Gagging vs Choking: What’s Normal When Starting Solids

Let’s talk about the thing that makes everyone nervous: gagging (and rightly so)

Gagging is loud, dramatic, and sometimes red-faced. But it’s also normal.

It’s a protective reflex that helps babies learn to move food around safely. Their gag reflex sits further forward on the tongue than ours, and is especially active around 6-9 months...which is why it can look confronting.

Choking, on the other hand, is silent. No sound, no cough, no airflow.

If a baby is coughing, spluttering, or making noise, you should feel assured that they’re making noise, because that goes hand in hand with gagging. Stay calm and let them work through it. They’ll usually bring the food back up by themselves and catch their breath. 

You can reduce risk by:
• Offering soft, appropriately sized foods
• Sitting baby upright
• Avoiding small, hard, round items

Never, ever feed babies unsupervised. Because choking is silent, we can’t afford to take our eyes off them. Use all your safe feeding setup that you know of - supported back and feet, facing forward and in control of their meal. Never ever laying down or reclining. 

Learning to eat involves learning to manage food. And lucky for bub, you’re right there with them 💛