Watching a small child choke is a terrifying experience. While all parents and caregivers should be trained in how to dislodge an item from a baby or small child’s windpipe, even a correctly-administered Heimlich maneuver does not always work. The best way to avoid a choking accident is to monitor a child’s food and behavior at the table.
Foods to Avoid for Babies and Toddlers
The following is a list of common choking hazards for babies and small children. Many of these foods, including candy, chips and hot dogs, have poor nutritional value anyway, and should be avoided.
- Meat. Stringy meats like steak are even a choking hazard for adults. Puree meats or cut them into tiny, tiny bits. Avoid fatty bits of meat.
- Hard candy, nuts, and other small, hard foods. Watch out for lollipops as well. Once the candy has been gnawed off the stick, a lollipop is as dangerous as any other hard candy.
- Hot dogs. Discs of cut up hot dogs are the perfect size to lodge in a child’s esophagus. Cut each disc in quarters or halves. Long, thin strips work well, too. Never let a small child bite off of a whole hot dog.
- Popcorn and chips. Sharp edges and hard kernels can quickly lodge in a child’s throat.
- Raisins. Cut raisins in half until children are old enough to handle them whole.
- Raw apples, celery, carrots and other hard fruits and vegetables. Cut apples into pieces too small to block a child’s windpipe, or cook and puree them. Grate raw carrots or cook them first and cut into small, soft chunks.
- Whole olives or grapes. Cut these into quarters for beginners and halves for more experienced toddlers. For very inexperienced eaters, peel the grape as well.
- Cherries. Remove the pit and cut the cherry in halves or quarters.
- Hard cereal. Don’t start out with the whole Cheerio – cut it in half for beginners. As the baby begins to master eating, parents can give a whole “o”.
Other Food-Related Choking Hazards
Bread. Some seemingly safe foods for toddlers can also pose an unexpected danger. For example, a piece of bread appears safe, but a large glob of sticky, chewed up white bread is just as dangerous as a hard candy. Choose whole wheat and whole grain breads to minimize the stickiness and monitor children well.
Stringy Foods. Don’t order double cheese on a toddler’s pizza. A wad of mozzarella cheese is difficult for a small child to chew and swallow. Remove any stringy cheese from pasta dishes as well.
Peanut Butter. Spread peanut butter thinly across bread, and avoid letting toddlers eat it off the spoon. Sticking to chunky peanut butter (as opposed to smooth) and whole wheat bread (as opposed to white) also helps avoid creating a molten mass of goo in a toddler’s mouth.
Safe Feeding Techniques
Besides the actual foods offered, there are some best practices to help avoid choking accidents.
Monitor small children at all times while they are eating. It is dangerous to let a one-year-old eat his breakfast alone while mom is in the bathroom brushing her teeth, even if she's only gone for a few minutes.
Make sure toddlers are seated in an appropriate place while eating. A child running around with her snack can easily fall, causing her to inhale unexpectedly and aspirate her food. A child who is eating while lying down is also in danger of inhaling food.
Choose safe car snacks for toddlers. It’s too difficult to properly monitor a snacking toddler while driving. Melt-in-the-mouth rice crackers may be appropriate for a toddler, but cookies that break into large chunks are not. Also, take special care for older babies in back-facing car seats. It may be a better idea to stop and feed a ten-month-old if he really needs to eat, or give him a drink instead.
Follow baby’s lead. As with other skills, babies and toddlers master eating at different times. Some one-year-olds may do great with raisins, but some aren’t quite ready. Be aware of the child’s level of feeding mastery, and take extra care when providing care to someone else’s child.
Eating, like potty-training, talking and other milestones, is a learned skill. Help keep it fun and safe, and toddlers will learn to enjoy learning to eat properly in their own time.
Christy Swift - Christy Swift is a stay-at-home mom of two girls and a freelance writer. She has volunteered as a doula for young and underprivileged ...
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