As parents, you’re concerned about everything that goes into your baby’s mouth. You want to ensure their diet is healthy, incorporating various nutrients, textures, and flavors. At the same time, you’re cautious about what shouldn’t go into your child’s mouth.
Babies explore by touching things and putting them in their mouths. Therefore, it’s no surprise that choking is a common cause of injury or even death in infants and toddlers. Understanding what poses a choking hazard and how to dislodge stuck objects from a child’s airway can help ensure their safety. Using a choking device can promote healthy growth in children.
What Causes Infant Choking?
It can get stuck when your baby tries to swallow something too large for their throat. When foreign objects become lodged in a baby’s airway (trachea), it leads to choking. A blocked airway means oxygen can’t reach the baby’s lungs or brain.
Which Objects Pose Choking Risks to Babies?
Any object with a diameter of less than 1.4 inches or a length of less than 2.4 inches can get lodged in a baby’s airway and cause choking. Foods, toys, stones, coins, and other objects found around the house can pose choking risks to babies.
Educating older children about which foods or objects may be dangerous to babies is crucial. Choking incidents often occur when older children give unsafe items to infants.
Common choking hazards for babies include:
– Foods such as grapes, raisins, hot dogs, hard candy, and raw carrots
– Small toy parts
– Beads
– Coins
– Rocks
– Pen caps
– Button batteries
How to Prevent Infant Choking
Prepare a baby choking device at home to take immediate action in case of choking emergencies.
Identify objects and foods as the most significant choking hazards for babies. Keep small items out of reach of babies. Please discuss with your child’s pediatrician when it’s safe to introduce solid foods.
When giving children solid foods, cut them into small pieces. Generally, the pieces should be the size of your fingertip. Foods that require chewing (like meat or cheese) should be smaller than soft foods (such as avocado or watermelon).
Other methods to reduce the risk of choking for babies include:
– Placing your child in a high chair during meals as much as possible
– Keeping your child upright if they’re not in a high chair during meals
– Avoiding giving food to your child when they are in a stroller or car seat
What to Do If a Baby Is Choking
If your baby is choking but can still breathe, cough, and cry:
– Try to calm your child down. In many cases, children can clear the blockage themselves.
– Encourage your baby to cough. Coughing naturally helps clear obstructed airways.
– Check your child’s mouth, but do not reach in to remove the object unless you can quickly see and grasp it. You might accidentally push it further into the airway.
-Use a choking rescue device to suction the obstruction out of the airway.
If your baby stops making noise or breathing, follow these steps and call 911:
If your baby is awake (conscious) but unable to breathe or make noise, try to dislodge the object:
– Lay your baby face down on your forearm or thigh, with their head lower than their body.
– Use the heel of your hand to give five back blows, starting from the lower back and pushing upward toward the shoulders.
– If back blows don’t dislodge the object, turn your baby over and lay them on the floor.
– Find the imaginary line between the nipples and move down one finger’s width. Use your thumb or two fingers placed side by side to give five quick chest thrusts.
– Repeat the back blows and chest thrusts until the object is dislodged or your baby becomes unresponsive.
– If your baby becomes unresponsive, call 911 and start CPR immediately. Please do not leave them alone.
Place your baby on a firm, flat surface like the floor.
Find an imaginary line between the nipples. Below this line, press down on the chest with two fingers, about one inch deep, 30 times. Push down at a rate of about 100-120 compressions per minute.
Tilt your baby’s head back slightly to open the airway. Seal their mouth and nose tightly with your mouth. Give two slow breaths, each lasting one second. Try to blow enough air to make the baby’s chest rise slightly. If you don’t see the baby’s chest grow, reposition the baby’s head and try two more breaths.
Continue with 30 chest compressions and two breaths in sequence until your baby starts breathing or medical help arrives.
If the obstruction is cleared during CPR, check if the baby is still breathing and shows signs of circulation, such as standard skin color.
When the baby is breathing normally, you can stop CPR. This situation is no longer an emergency, but you should follow up with your child’s pediatrician. The doctor may want to perform a checkup to ensure no harm.