Toddler gagging himself

[humpforfree]

Omg help me. We are on vacation at my parents' and L has decided it is awesome to get attention by sticking his fist down his throat and gagging himself. He knows I will react to it, so it happens when he is bored, when he doesn't like what we are doing, and doesn't want to nap.
Yesterday I tried ignoring it during naptime to see if he would cut it out when he realized it didn't feel good and I came in a couple of minutes later to blueberry puke all over everything. And he is still doing it, so it's not like he decide its gross.
How do I get him to stop without letting him puke?? I'm terrified he is going to do this on the 5 hour car ride home when he is bored.
Eta- I do try redirecting, but nothing stops him. He laughs and sticks his fist back in there ASAP.

[cece]

That is the freaking worst, I can't stand when DD does this. After realizing that yelling stop it doesn't work, I started asking if she needed a sip of water. I think that made her forget what she was doing. So I guess that's like redirecting and of no help to you. Sorry!

[humpforfree]

Aug 6, 2015 15:02:36 GMT -5 cece said:

That is the freaking worst, I can't stand when DD does this. After realizing that yelling stop it doesn't work, I started asking if she needed a sip of water. I think that made her forget what she was doing. So I guess that's like redirecting and of no help to you. Sorry!

I'm going to try the sip of water.. maybe it will be different enough to distract him.

[thebreakfastclub]

My goofball still does this from time to time at 2.5, so this might be around awhile.

He's never thrown up from it, but he doesn't know what puking is, so warning him of it means nothing. I had to give him the stern voice and get his hands out of his mouth. He cut back but I know he thinks it's funny.

[cece]

Aug 6, 2015 15:05:38 GMT -5 humpforfree said:

Aug 6, 2015 15:02:36 GMT -5 cece said:

That is the freaking worst, I can't stand when DD does this. After realizing that yelling stop it doesn't work, I started asking if she needed a sip of water. I think that made her forget what she was doing. So I guess that's like redirecting and of no help to you. Sorry!

I'm going to try the sip of water.. maybe it will be different enough to distract him.

I really hope it does.  The self gagging is a huge irritation of mine (I have an extreme hatred of puke).

good luck

[undecidedowl]

I would like to say that I would continue to ignore so that he would eventually learn it did not get any attention. Buuut gross.

As least for the car ride, I would try to show him other really funny silly ways he can explore his body like make fishy faces, rub his hair, fill his mouth with air and squeeze it out with his hands, pull on his ears. I would also try to sit by him if possible on the drive to prevent it.

[greencrayon]

Following. Mine still does this. :/

[humpforfree]

I'm glad I'm not alone at least. The more I grab to take his fingers out of his mouth, the more hilarious he thinks it is. Also, on the car ride it is just him and me driving, so I can't sit by him or distract too much. I'm planning on leaving at 3 am, so he will hopefully be asleep most of the trip at least..

[Deleted]

Is he teething or does he have newer teeth? My DS goes through phases like this when he can feel the new tooth pop through. He was doing it a lot a few months ago but it seems to have tapered down. 

[fortnightlily]

My DS does this in the car occasionally when he's mad. I've found that if I start singing a song he likes it distracts him enough to stop, though this is only a bearable option on short drives

[humpforfree]

Aug 6, 2015 15:35:59 GMT -5 @republicrat said:

Is he teething or does he have newer teeth? My DS goes through phases like this when he can feel the new tooth pop through. He was doing it a lot a few months ago but it seems to have tapered down. 

He is- all 4 molars right now. Im praying this is it...

[marie3246]

DD has been doing this lately. Redirection worked at first, but now she just thinks its funny. The more I try to pull her hands away the more she laughs. I have been ignoring lately. Luckily she hasn't puked from it yet, but she is definitely doing it for attention.

[whitemerlot]

My kid did this for a while starting at age one. My pedi said to ignore and I did, but he would make himself vomit on the high chair tray daily and in his crib a couple times a week. She advised to clean it up out of his view and without any comment at all.


It was disgusting!!

[browneyedgirl9]

Following. DS is 18mon and has started doing this every once and while for attention too

[indifferentstars]

Oh god, this behavior has been my least favorite of everything irritating my kid has done in his 2.5 years. Puke when it's not necessitated by illness? No freaking thank you. It was frequent around a year- 15 months or so. Every now and then it will re-appear but it's usually an isolated incident these days. Sadly I don't know any magic cure. My approach was to remove his hands from his mouth if I saw him doing it, (repeatedly if necessary) without any comment. If he actually puked as he often did during nap time when he didn't want to nap, I would go in and get him out of the crib, explain in a neutral tone that we needed to change the sheets/clothes because they were dirty with puke and put him back. Repeat. One day I went through all 3 sets of his sheets and wanted to die.

In the car I'd try to throw a small towel or burp cloth over him like a bib and tuck it down beside him as much as possible to catch it. You could do a real bib but it made me nervous to have something around his neck plus the tight harness straps near his neck when I couldn't see him.

FX this is a quickly passing phenomenon for your son!