A Cherry. Just One. That's All It Took.
A parent's nightmare
“Don’t run with that candy in your mouth!” I hear myself say it. A little too sternly perhaps, but that’s how it comes out. Because I see the images before they do. Because I know how it can end.
I have two young children. And I’m not an overly concerned parent. At least, that’s what I like to tell myself. But when it comes to food, especially small food, I suddenly become a kind of preventive trauma unit with paper napkins at the ready. Grapes? Halve. Hot dog? Cut lengthwise. Popcorn? Only on special occasions, with supervision that resembles that of an average prison guard.
This week it became clear to me again why.
The cherry that wasn’t spit out
In Revine Lago, Northern Italy, a 2-year-and-4-month-old girl died. While eating a cherry, the piece of fruit shot into her windpipe. Her parents were there. A neighbor — a nurse, mind you — rushed to help. Emergency services arrived. But to no avail. She later died in the hospital.
How damn tragic is this…
I read the article and it just made me sick to my stomach, because something like this is not an unthinkable horror. This is something that literally happens almost every day in someone’s household — and therefore sometimes for real.
Kids can’t multitask
They want to laugh, chew, chat, jump, dance… And that is exactly why you should pay attention. According to doctors, small children are extra vulnerable because their windpipe is still so narrow. Also their swallowing reflex does not always cooperate.
Foods that can be dangerous for young kiddos:
* Grapes
* Cherries
* Hot dogs
* Strawberries
* Popcorn
* Hard candy
* Dried fruit
The guideline is to cut it into small pieces and not let them eat it while they are running around or talking.
Be strict. Be ridiculously careful. And explain why.
I explain it to my children. Not in a scary way, but clearly. “This grape has to be cut in half, otherwise you can choke.” They look at me, ask if I can make it four. Fine. As long as they understand that some rules are not meant to annoy me, but to keep them alive.
So yes, I am that father who says: “First sit. Then eat.” Who sometimes skips the popcorn. Who hands out candy like it’s ammunition.
And I hope that later they say: “Pfff, our father was always so exaggerated.”
That sounds wonderful to me. Because then they are still there.
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A child choking on small fruit is every parent’s nightmare.
I choked on a grape once - as an adult though. It was a nice hot summer’s day. Great conversations and laughs while keeping ourselves cool.
I’d just popped a grape into my mouth when someone shared a funny joke.
One minute I was laughing, the next I couldn’t breathe.
Fortunately it dislodged. To this day I don’t know which way it went down.
I should have got medical attention because my chest hurt. Then I read stories about people with grapes stuck in their lungs!
Good to know..and not just for kids.... I know a few people whose throats easily constrict ...
so will pause in conversation if eating small slippery round foods ...Thankyou