Conference moira::parenting

    Alexandra has always been a gaggy kid too.  I have a pet theory, totally
    unsubstantiated, that there are 2 kinds of babies: crybabies (colic)
    and barf babies--I got the latter!
    
    Anyway, Alex can easily get grossed out enough to barf; it's happened
    on 2 separate field trips to the New England Aquarium because of the
    "fishy smell"--give me a break!!  What has helped has been to give her
    one of those magazine tear-out perfume strips, which she can put in a
    pocket or fanny pack for use in olfactory emergencies.  They're
    definitely powerful enough to obscure most ill winds...  I'm careful not 
    to use *my* usual fragrance, as I don't want my scent to be associated with
    unpleasantness :-} .  Could you put a stash of 'em in a bathroom drawer?
    
    Good luck!
    Leslie

    I don't have any experience with this matter but maybe you could talk
    to you pedi about this if you already haven't.  I do gag if a smell is
    really really bad but not that often, and my son Alex (3.5 yrs) has
    never gaged in his life, except when he is sick.  Maybe the pedi could
    suggest something for him or you to use in the bathroom.  Have you
    tried an air freshner of some sort to control the smell from the potty.
    
    Good luck
    
    Liz

    I meant that he can hold a perfume strip up to his nose (not that a
    drawer full of magazine tear-outs would do the trick by acting as a
    room air freshener).
    
    Leslie

    re: .1
    
    Barf babies.....!  You crack me up, Leslie!  I laughed right out loud!!  
    Your theory holds true for me.  Alex has never been a cry baby, but if
    I had a nickel for every time I was barfed on, I'd be rich!!
    
    Re: the air freshener idea.  Yes, I've got one in his bathroom and _I_
    think it smells nice, but aparently it isn't strong enough for Alex!
    The perfume strips are a great idea.  I've used "wipies" when faced
    with the threat of getting barfed on....I always buy the scented
    variety.
    
    I'm not sure if it's only the smell....he can't bear to look at his
    pea or poop either.  Not that one should gaze at it, but he has to
    flush without looking!!  
    
    Oh, I hope this is a stage he out-grows soon.....I really don't want
    to be changing diapers for the rest of his life.
    
    Thanks,
    
    -Linette
    

    Linette,
    
    My son has a sensitive nose too. With him, I think a lot of it
    is mental -- if he gets grossed out, he can't stop thinking about
    it, then he gags, then he thinks about not gagging and gags some
    more, etc. I've tried to teach him the technique of taking slow,
    deep breaths through the mouth, and actually I encourage him to
    hold his nose while he does deep slow breaths -- so he won't 
    accidentally smell whatever it is and start the whole thing
    all over. Then I try to redirect his thoughts to something else
    and get him away from the grossness as fast as possible.
    
    Lucy

    Try spraying a piece of cloth with perfume.  I was like that as a
    child, still am!  My parents always had a piece of cloth in the car
    handy in case we were sitting in traffic behind a bus, or drove by a
    newly-fertilized farm, etc.  In the bathroom, hand him the cloth and
    tell him to wave it under his nose.  Seal it in a zip-lock bag after
    use, and keep one handy at all times.  One point - make sure the
    perfume isn't too heavy-smelling.  I always liked tea rose. My parents
    still laugh at how I would always "lose it" when someone in the house
    was cooking eggs. They seem to find it thoroughly amusing, 30 years
    later!
    Sarah

	Personally, those perfumed cards make me gag.

	I would think somethink like a scratch and sniff card, with
	some aroma a child would like (bubble gum, strawberry), might work just 
	as well, if not better...

    Two huh?  Can you reason with him at all?
    
    I have tried both with barf times and when AJ gets into coughing fits
    so bad he starts to gag, to tell him to try as hard as he can to try
    and *inhale* quickly.  Almost like  a gasp.  OK if it's gross odor like
    in the potty, you may need something pleasant to be smelling, but I
    have had relatively good luck with the stop and take a breath *through
    your mouth* routine.
    
    What have you got to loose (not pun intended!)
    
    Lyn

    
    Lauren is doing the strangest thing lately!  She is sticking her finger
    down her throat and making herself gag!  It seems like she likes doing
    it!  Yesterday, when I got her at daycare, she kept it up for 10
    minutes, and actually spit up twice!  I'm sure it didn't help that we
    were laughing but she even did it all the way home in the car and I was
    no longer laughing.  Is this an attention getter?  She started this
    over the weekend (yesterday was the first time we laughed and that was
    just because she wouldn't stop!).  Anybody elses kids go through this
    strange stage?  She is just over 1 year old.
    
    Karen 

    Well, it's great to know that someone else's kid is doing this!  All
    THREE of my boys did the same exact thing when they were that age! 
    Fortunately, they did grow out of it (they're now 11, 9 and 5.5) but it
    drove me nuts!  I really can't remember how long it lasted...too long
    for me!
    
    Linda

Sarah did this too.  She liked the thrill of gagging, and
the reaction she got.  She stopped after a couple days.
She was 1.

But, just recently, (now 2), she and Big Sister (4) were
riding with my husband.  She started stuffing her hand
down her throat again, with Big Sister egging her on.
She continued until she threw up.

And Big Sister belts out: Daddy!! SARAH HURLED!!!

    
    Lauren did stop the gagging routine... after a couple of days.
    The first few times she did it, everybody laughed.  But realizing
    this was egging her on, the laughing stopped... instead, I got mad.
    It is amazing how effective a stern voice and glare can be.  She
    hates it when I get mad at her!  Sometimes even a glare will make
    her burst into tears!
    
    Karen