Overactive Gag Reflex at 10 Months

Did the doctor say that she is underweight or malnourished? It sounds like her little body is doing what her little body is supposed to. Believe me she will not miss out learning about different foods and textures unless the doctor forewarned you of something else- do not worry. I was at my wits end when one of my children was full grown and had three sets of teeth and the other one wanted a bottle with strawberry milk and a burger at ten months instead of the regular. Just being silly, but...Oh what they can't worry us about. Take your time and enjoy your little one. They grow up too fast.Just keep making sure she is healthy and happy. She herself is the best judge of her own little body and will let you know if she is starving or hurting or thinking she is missing out on something.

Unfortunately we ahve a lot of experience in this. My first suggestion is to get early intervention in there and get a feeding therapist.
They will help desensitise the ga reflux. My children are living on a special amino acid based formula that tasts so bad you and I will gag from drinking it. Most children are fed this formula though a tube in their stomach. i am luckiy that my children drink it out of a bottle however at four years old with the socitey the way it is that is unacceptable. OUr families and friends obviously do not care sinc how ever we can get them to survive with out a tube in their bellys we do it. We need them to grow and thrive and live. So the feedign therapist is working on desentisizng their reflux to get them to drink the formula from a cup awith a straw. The bottle nipple and the straw go down the throat and away from the tongue palate so you do not taste it as much. My daughter can drink abuot an ounce but she needs 40 oz a day to maintain her weights but she doesnt vomit or gag as much so it is working. my son can only take a bit and lick it from his hand with out vomiting or gaggging so he too is making progress. it is amazing what they can do so please get her in there.
Secondly she could be gaggin for a reason not to scare you but I would suggest seeing a Gi and if this persist to have her scoped and look for rings or inflamation making the esophagus so tight and swollow and that is why she chews to little pieces so it will go down with out choking. Kids are really smart and she is doing that for a medical safety reason i feel. Unless you know she has sensory issues and it still could be both. If you scope ehr and there are rings in her esophagus you know then why she is doing that and needs the pureed foods. There could be an allergy causing the throat to do this and you need to figure out what food is canusign it so she can eat with out being scared. Well please feel free to e-mail me, there could be so many reasons for this and I would rule out medically something and get that feeing eval in there she too can tell if it si sensory and or medical if they are experienced.
Good luck
J.

my 10-monther JUST started to like food too (nursing her for nutrition, getting food for extra fun).
Try different textures. I let my girl play with the spoons, swapping em out and dipping the ends in the foood (Earth's best the 2 and 3 level). I also feed her from my plate, little bits of mashed potatoes, rice, and now even chicken (I make tears of meat that are sooooo tiny). It's working great--I don't stress, and I always let her finish by playing and making the biggest mess. Oh! and I found sometimes I need to put food on my finger (last night) and let her take it and put my finger in her mouth. She likes to control.
As far as being very "gaggy"--she was until last week always making this gag-reflex face, like she couldn't swallow. Considering this is even on the pureed foods, I just calmed her down by demonstrating how to swallow (like over-exaggerating a swallow motion and going yum!). This helped her eventually. I just make sure she isn't really choking!!
Any other questions, or if you get super concerned, contact Early Intervention. I'd say until a year, you have some play time.

I had the same thing and it was so frustrating. A lovely pureed meal followed by one of those tiny pasta pieces from a Stage 3 food and - blap - everything came up and out.

I was recommended to see a therapist to ensure that his tongue and other muscles were forming properly. They said it might indicate that later on he'd have trouble forming words. I (bad mom) never got to it because I just thought it all sounded extreme. Lots of patience and perseverance through trying and trying thicker and thicker foods and lo and behold he finally stopped gagging (probably just over the 1 year mark) and he is a three-year-old now that can't stop talking (and well!)

So - not to encourage non-action but sometimes things just have a way of taking the time they need. Best of luck!

T.:

I'm going to second what Jenny E. said and suggest the feeding evaluation and/or medical evaluation. My five year old son has since very young been very particular about food textures and while the pediatrician always chalked it up to being a picky eater, it turns out he has a very strong gag reflex coupled with sensory issues that we are now addressing with a speech therapist (they specialize in swallowing disorders also) and occupational therapy. If the therapy does not help my son, then we are going to pursue a scope with a GI specialist but this is where we are at now. And neither of these paths may be the particular road you have to go down, but I think I echo most people's sentiments that the earlier any issues or potential issues are checked out, the better. Good luck to you and look forward to any updates.