Bulimic Baby

Evan loves putting his fingers in his mouth. He’ll use his thumb, his fingers, a combination of fingers, even his whole hand. Lately his goal has been to fit his entire fist into his mouth. The problem is, he doesn’t keep his fist balled up. He’ll get past a certain point and then straighten out his fingers to fit them all in. The fingers of course, immediately go down his throat, gag him, and cause him to puke. The first time I saw this, it was funny. The second time, it was still funny, the third time, the novelty had worn off and I was tired of cleaning up puke. By the fourth, fifth and sixth time, I was wondering when Evan was going to catch on, but the whole cause and effect thing seems to be evading him. Right about the tenth time or so, I started wondering if perhaps Evan was a little slow, or there was something else going on. Was my son showing the first signs of some sort of mental disorder? Was he going to turn out to be a cutter? Or worse?

Of course, when I called my pediatrician and asked about it, he laughed and said there is no cause and effect for Evan. His esophageal flap – it’s actually called the esophageal sphincter – hasn’t fully developed, so puking doesn’t even phase him. There’s no adverse effect to sticking his fingers down his throat. So, for now, my son is a bulimic baby. We’re trying to teach him to stop at one knuckle when he’s putting his hand in his mouth, so far, it’s not working. He’s just determined to fit the whole darn thing in…