- Seeing your little one do this when you're introducing solids is alarming for a lot of parents. But while it looks like he's choking, he's actually gagging, and it's happening because his mother is making one really common mistake with spoonfeeding that can cause children to constantly gag and spit out the food. And as you can see, when this is happening, it makes introducing solids really difficult.
Luckily, it's an easy one to fix. The gagging you just saw is happening, because young children have very small mouths, which means they can only manage a very small amount of food at a time. Their gag reflex is also much further forward on their tongue and much more sensitive than ours.
That means if you place too much food on the spoon, they become overwhelmed by it, and struggle to manage the large mass in their mouth, and move it back to swallow properly. This then leads to triggering their gag reflex, and them spitting it out, which is what we're seeing in this video. So a simple way to avoid this is to make sure you only place a small amount of food on the spoon.
By doing this, you're ensuring that when the food does enter their mouth, they can effectively manage it and move it back to swallow without triggering their gag reflex. But even with tiny amounts of food on the spoon, you might notice your little ones still gagging on some foods. And that's because there are a few more common causes that we're going to walk through right now, which can trigger the gag reflex starting with the temperature of the food.
Often we feed our babies warm or room temperature foods. And while this is a logical choice, the mild temperature of the food can cause babies to actually lose track of it in their mouth. And when they lose track of it, it's easy for that food to move further back in their mouth unexpectedly, which then triggers their gag reflex.
Making the food slightly colder can help your baby keep track of the food in their mouth, and move it to the back of their mouth in a controlled way to actually swallow it without triggering their gag reflex. Something I also recommend when introducing solids is regularly offering your baby items to mouth like safe stick foods such as steamed or roasted sticks of carrot or potato, teethers, toys, or spoons. Allowing your baby the opportunity to place these items in their mouth helps to move their gag reflex from the middle of their tongue to the back, as well as make it less sensitive and harder to elicit.
In addition to desensitizing their gag reflex, another thing that I think is pretty cool is that when you let your little one mouth these stick like items, it helps to develop their ability to move their tongue from side to side. And this is a skill that they need to develop when eating solids because they need to be able to move the food from the middle of their tongue to the side of their mouth, to then chew and then swallow that food. So by letting your little one mouth these stick like items, as soon as they place that item in their mouth and touch the side of their tongue, it actually triggers a reflex, which causes the tongue to curl up and try and follow that item.
So naturally, as they move it from side to side, the tongue follows it. So this helps to develop their ability to move that tongue from side to side, and master that skill required for safe eating. Now, as I said, using a spoon is a great way to desensitize their gag reflex as well as encourage that tongue lateralization skill.
But unfortunately, I see so many spoons on the market that look really nice and are marketed really well as baby spoons, but they're actually way too big. When a spoon is too big, it doesn't fit well in your little one's mouth, making it really difficult for them to eat from and it also encourages you to overload the spoon with too much food, leading to the problem I talked about at the start of this video. So just make sure that when you are buying spoons for your little one, you choose ones that are really nice and small.
Doing this really does make a big difference when it comes to spoon feeding or even self-feeding at this point. If you're interested in seeing which ones I recommend, be sure to check out the link in the description box below for my free Mealtimes Essential Guide. In it, I share with you all my favorite products that make mealtimes easier and slightly less messy for both you and your little one.
Speaking of mess, it's essential to let your baby touch and explore their food before eating it, as allowing your little one to touch and explore their food before eating it, can significantly reduce the chances of them gagging. When your baby handles the food, they can familiarize themselves with its temperature, texture, and consistency. And this familiarity helps them feel more comfortable when they finally taste the food, making them less likely to gag.
Something else that's really important when introducing solids is to make sure your baby is well supported in the highchair. If your baby's legs hanging down without any support causing them to lean to one side, or the tray or table is at the same level as their shoulders, so they can't actually see the food, or the highchair itself tilts backwards, your baby won't feel balanced, secure, or comfortable. And in this unsafe position, your baby will struggle to focus on eating and instead devote their attention on maintaining their balance and posture, increase in the likelihood of them actually gagging or choking on food.
Therefore, to minimize the risk of your baby gagging or choking on food, you must ensure that they can sit up straight and centered on that highchair with their feet flat on a stable surface. Now, unfortunately, most babies cannot achieve this position in a highchair without significant adjustments. So make sure you watch this video next, where I show you how to adjust your little one's highchair using everyday items around the home.
By taking the time to get your highchair set up to support your baby at the start, you're actually ensuring that they can focus on the skill of eating and helping to ensure that each mealtime is successful and enjoyable.
