Baby Gagging and Baby Choking
Baby gagging and baby choking are very common in any baby. However, you may find them worrying when they occur very frequently. Rest assured, there are some simple tips to avoid or minimise your baby gagging and baby choking.
Baby Gagging
Baby gagging is a reflex and is an automatic response that prevents choking in your baby. Sometimes, your baby may use her fingers to help herself with the gagging action. The sensitivity of this reflex action varies among babies. In the initial days, she may move her tongue forward to push out her food when she feels choked. This is called the tongue thrust reflex and it usually starts to disappear around 6 months of age. Disappearance of the tongue thrust is one indication that your baby is ready for solids. Gagging usually happens when you try to introduce your baby to solids.
Gagging lasts for a life time and is very often confused with choking.
Reasons for Baby Gagging
- She is forced to eat more than she wants.
- She has too much food in her mouth.
- She does not like the food you are feeding her. Sometimes, she may be doing this as part of her experimentation with the food.
Tips to Prevent Baby Gagging
- Calm your baby and help her prepare herself for her meal time. One way you can do this is by talking to her as you get her meals ready.
- Place the tip of the spoon containing her cereal in front of her mouth rather than inserting the whole spoon inside her mouth. Your baby will suck the food and it does not go to behind her throat.
- Feed your baby slowly so that she gets used to this kind of feeding.
- Be selective in the kind of food that you feed her. Gummy food are ideal to start with when your baby has no teeth.Do not feed your baby with food that she may not be ready for.
- Avoid overfeeding your baby. Do not force her to complete her bowl of cereal if she refuses to eat.
- If your baby is feeding herself at the table, always keep her under your supervision as she eats her food.
Baby Choking
Choking takes place in the baby when a food particle or any other object gets trapped in the airway and blocks the air from reaching the lungs. Usually if the objects are small and soft, the baby coughs automatically to remove the obstruction. For bigger and harder objects, she may need help in dislodging the object. If the object is not dislodged, it can cause serious problems. However, you must first wait to see if she can remove the object herself by crying or coughing or along with forceful breathing.
If you find that your little one is conscious but not able to remove the object, you can try the following steps to help her dislodge the object:
- Lay the baby with her face down on your lap and support her with one arm. Make sure that her head is at a lower level than her chest.
- Give your baby a few pats on her back in between the shoulder blades. Remember to use enough force to dislodge the food.
- Move her to your other arm and lay her so that she faces you. Once again ensure that her head is lower than her chest.
- Support her head with one hand.
- Using the other hand, pat him a few times with enough force on the breast bone below the nipples.
- Open your baby's mouth by placing your thumb in it. If you find something visible, remove it. If not, remove your fingers and continue the pats on the shoulder blades and breast bone.
If you find your baby unconscious at any point of help, seek medical assistance immediately and continue trying.
Preventing Baby Choking
You can try the following tips to prevent your baby from choking:
- Keep your baby in a seated position when you feed her.
- Give your baby smaller quantities of food every time you feed her. A partly filled spoon is better than a full spoon.
- Make the lumpy foods such as cereals into a nice paste which is almost like a liquid.
- Do not get your baby introduced to hard foods such as popcorn, nuts and hard candy right away.
- When you get your baby introduced to finger foods, chop them as finely as possible.
