# Important reminder!



## MamaChicken (Aug 21, 2006)

DH freaked out at the dinner table tonight...

Well, kinda. He is a firefighter/EMT and has seen some scary stuff when it comes to kids and babies. Our DD is 3 months old and is starting to reach toward food on the table. Although we won't give her solids for a few more weeks at least, we were talking about some good foods for "first foods".

I mentioned several things - avacados, bananas, etc. Then I mentioned cooked sweet potatoe spears - this is where he freaked out. He said he has seen a baby with a "banana spear" lodged in it's windpipe choking. They couldn't get it out because it just kept mushing and they couldn't "tube" the baby either, the banana kept clogging the tube. NOT happy!

So he asked me to post here, reminding everyone not to give "spear" shaped foods as first foods. Instead, cut them into coin shapes or feed it in a mesh feeder.

I never thought about that before, and DS first foods were whatever he grabbed off my plate. I never really planned it out before


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## ndunn (Mar 22, 2006)

True in a sense but if a baby is really ready for food (over 6 months old, and other requirements), they won't choke easily on chunks of softer foods.


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## popbaby (Dec 12, 2006)

MamaChicken said:


> Our DD is 3 months old and is starting to reach toward food on the table. Although we won't give her solids for a few more weeks at least, we were talking about some good foods for "first foods".
> I
> QUOTE]
> 
> 3 months...even in a few more weeks is WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY to EARLY for solids!


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## Visions (Mar 29, 2007)

i think the OP was just trying to warn us to be cautious, (sp?).

regardless what you said, many of us moms DO give our LO food when we think they are ready and perhaps may not be.

it's a nice warning to know that our babies are better off giving round chunks vs. long spears that can easily get lodged. Thank you for the advice!


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## AileenM (Dec 16, 2006)

Thanks for the tip!! I never even though about that!


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## daniedb (Aug 8, 2004)

Thanks for taking the time to remind us!


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## lexbeach (Mar 6, 2002)

I remember learning that "coin shaped" pieces were the worst because they are the exact size/shape of the baby's windpipe. If I do need to cut food up, I always cut circles in half. But I prefer to let my kids take their own bites off of a bigger piece of food. They tend not to bite off more than they can chew









My ds did choke and aspirate when he was 2 years old. On a peanut. The surgeon who removed the peanut chunks from his lungs told me that the most common choking/aspirating hazzards are nuts, carrots, and hot dogs. Carrots and hot dogs are often cut into coin-shaped pieces, and if a child inhales instead of swallowing (as my ds did with the peanut--he laughed while he was eating it), they are the perfect shape to get stuck in the windpipe.

My baby is 8.5 months and only just this week really starting to want to eat food. He mostly still spits it out, but the pieces (of watermelon, avocado, etc.) that he bites off seem to be the perfect size and shape for what he could handle if he did want to swallow any!

Lex


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## cpop (May 3, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ndunn* 
True in a sense but if a baby is really ready for food (over 6 months old, and other requirements), they won't choke easily on chunks of softer foods.

I think this is generally true, but just wanted to clarify a bit, so people could watch out for it.
My little guy is over seven months old, he is very interested in food, doesn't push food out with his tongue, etc. So all the signs of readiness are in place, but I puree or mash all his food for him because he will just keep a big chunk of food in his mouth. Like when he's done eating he won't spit the last piece out or swallow it, but just let it stay in his mouth, which you can imagine has caused him to almost choke afterwards a few times. SO now I feed him purees and if he has anything solid-ish I have to check his mouth afterward. So my point is, even with babies over six months, you have to be careful with pieces of food.


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## Herausgeber (Apr 29, 2006)

My daughter's ped said the opposite. she said stick-shaped, like french fries, etc are safest. Round pieces are choking hazards. That's assuming your baby is actually old enough to be eating solids, which a 3 month old is not.


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## firemommaof1 (Jul 3, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MamaChicken* 
DH freaked out at the dinner table tonight...

Well, kinda. He is a firefighter/EMT and has seen some scary stuff when it comes to kids and babies. Our DD is 3 months old and is starting to reach toward food on the table. Although we won't give her solids for a few more weeks at least, we were talking about some good foods for "first foods".

I mentioned several things - avacados, bananas, etc. Then I mentioned cooked sweet potatoe spears - this is where he freaked out. He said he has seen a baby with a "banana spear" lodged in it's windpipe choking. They couldn't get it out because it just kept mushing and they couldn't "tube" the baby either, the banana kept clogging the tube. NOT happy!

So he asked me to post here, reminding everyone not to give "spear" shaped foods as first foods. Instead, cut them into coin shapes or feed it in a mesh feeder.

I never thought about that before, and DS first foods were whatever he grabbed off my plate. I never really planned it out before









: Just wanted to say "Hi" from another firefighter wife


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## Carley (Aug 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ndunn* 
True in a sense but if a baby is really ready for food (over 6 months old, and other requirements), they won't choke easily on chunks of softer foods.

False!

Food substances accounted for 2,355 (75.7%; 95% CI=40.3%--111.2%) choking-related episodes among children aged 5--14 years, 5,302 (58.4%; 95% CI=37.8%--78.9%) episodes among children aged 1--4 years, and 2,781 (52.1%; 95% CI=30.7%--73.4%) episodes among infants aged <1 year. Candy/gum was associated with approximately one fourth of choking-related episodes among children aged 5--14 years (860 [27.6%; 95% CI=11.4%--43.9%]) and those aged 1--4 years (2,223 [24.5%; 95% CI=14.7%--34.2%]). http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5142a1.htm

Great PSA MammaChicken!


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## ThreeBeans (Dec 2, 2006)

Great PSA....but I wanted to let you know your baby should not have anything but breastmilk for a bare minimum of another 3 months


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## mothragirl (Sep 10, 2005)

we don't do solids til they can actually eat, so it isn't really a problem.


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## Herausgeber (Apr 29, 2006)

I wonder what percentage of babies choking on foods are choking on purees. Also, what percentage of them are being fed developmentally inappropriate things. I mean, where I'm from, people seem to think cut up hotdogs are THE toddler food no matter how many warnings otherwise are issues. Not to mention that they are nasty.


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## lil_earthmomma (Dec 29, 2006)

My uncle is a firefighter and my dh is a paramedic, and the frenchfry shaped cut is always encouraged by the medical personal I know. Coin shapes and round shapes (grapes etc) are the worst for tubing. Banana and other sticky soft food would be difficult to tube tho.

My uncle had to deal with many many children that were older (2, 3, 4 etc) that choked on grapes and hotdogs. He hates hotdogs, as he saw more children with hotdogs lodged in their wind pipe than anything else. Mostly because people would cut them into coin shapes instead of cuting the hotdog in half the long way and then into chunks.

ITA on the hotdogs are nasty!









Aurgh! It's like the sleep on their back sleep on their front thing! I wish we could get a diffinitive (sp?) answer.


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## paquerette (Oct 16, 2004)

Hey, some hotdogs aren't nasty.







There's Applegate farms ones, and the Al Fresco chicken ones, and even our local supermarket chain has a natural-meat no-nitrate hot dog. I cut them up into coins and then 4's, of course.







: My toddler loves anything hot dog shaped as long as you tell her it's a hot dog. You cannot call it a sausage or a brat. Even if it is.


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## Synchro246 (Aug 8, 2005)

I do the half moon cut & always thought that was the "safest"


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