Excessive Coughing While Eating

My 2-year old coughs excessively while eating/after swallowing.  Sometimes, she will spit up everything she has eaten.  I have tried to keep track to see if there are certain foods that cause the coughing, but it seems to be all of it. Any suggestions?

[sun283]

My daughter has a similar problem.  Did you ever find a solution?

[Melinda49]

I too get irritated by coughing/choking every time I try to eat something. Unfortunately my cough varies sometimes it is a dry cough, sometimes a chesty cough sometimes I bark like a seal and phlegm sticks at the back of my throat.  I have had this for over 12 months now, I have had x-ray on my throat and lung area and told all is well.  So where do I go from here. My coughing can also attack me even when I am not eating and I cough so hard that it is now hurting my chest. Headaches have become frequent too this last couple of weeks because of the severe coughing attacks.

I am sorry I have no advice for you or your daughter.  I too need an answer.   Linda

[kadenjoseph]

I know when my son was a month old and started to cough excessivly after and during feedings they diagnosed him with Acid Reflux. He would also vommit after meals. Not sure if that helps but I would check with the doctor.

[cosswoman]

My 14 month old daughter coughs on pretty much everything.  Even yogurts and purees.  Sometimes it leads to vomiting and dinner do-over.  It is extremely stressful to feed her.  I do not have any suggestions and cannot seem to find anything online.  I will talk to my ped later today about it.  

[specialmom]

Hi there.  Well, my son was a lot like your daughter at that age.  He gagged, coughed and choked on things and would vomit sometimes too.  Is that what you are speaking of?

My son had trouble with chewing and possibly swallowing of food.  He just couldn't get it down then.  He also had issues with certain textures.  He has sensory issues.  The problem of these things happening early on (or any time) is that we have gag memory.  Once we gag on something, our subconsious will make a child reject that food.  My son still does his best to not have to eat meat (which requires substantial chewing and he gags on easily).  It does become anxiety provoking for a child that goes through this.

We sought the help of an occuaptional therapist.  I'd cut her food tiny and have water to drink with each bite.  Chew with her in an exagerated way.  

If you think it is more of a traditional cough, then I'd talk to your doctor about that as well.  Could be acid reflux and for that they usually prescribe medicine.  

But for my son it was the sensory issues and the difficulty chewing.  good luck