- Food is the most common cause of choking
in babies and children under the age of four
and that's because babies and toddlers have narrow airways.
In fact, the size of a young child's trachea
or their windpipe
is approximately the size of a drinking straw in diameter.
And unfortunately, as soon as their incisor teeth erupt,
which can occur as early as six months of age,
they're able to bite and break off large chunks of food.
And to effectively chew and grind these large chunks of food
into safe, manageable pieces, a child needs to have molars
and unfortunately, molars don't typically erupt
until the child is approximately
one and a half years of age.
They also need to be using a mature chewing pattern.
However, it takes years for toddlers to develop this skill,
which allows them to grind large chunks of food
into smaller pieces of food.
Therefore, during this phase
of waiting for the teeth to erupt
and the time taken
to actually develop a mature chewing pattern,
children under the age of four years are at higher risk
of accidentally inhaling these large chunks of food
and blocking their extremely narrow airways.
To minimize the risk of choking,
there are two important things to understand,
which foods actually present the biggest choking hazard
for children under four
and how to minimize the choking risk
if and when you do give your child these foods.
We'll start with the most dangerous of them all, hot dogs.
It may be surprising,
but hot dogs cause more choking deaths than any other food
and this is because the cylindrical shape of a hot dog
and the small diameter fit perfectly
into the narrow airways of a child.
And on top of that, they have a smooth skin on the outside,
which allows it to slide really easily
into the child's airway and block it.
Because of this, the American Academy of Pediatrics
recommend we avoid giving hot dogs to children
under four all together.
Or if you must give them the hot dog,
they should be cut up in into small pieces
and the skin should be removed.
The next food,
which is a choking hazard for a child under four
will definitely surprise you,
but before I cover what it is, if you haven't already,
make sure you click on the link in the description box below
to get the free mealtime essentials list
where I list all my favorite cutlery, cups, plates,
and other products for babies and toddlers
to make meal times a whole lot easier for you
and hopefully, a little bit less messy.
Raw apples are another top choking hazard
for children under four.
This is because raw apples are challenging to chew
and are really slippery,
and this means that the large unchewed chunks
can easily slide down the back of the throat
and into the airway.
Therefore, to minimize the risk of choking on an apple,
it's recommended you initially give babies cooked apple,
which is either been mashed up or cut into halves.
By softening the apple,
you're actually making it easier for your little one
to chew and then mash up the apple in their mouth
before swallowing it.
And if you still do want to give them raw apple,
you should always make sure it's been grated.
Raw carrot sticks and baby carrots
are another known choking hazard for babies and toddlers.
And really, this shouldn't be surprising
as the hard nature of carrots
means it's really easy for the child
to actually bite it off large chunks,
but then find it difficult or near impossible
to grind those carrot chunks down
if they don't have their molars
and they're not using a mature chewing pattern.
And when you think about baby carrots,
they have a cylindrical shape,
which is a bit similar to a hot dog.
And this means that if the child
were to accidentally bite off a large chunk and inhale it,
it's the perfect shape to actually block their airways.
So to minimize the risk of a child
accidentally choking on a carrot,
it's important to cook the carrot until it's soft
and then cut it into age-appropriate sizes.
So initially, that may mean,
you give your six-month-old mashed carrot
or cooked carrot sticks.
Whole grapes, blueberries, and cherry tomatoes
are also incredibly dangerous and pose a huge choking risk
for children under the age of four.
When presented whole, these fruits are small in nature,
they're round, and they have a firm but smooth surface,
which make them extremely slippery and the perfect shape
to accidentally block a child's airway.
Therefore, to minimize the risk
of accidentally choking on grapes, blueberries,
and cherry tomatoes,
it's always recommended
that you cut these fruits into quarters
to make them safer for your child to eat.
Whole nuts and seeds
are also another potential choking hazard
for children under the age of four
and this is because they're generally round
or cylindrical in nature and hard.
Therefore, to safely chew whole nuts and seeds,
the child needs to have that mature chewing pattern
and their molars.
As it can take years for children's molars to erupt
and for them to develop a mature eating pattern,
they are at higher risk
of accidentally swallowing the nuts or seeds whole
and blocking their airways.
Given that it is recommended babies are introduced nuts,
particularly peanuts and other tree nuts
in their first year of life
in the hopes that it will actually reduce the likelihood
of that child developing a food allergy,
it's really important to give your baby nuts and seeds,
but ensure that they've been crushed, grounded,
or made into a paste or butter.
Also, it's important to note that babies and toddlers
can actually find it difficult to swallow
and may choke on a spoonful or dollop of peanut butter.
Therefore, make sure you always spread that butter or paste
onto another piece of food like a stick of toast.
Popcorn is another potential choking hazard for children.
Although delicious, the lightweight nature of popcorn
means that it can be easily inhaled without chewing
and then get stuck in a child's airway.
Also, the unpopped corn kernels, which are incredibly hard,
can easily become lodged in a child's airway.
As popcorn is a high choking risk,
the American Academy of Pediatrics
recommend children are actually not given popcorn
until they're at least four years of age.
Another food which toddlers and children love is hard candy,
but hard candy is actually a potential choking hazard
for children.
And this is because hard candy is often small, round,
and extremely slippery
once it's actually been placed in the mouth.
And these features, along with the added difficulty
of children under the age of four
chewing and then grinding that into smaller pieces of food,
which is safe to swallow
means that that child may accidentally swallow
or inhale that candy
before they've actually managed to chew it
and it can become lodged in their airways.
It is due to these reasons
that hard candies are generally off limits
for children under the age of four.
In addition to these foods, which are choking hazards,
there are also eight other foods,
which are off limits for babies
and this is because they can make babies sick
or cause other health problems.
So make sure you check out this video next
to find out exactly what these eight common foods are
so you can ensure you never give them to your baby.
Thanks for watching and I will see you next week
where I'll share more parenting tips and tricks.