I have no idea what to do. Okay...so, David gags himself. Yes, gags himself. Since he has been able to eat solids I have made his food and he has always been a wonderful eater and eaten everything I give him. As most of you know, he's a wee little thing... even though he is a good eater. Over the last two weeks he has started not eating. Sometimes he will scarf down everything you hand him and then others he pitches a fit. He has even gone a whole day with only milk and a little bit of hotdog and animal crackers. What can a mother do to a 13 month old? (Any suggestions there... I'll listen!) Back to the main question... so, last week he started sticking his hand down his throat and gagging himself! No... I am not a "purger!" NEVER have been. So, I ruled that out. He hasn't witnessed Matthew or I doing that. He has been home with me all summer, so I know he didn't learn it at daycare. He doesn't vomit when he does it, just gags himself. He ONLY does it when he is in his highchair and after he has "finished" eating.
I have tried several things: 1- ignore him, but he keeps on doing it 2- pop his hand, but he continues to do it or 3- take him out of the highchair, and he stops!
So.... what do I do about my little gagger? And why do you think he does this? Help please!
Now, onto the "news" in the Coblentz household:
David had his first trip to the beach! We had a blast. We went with "Uncle" Spears and "Aunt" Meagan, "Uncle" Wylie and "Aunt" Hilary, and "Uncle" Allan and "Aunt" Somer. David loved the wade-in pool, the beach, and the ocean. We stayed for five days and had the best, first family trip ever! Here are a few pictures of that!
At the beginning of June I had my wisdom teth taken out. While I was under anesthesia, they discovered that my heart was producing PVC's. That stands for Premature Ventricular Contractions. It just means that there were times where my heart would beat faster than it was supposed to. They recommended I see a cardiologist. Lovely. Another thing to deal with. So, I saw my cardiologist last two Wednesdays ago and he heard "several" PVC's. He said it was probably nothing to worry about, but he wanted to go ahead and eliminate problems. Guess what his "prescription" was? A beautiful heart monitor. Yes... you would think that these days they would have some type of digital, small device. Oh no... it's about the size of a handheld cassette player (if you can even imagine those anymore) with three, yes 3 probs stuck to my chest. It looks great in clothes! :) I would post a picture, but it's too much of a hassle. Maybe I will later... because, don't worry, I get to wear this baby for 30 days! We are on day 11.
David began standing and walking on his own. He has been taking steps for a while now, but he would only do it if we put him down or he pulled up on something. Now he stands where he is and goes. I think that's called "walking!" Scarey. He is ALL over the place! I love it!
David also had his 12 month checkup. We went last Monday. He was 18.5 lbs. (under the 5%) and 28 1/4 inches (8%). Yes, we are tiny. When I got home Matthew was not happy. Not that he was upset, but every male wants their son to be a "big" boy. Well, we went back and looked at Matthew's baby book to see where he was at 12 months. You won't believe this.... Matthew was 18.14 lbs and only 28 inches!! Isn't that crazy. That'd eased Matthews mind. There's hope out there for our "little" man!
The school (Wilson Elementary) I will be teaching at finally opened up on Thursday. We were able to move stuff in. I will post pictures once I get something in there. I took all the stuff I had up there and unloaded and unpacked it. We still don't have desks or boards on the walls so we can't do any decorating yet. I am still looking for ideas on how to display the birthdays of my class in my room. (I'll be teaching fourth grade.) Any ideas... throw them my way!
5 comments:
Jessica,
My oldest, Claire (who is now 2 1/2) used to gag herself. It really freaked us out when she started doing it. We asked her pediatrician about it and he said that most babies do it and that it is just a new sensation that they discover. Don't worry - he'll grow out of it! Claire has not done that in a long time, actually I forgot about it until I read your blog!
David is so precious!!
Lyndsey (Wheatley) McCrory
Jessica,
Sounds to me like he is one smart cookie! He has figured out how to get his way out of the high chair! I wouldn't make a big deal of it so that he will quit associating that behavior with getting his way. You don't want him gagging himself in target while in the cart!!! He is at the age where he will eat less and sometimes none! They will hit a growth spurt and be a bottomless pit. I just recommend that you make sure his food intake is healthy foods that way he won't become picky. Good luck and keep us posted! He's a cutie pie~
Lindsey (williams) Andrews
I don't have any advice yet but he sure is a cutie!! And I hope everything works out with your PVC issue.
I'm about to repeat everything the other commenters said, but -
My oldest son gagged himself too at David's age. Unfortunately I over-reacted (because it freaked me out) and he then began doing it for attention. It was really miserable, but after completely ignoring it a few times it eventually went away. But it sounds to me like David is using it to communicate - I would give him another way to say he wants "down" instead - some sort of sign (you could use "please") or hand gesture (like pointing down). Once he learns an appropriate way to communicate what he wants, he'll probably stop gagging himself, because it's so unpleasant.
As far as eating goes, it's totally normal and his age. My oldest does it too (my second son, who is almost exactly David's age, hasn't started yet, but it's just a matter of time), and he's a very healthy eater (and within a healthy weight). There isn't much to do about it, except to stay consistent with what you've always done. He'll come back around.
Jessica,
David is too cute! I hope the gagging is getting better. I think it is definitely a phase. Noah tries to gag himself some. I just say "all done" and am trying to get him to hold his hands up to tell me he is ready to get down. Getting Caleb to eat is usually easy, but Noah is hard. I have to sing songs and give him toys to distract him while I put bites in. Not fun! Good luck with starting school and setting up your room.
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