Bulimic Baby?

[ha98ed14]

Looking for any BTDT. DD sticks her fingers in her mouth and gags herself. She often does it in the car when in her seat RF or other times when we are not paying direct attention to her. I thought she did it once and we reacted, so now she does it to get attention. This morning I was sending an email and she did it and made herself throw up on the carpet. It has been a long time since she made herself throw up (months and months) but she does the gag herself thing and lets out this sound that sounds like a loud belch. She does not do it every day, but probably 2 times a week. She tends to do it 3 times at a time. We tried ignoring it, but it isn't going away. I'm starting to get more worried (and annoyed at having to clean up vomit when she is not sick.) Anyone BTDT?

[lorinick]

I've never heard of it before. Have you mentioned it to your chid's doctor? I know kids do things to get attetion but I would ask about it. I'm sure your getting sick of cleaning vomit. I sure would.

[brittone2]

How old is she?


Any problems w/ textures in general? (can she tolerate mixed textures when eating, etc. without gagging a lot?)

[ha98ed14]

She's a little over 22 mos. I have not mentioned it to the ped mostly because I kind of stopped going to the ped for well baby check ups at 1 year. I actually like the ped himself and have been in for random rash and colds, but his office was less than helpful when trying to get a dx for speech delay to get services through the county and his nurse keeps pressuring me to do more vaxes. I've done the ones I want to do until she is older. I figured it she was delayed any more, the SLP would pick it up or I could ask the OT and PT who work there. (Altho at this point DD only goes to an SLP.)

I don't think she has any texture issues? She went through a phase of not wanting to wear shoes and having a fit if we put them on. But it passed. In the thick of it I asked the SLP if she thought DD had sensory issues and she said no. She sees her 1 - 2 x per week.

She eats mixed textures, I think: dry cereal, banana, yogurt, WW bread and pancakes. Maybe I should call the ped and ask...

[octmom]

Any chance she has a sore throat and is trying to scratch it? My DD has done something like this when she has had post-nasal drip.

[ha98ed14]

Any chance she has a sore throat and is trying to scratch it? My DD has done something like this when she has had post-nasal drip.

Hadn't thought of that. DD does have a (clear) runny nose right now. That could be it because she does go for long periods without doing it. It's hard to recall exactly, but it is not a daily occurrence. And she has runny noses about as often. Did your DD ever make herself throw up?

[octmom]

Mine has done it when she was coughing and she has thrown up from it.

[niccig]

A friend's DD did it at around 2 yo. I don't know if they did anything to stop it, or if she just grew out of it. I don't know if she actually threw up, but she definitely used her finger to gag.

[bubbaray]

I'm pretty sure there used to be someone else here who's child did that -- I recall reading it somewhere and it was probably here....

I would guess its probably a phase and if you ignore the behavior, it will likely stop.

GL!

[MistieandMichael]

My baby sister does this. I would say she started it around 2yrs and she's 4yrs now. We've found that she does it for a number of reasons...but it took us up until now to figure them all out. I think it's just a kid thing though. I know I didn't do it when I was little...but I don't think it's odd or that she's bulimic. I would definitely mention it to her Dr. and see what they say though.

My baby sister has done it for attention. She knows that we either laugh or become horrified...either way she's getting some kind of attention. (this reason has pretty much gone away) If she doesn't like the taste of something, it doesn't seem to make a difference of whether it's a food, a drink, or medicine...if she doesn't like the taste of it she will puke right then and there. If she's sick and has a runny nose or a chest cold...or something like that she will cough herself into puking. She has put her finders down her throat, she has coughed herself into it and she has also just puked at will. Any place any time...just when ever she gets the fancy.

Shoot, I know I've not felt good enough to think about making myself sick, thinking that if I could just puke, I would feel better. Maybe kids do the same thing...but don't have the fear to not do it. I know I hate puking...so I can't bring myself to force it...but that's from years of knowing what puking is like. Whatever the reason, I hope you can find the solution soon! Puke is nooo fun!

[maestramommy]

Dora used to do it when she was having a tantrum. We used to just watch her with a bored expression when that happened, sorta just waiting for the bomb. She did make herself throw up once or twice, but stopped doing it last year. I think the whole phase lasted maybe a year.

[pinkmomagain]

My youngest did that for awhile...never vomited but gagged. It was a phase when she was a toddler I would say, and didn't last long.

[graciebellesmomma]

OMG, our daughter did that for a while when she was between 1-2. Drove me insane. It was so gross. We would be driving down the road and hear the "sound". We called her our Bulimic baby and then realized that it was sort of inappropriate....

I was actually worried, but then my ped told us that kids do it when they are teething, and getting molars and that she would grow out of it and she did! She's 6.5 now and no longer gagging herself! Yay!