# is lettuce a choking hazard??



## sweetpea333 (Jul 2, 2005)

the other day we went to mil's for supper and she was serving the salad (i always give my 28 month old and 13 month old a salad) and she never served any to my kids and then my dh told her to give my oldest a salad and he started feeding my youngest a salad, and she said they shouldnt be eating it cuz they will choke... then last nite when dh was driving my mil home she started a big argument crying about the salad and saying she knew more than us because she had 3 kids and she is older blah blah blah. this really bothered me cuz i give my kids salad all the time!! and have never had a problem... is it dangerous or something???


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## RomanGoddess (Mar 16, 2006)

Oh good grief if your toddlers willl eat lettuce, by all means give it to them!! I PRAY for the day when my DD will be willing to try some!

Statistal chance of them choking because of salad: one is a thousand, maybe, if the risk is signficant (and I do not think that it is).

Statistical chance of your children growing up strong and healthy because you obviously offer them healthy food: almost one hundred percent!


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## tanyalynn (Jun 5, 2005)

It took my daughter a long time to learn to chew pieces of lettuce thoroughly enough that they weren't sometimes too big to swallow--and I was tearing them up pretty small to start with. I think a piece of flat, thin lettuce (like green or red leaf) can sort of block the throat if it's not chewed well. But if your kids are already chewing it fine, then it's fine. I would be concerned, though, about her being so upset about you making parenting choices that are different from hers--the issue of boundaries. If she feels like you need to make the same choices as her either because it is an implicit attack on her choices, or because you are supposed to do what she says because she's had 3 kids who are already grown, then that may need some work. But you're not out of line here, they're your kids and you and your husband know them best.


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## babygrant (Mar 10, 2005)

My son just turned a year old and he has been eating salad for about 2 months now. I know some babies are still on pureed food at this point, but my children have both been good chewers so I say if they handle the salad fine, more power to them


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## ayme371 (Jan 5, 2005)

My ds loves salad and has been eating it since he was about 2yrs. Never had a problem. I think it all depends on the child.


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## leafwood (Jun 15, 2004)

Dd is 2.5y and she eats salad. We are with her when she is eating so if she started choking (on anything) we would be there to help.

I wouldn't worry.


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## Shanana (May 11, 2005)

My dd has trouble with flat leaves, but she desperately wanted some arugula the other day (I was eating it, and she always wants whatever I'm eating, lol). I gave her a leaf and she just spit it out, but when I chewed it a few times before handing it over, she wolfed it down and whined for more, lol. So in my case (dd is almost 16 months old), salad isn't really an option, although I don't know if she would choke on it or not (fwiw, she has 3 molars). But if your kids are handling it fine, then go for it! I think your mil is out of line, and frankly, this is probably less about the salad, and more about control/boundary issues.


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## BurgundyElephant (Feb 17, 2006)

I think of it as a inhalation hazard, not a choking hazard.







Prying a filmy piece of lettuce off the back of a toddler's throat is not fun.

My kids don't really like lettuce, though they like every other vegetable. So I've never worried about it.


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## Bartock (Feb 2, 2006)

Maybe if it was a huge piece and the type of lettuce it was, like leaf lettuce I could see it getting stuck blocking air and being hard to get out. Any food is a chocking hazard it it is in a big chunk, little pieces people, little pieces.


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