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Children, especially babies, will put anything in their mouths.
It is up to you to protect them by keeping dangerous items out of their reach and
by avoiding certain foods that commonly cause children to choke.
Below is a partial list of items than can result in choking:
- Small parts to toys.
- Deflated balloons or pieces of balloons that have burst.
- Jewelry.
- Buttons.
- Small batteries for watches, calculators and other electronic devices.
- Marbles, jacks and small plastic building blocks.
- Safety pins and baby powder (make sure they are out of your child’s reach when
you change diapers).
- Nails, tacks, screws.
- Sewing items, such as needles and pins.
- Coins.
- Eyes and noses that can be torn from dolls and stuffed animals.
- Broken crayons.
- Toothpicks.
- Hair accessories, such as bobby pins or barrettes.
- Soda caps.
Foods which may cause your child to choke include:
- Hot dogs. (This is the No. 1 cause of choking in children.)
- Peanuts, sunflower seeds and other nuts.
- Hard candies, jellybeans, gumdrops.
- Popcorn.
- Grapes, raisins.
- Raw carrots, raw apples.
- Seeds and pits in fruits.
- Bones in fish, meat and fowl.
- Chunks of meat.
- Peanut butter.
- Corn.
You can protect your child by taking the following steps:
- Infants only should be given food that is soft enough to swallow without
chewing.
- Watch 1-year-old babies carefully when sampling new foods.
- Cut food into small pieces before giving it to a child. Cut hot dogs lengthwise
or dice.
- Cook or mash carrots and corn.
- Never allow children to walk or run with food in their mouths.
- Serve peanut butter with jelly and not by the spoonful.
- Do not allow children to lie down while eating.
- Your child will not master the grinding motion needed to eat hard round foods
like peanuts until about age 4. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends
that parents do not give children whole nuts until after age 7.
- Check pacifiers often to make sure the nipple cannot be pulled loose. Do not
tie the pacifier to your baby. Instead use a clip with a cord or ribbon that is less
than 4 inches long.
- Do not allow your child to drink from a foam cup. Small pieces can be bitten or
broken off.
- Check the floors and tables often to make sure you have not left jewelry, loose
change or other items within your child’s reach.
- Check toys often to make sure they are not broken and do not have loose parts.
- Make sure that your child cannot pull loose or get tangled in any toys attached
to the crib.
- Keep purses, jewelry boxes and tool boxes out of reach.
- Do not give your child latex balloons.
- Make sure babysitters know about the dangers of choking.
Learn to help a choking child
Children’s Health Education Center in Milwaukee provides a course in infant
and child cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Call (414) 765-9355 to register for this
course taught by Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin certified instructors. Most
pediatric hospitals or American Red Cross offices offer courses that provide information
on preventing choking in children. They also offer classes on how to perform
CPR if an airway is blocked. Sign up for a class so you can help your child
during an emergency. Remember that it is best to protect your child from items
that can cause choking.
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