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 Ask Dr. Jana
A Baby Who Gags on Solids | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Jana,
My four-month-old son gags or chokes every time I offer him the spoon. He cries and has fits. The only way to calm him down is to rock him and give him his "sucky." I have been offering him single-grain cereals. Today I offered him stage one bananas. I got the same reaction. He takes 5 oz. of forumla every hour, hour and a half. Any more than that at one feeding makes him sick. My question is HOW do I get him to eat solids?
— Blue-Eyed Blonde in Fort Worth | | | ANSWER |
February 28, 2001 | | | Dear Blue-Eyed Blonde,
As you are discovering, there's a lot more involved in introducing your baby to solids than offering him the appropriate foods. While you are correct that the current recommendation for healthy babies is to introduce solids sometime between four and six months, rest assured that it is perfectly normal for some four-month-olds not to have the motor skills necessary to master this task.
Because this is such a common question, we have recently added a new article on our site by Dr. Needlman which addresses your questions directly. It's called Eating Solid Foods: The Developmental Perspective.
Bottom line: Don't worry, take your cues from your infant, and give him the time he needs. — by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
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