My Toddler Makes Himself Throw-up

Children do this when they don't like what you gave them. The first time they throw up you flip out normally (save them) and they realize this causes them to not have to eat it. So they do it every time they don't like something. What you do is ignore it. I mean don't ignore the throw up but don't have a big response. Clean it up and go on. If you know it's going to happen plan for it. But never make a big deal of it. It will pass with time if you do. If you don't they will continue it and the list of unliked foods will grow.

Hi T.,
Like the other mom said, worst case scenario is that there is actually something stopping him from eating various foods. The chances of that being the case are slim, though. You, just like all moms, worry about their kids eating enough of the right kinds of foods I'm sure. The one thing we don't think about though is that a kid (barring any serious issues of course) is not going to starve themselves. When they're hungry, they'll generally eat what you give them. I'm not suggesting force-feeding your little guy liver & onions, but you know what I mean. In my house, what I make for dinner is what's for dinner. Period. Now, I won't make my kids eat something that gives them the shivers, but I do make them try everything at least once. I feel like it may not be their favorite every single night, but it'll do & I refuse to make separate meals for everyone in the house. Maybe I'm a big meanie for it, but that's my perspective.

My kids handle this very differently. My daughter, if she doesn't like something, she just won't eat & there's really nothing you can do about it. She's gone to bed hungry I can't even tell you how many times, but she's growing just fine. My son on the other hand, went to bed hungry one time in his life & vowed never to do it again so he eats whatever I put in front of him no matter what it is.

Just keep trying different things & see how it goes, but try not to stress about it too much. Like I said, when he's hungry, he'll eat. Good luck!

Melissa

Oh T.!

I feel your pain! My second eldest son was a picky eater for the LONGEST time! I made a rule in my mind that I was NOT going to be a short order cook (we knew early on we wanted a big family). I did worry about william though, so I conceded that a peanut butter sandwich was an option.

He would eat speghetti and meat sauce...but on 'pizza night', peanut butter sandwich...(what kid does not eat pizza? LOL).

I am happy to report, that after a few years of mostly peanut butter sandwiches (or so it seems) he is a healthy 6' 2" 185 lb almost 18 year old heading off to college this fall!

Hi 'expanding' taste buds have fully emerged, and he eats EVERYTHING (and LOTS of it!)

I now dream fondly of our 'peanut butter' years (and a smaller food budget!)

And, as one mom shared...some foods have little 'things' (seeds) in them...and can be very much a texture thing!

TC
Michele/catwalk

my friend's kid was like that. he now eats everything and a lot of it. they just tried to make sure that he didn't get things that made him gag, and make sure that the size of things they offered him were not too big.

When my son went through this, including the throwing up, I was very frustrated. With his older sister we would say, try a bite and if she didn't like it we would say "swallow that bite and you don't have to have any more". With my son, if he didn't like it, he would gag, and then throw up.

What we do is make sure there is one thing in a meal I know he likes. Then if all he eats is two or three helpings of that one thing, OK. Some nights he eats a plate of salad and nothing more. At first it freaked me out, but now I just figure, he will get what his body needs. Tomrrow he might eat just a plate of chicken. We were told you need to look at his diet over 3 days and if he got a grain, a fruit/veggie, protein, and a dairy, then you are doing good. And if it is any consolation, our son is now 4 1/2 and loves lots of fruit and veggies, steak, chicken, salmon, noodles, seaweed salad, yogurts, cheeses, sushi, tacos, and loads of other things. Just keep offering them to him and letting him eat what he needs. Make sure what you are offering him is nutritious, too.

A.

T., it could be just a stage, or it could be in the worse case scenario that he could have a sensory problem. I have a child that is 3 and he will throw up when feed him certain textures like berries and bananas. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can really do just stay away from the foods that have those textures. And give him a vitamin supplement so he can get the vitamins he needs to grow. Best of luck !!!

stick to your guns.."this is what we're having, period" or you will drive yourself crazy. he will not starve if he misses a meal or two. you'd be surprised how quickly they'll try what's on their plate if they know that's it. we stuck to our guns with our girls and now we have a 6 year old and a 4 year old who will try anything and loves it all, well all but broccoli and they get that from their Dad, so I don't push that point! our youngest now would rather have an apple or a bowl of carrots than ice cream any day of the week!

I have a picky eater. It's the texture of the food that makes them gag.
They say you have to put the item on the plate 7 times before they will eat it.
As soon as they start going to school and eating at friends' houses, they will eat more things.
Don't make an extra meal. Have a substitute - we did peanut butter (no jelly) on wheat. He had to make it himself if he didn't want what was on the table. That worked quite well.

My son was very picky, not throwing up, but wouldn't eat much. I have done a few things that help. I have him help me cook, he loves it now and often experiments. Also, I take him to farmers markets and pick-your own farms. He loves it, and eats a ton while we are at either. Our 'rule' for meals is that if they don't want it they can have a pb&j sandwich. They opt for it occasionally, but it gets boring so they eat what we have. good luck, I know what a stress it is to worry about keeping your kid eating.

Texture is a just big food issue at this young age, I think. He might just be learning about different food textures, though the actual vomiting is a bit much, and you could ask his pediatrican about that. I note that you sneaked the berry in as he was already enthusiastically into his dessert -- he wasn't expecting that new flavor or texture at all, so maybe next time, talk to him and show him a new food rather than slipping it in. Sure, he may yell "No!" but that's the time for the "one-bite try" talk, perhaps.

While I too prefer the "it's what I made, you eat it" approach, I think that it doesn't compute in a two-year-old brain like it can for slightly older kids so I'd give him a bit of a break on that. Maybe try finding new foods that match the textures you know he now will eat -- he likes chicken, so try turkey. He likes corn on the cob, so try corn off the cob, then once he eats that, try mixing the corn kernels with other healthy stuff like black beans (surprisingly I know lots of kids who love black beans--unseasoned!). He likes yogurt, so if it's fruit yogurt, gradually ramp up the fruit by adding extra mashed bananas or whatever to it. As for berries, they have a zillion miniature seeds that really turn off some kids while others couldn't care less.

The worst thing you can do is "give in" to him. Once you start, it will NEVER stop. So, quit making him whatever. He will not starve if he doesn't eat. I have a friend who lets her 4 year old eat whatever and whenever she wants. It leads to alot of wasted food and especially when they go out to eat they let her just drink and not eat. I was brought up that you can't have a drink until at least half of your food is gone or something is really dry then you get WATER until your dinner is almost done.

An allergy can cause itchy throat, gagging and vomiting. Ask your physician.

Sounds like his gag reflex works well. Its probably a texture thing. I know my kids dont like mixing textures too well. You can try offering the chicken and cheese different ways. Chunks, shredded, cubed? As long as he likes some meat and some dairy he will get what he needs from those. I too have some picky eaters or they are on a year long "phase". It makes me crazy. I just try cooking things I know they like. If I have something I know they hate then I do fix them something different. Thats not very often.

Hi T.,

Here are some web sites on picky eaters:

www.cureyourpickyeater.com/eatwell

www.kidsfoodcenter.com

http://life.familyeducation.com/toddler/behavioral-proble...

It might help to join a support group for moms and education classes as your child grows and develops.

www. kidspriorityone.org or ###-###-####

www.chkd.org/classes or ###-###-####

Hope this helps. Good luck. D.

Chicken, yogurt, chese, eggs, green beans and corn on the cob all sound like great things. If you can get him to eat some whole grains, all the food groups are covered. Toddlers are their own best nutritionists. I wouldn't worry. If you push too much, it will become a battle at meal time and turn into a control issue. I have never made my kids eat something they didn't like (20, 16 and 9). I make them taste it and if they don't like it, I don't force it. When I was about 6, my mom made me eat cooked carrots and it didn't turn out very well (puked at the table) and she never made me eat something I didn't like again! :-)

If you think it's texture, there are a multitude of ways to sneak valuables into food. Fruit smoothies is a wonderful thing.

While you sneak in, don't forget to always put something on his plate that is what others have (even if it's just one piece) and encourage but don't force the issue. That way it becomes normal for him to be sharing what others have too, and normal to be expected to eat it.

Jessica Seinfeld has a wonderful book with recipies on hiding food. Mostly it revolves around purees. It's amazing how little flavor caulifower has in it when pureed and put into mac and cheese or mashed potatoes.

message me any time for other good ideas. I used to have a child that never ate fruit. Although he digested it without knowing it, and now eats all fruit except pineapple :)

I know the feeling because my eight year old has been doing this for a while also. He does it because he doesn't want to eat certain foods (asparagus, beans, etc.) It really annoys me but I have a strict rule in the house. Everyone must have a "no thank you" helping. He has to try everything on his plate at least for one bite. No gagging, no nothing. It has cut back on the gagging. I try to pick my battles because I can sneak veggies in other ways, so I don't force the issue. If he refuses to eat, I simply inform him that there will be no other food for him that night, so he either eats or doesn't. It took a while to reinforce the behavior, but he is more willing to try foods. I also found out (accidentally) that kids are much more willing to try foods they help cook. You are limited by age, but letting your child do something with that type of food may help him become interested. Let him snap a bean or asparagus, a little thing like that. Good luck!!!

You need to get the Sneaky Chef cookbook! I have been able to hide so much healthy foods in all of my kids meals, it's great. Now I don't worry so much when they don't eat the veggies on their plate because there are already so many healthy veggies hidden in the main dish. You will be amazed at how good the food is, I even just made the double chocolate chip cookies with spinach and they were a hit. No one was the wiser, it was just a good chocalty cookie as far as they were all concerned! Lots of good main dishes too, so far everything I have tried has been a hit! Good luck.