cross posted...

[msliss]

DD is 5 1/2 months old. I picked her up from the sitters yesteday and they told me she made herself throw up because she was so upset...as if Dd did it to make a point. They said she did it last Friday too.

She has NEVER done this before. The sitter made it sound like it was a new trick she has learned to express her anger. They said she was fighting sleep.

I am a little disturbed by this.

Has your child ever made themselves throw up on purpose as part of a tantrum?

[Mellymama]

I really don't know a lot about this, but it sounds strange to me that a baby who is only 5 months old can make herself throw up. Maybe she's throwing up because she is crying really hard, but not throwing up on purpose.
I do NOT believe that babies can manipulate with their crying. My dd threw up once or twice as an infant as a result of crying, but there is no way she threw up on purpose. My ds (2 months) sometimes starts to cough when he cries hard.
I think sometimes when a child cries really hard it brings on the choking reflex.

[Laurisa]

Babies don't make themselves throw up. I would be suspicious that they let her cry hard enough that she threw up.

Babies that young do not throw tantrums. Crying is communication for them not manipulation. Children don't have the cognative ability to manipulate until they are much older.

[Satya]

"she made herself throw up because she was so upset"????!!! At 5 1/2 months? Nope, I don't agree that a baby of this age made a decision to throw up. It seems to me that she cried long enough and hard enough to produce the gag reflex and threw up. Being the spazo that I am I'd have a talk with the sitter and request she/he comfort as much as possible when it's nap time (as opposed to CIO") That kind of attitude really gets under my skin!