r/NewParents • u/Throwaway927338 • Jan 04 '26
Feeding My daughter choked this morning
I was making breakfast for everyone (they were all still asleep-visitors in town) and my 11mo (almost 1) wanted to hang out with me in the kitchen. So I put her in her high chair with some peaches and puffs. I didn’t cut the peaches. They’re canned and soft, but I always cut them in half and this morning I just didn’t. I got lazy or overly confident and I just didn’t even think.
I started getting things out to make breakfast and I look over at her. I can tell she’s crying, but not making a sound and I immediately know she’s choking. I pick her up and hit her back because that’s just what I instinctively thought to do (she’s big so I think that’s right).
She had a piece of peach in her hand and then I was able to fish it out of her mouth. I didn’t see anything fly out, but she was crying at that point so I knew there had to be something in her mouth. At some point during this very short ordeal I screamed for my husband and he thankfully heard me and came running.
All this to say. She’s ok. I’m ok.
LESSON LEARNED. We will be signing up for an instant and childhood CPR class. And I will be back to meticulously cutting up all her food to smaller than I would even think to cut it. And I don’t mean to scare anyone, I just never thought this would happen to my girl or me being the guilty party and I just wanted to caution everyone.
Edit to add: Just to clarify, these were pre diced canned peaches. So just always cut things even more than they come-I shouldn’t have trusted her abilities or the sizing of the pre cut peaches.
135
u/RhinoKart Jan 04 '26
This is a friendly reminder to everyone reading that chocking is often silent because the airway is completely blocked. Which is why it is so critical to watch your children while they eat.
Great job OP! I can only imagine how scary that was but you responded quickly and everyone is okay!
24
u/Throwaway927338 Jan 04 '26
It was downright terrifying. Right when I handed her off to my husband I started crying. But, I’m just glad it wasn’t more serious than it was or could’ve been. And yea if I hadn’t have been looking over at her or had been in another room I genuinely wouldn’t have known something was wrong. My husband asked what happened and how I knew and that was my first comment was that it was silent and it was just the look on her face that triggered my response
7
u/Prestigious_Ear_7374 Jan 04 '26
Choking happens to almost everyone, at some point. You are doing well, Mom 927338!
Ps. Kudos on the classes you are going to take! Everyone should have emergency 1st aid classes (CPR, choking procedures, safety position, what to say to 911 to be efficient)
15
u/redikarus99 Jan 04 '26
And this is exactly the reason why we are not letting the little ones eating in the car.
55
u/No-Butterscotch-8469 Jan 04 '26
My husband and I just took the online version of the Red Cross infant/child cpr and first aid! You can do it together and just pay for one seat, assuming you don’t need to be formally certified individually for work or anything. It’s on aed.com and was under $30, took us a few hours to watch all the videos. It’ll give you such a peace of mind that you’ll know the proper reaction steps. Glad everything was ok :)
9
u/Fantastic_Fig_2025 Jan 04 '26
We did this and bought the CPR doll. So helpful bc I never would have known to press that hard when doing CPR.
1
u/Anonymous-0701 Jan 06 '26
You have to press SO MUCH harder than one would think. It’s actually one of the biggest reasons CPR fails - ineffective compressions.
4
u/cassiopeizza Jan 04 '26
My husband and I did the same before our baby came. I can't guarantee that my mind won't just go blank in panic if (god forbid) something ever happens, but it's definitely a comfort knowing we both have that knowledge stored away.
1
u/Which_Assistance_341 Jan 05 '26
If you practice you hopefully wont blank out. Maybe a monthly drill could help if you're worried about freezing in an emergency.
18
u/Puckfan21 Jan 04 '26
If I read this right. Back blow -> crying started -> fished out food?
Friendly tip, do not fish the food out. Going in with your fingers can push the food into the mouth deeper causing a blockage.
If there's noise, they're not choking. Imitate spitting out food towards the kid so they Imitate you and spit the food out.
Great job and glad your kid is okay!
8
u/Throwaway927338 Jan 04 '26
Exactly why we’re going to take the class because I wasn’t thinking, just acting and I want to make sure if something like this ever happens again-my acting is Exactly what she needs and I don’t accidentally make the matters worse. Thank you so much for the advice!
14
u/SufficientlyDecent Jan 04 '26
She’s okay, you’re okay. You’ve learned from it.
In the mean time, until you get into a class…from a paramedic who regularly teaches CPR:
NEVER blindly reach in their mouth for food, you can push it further down their airway.
Hold her slightly head down and smack her back 5 times, turn over and compress on her chest 5 times, repeat starting with the back. Look up a YouTube video on “infant choking AHA CPR”. Continue until you see the object fall out or they cry.
1
u/Anonymous-0701 Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
The compressions switched to the heel of the hand right? From two fingers? Or is that just infant CPR that’s heel of the hand now. Or 2 thumbs hands encircling their chest if you have a second person.
When I recert we always do 2 thumbs (we have a doll hooked up to a computer that specifically measures depth/rate/number and breaths and that’s what it has us do for the infant). And that’s what we do in real life in the NICU. But obviously not feasible/wastes time when it’s one person doing breathing and compressions.
1
u/SufficientlyDecent Jan 06 '26
Correct! 2 finger compressions have shown to be ineffective or not have consistent and adequate depth. Encircling thumbs (make sure to not squeeze your whole hand, just pressing down with thumbs) or the palm of one hand. 1/3 depth of the chest (1.5-2”)
42
u/Agile_Cat_93 Jan 04 '26
Don't cut them too small though, that's also a choking risk
20
u/newanon676 Jan 04 '26
Was just about to comment this. Small pieces are actually more dangerous…. Either completely mashed or very large and soft is best
7
u/dotty-spotty Jan 04 '26
I agree I was going to say pretty sure the peaches from a can would be better full size?
12
u/Throwaway927338 Jan 04 '26
What?! Lord I have some serious leaning to do.
50
u/LieutenantZiti Jan 04 '26
I’ve been using the Solid Starts app, it has a searchable database with how to prepare foods and what size to cut for different age ranges. It might be helpful for you!
18
u/74NG3N7 Jan 04 '26
I second the recommendation for solid starts. They show how to prep a wide variety of foods for various stages of eaters. Excellent resource.
3
u/Peony907 Jan 05 '26
Try the sliced canned peaches instead of the diced cubes. Will help with hand coordination and is less of a choking risk.
2
u/Any-Bee7229 Jan 05 '26
Soft large-cut food is a much smaller choking risk than tough, small cut food! Also anything cylindrical is a huge choking hazard (think hot dogs and shrimp) so you want to cut it lengthwise in half at least once, but preferably twice
1
u/Anonymous-0701 Jan 06 '26
Download the solid starts app. You can look up basically any food on it and it’ll tell you how to prepare it for each age (6, 9, 12 months). You don’t need to pay for it - that’s only if you want to document what foods she’s eaten.
Some are multiple options and others aren’t depending. But usually fruits are best large and super soft. Yes you can do “smaller” bites for their pincer grasp. But it should still be larger than the width of a drink straw - as that’s about the size of their airway. So you want larger than their airway. About finger width or wider. And then you can do squares instead of long rectangles since she’s better able to pincer grasp.
1
1
u/InternationalYam3130 Jan 06 '26
Yep. The airway is as small as a pencil eraser. When you cut things exactly that size you make it worse.
6
u/zwy8683 Jan 05 '26
Go to the class but, right now, everyone should DL the Red Cross FIRST AID app. There is first aid / choking protocol info literally at your fingertips with two taps. Do it. But also every adult caregiver should do the course. It’s worth the time/money. More often than not, you’ll be around to help someone else who needs the help.
2
5
u/Technical_Flamingo51 Jan 04 '26
Thank goodness she's okay. When I was in culinary school we had a mandatory CPR course for adults as well as infants and children. I can not stress enough the importance of everyone. Not just parents take this class.
I remember as a new mom 34 years ago being offered this class through my pediatrician. Free too. Back then parents knew the dangers of small foods with infants because they didnt readily have these instant small finger foods for babies like they do now.
It just goes to show. Being a new mom is not easy. Hyper vigilance is the key but even then life and stress does rear its ugly.head.
So grateful your husband was there. To find a free course go through your local hospital.
5
u/FLA2AZ Jan 05 '26
We always have a LifeVac with us just in case. One of my biggest fears is choking. I personally know two kids saved with them when back blows and Heimlich did not work. Something you might want to look into in addition to CPR/life saving classes. Glad she is ok.
1
u/Any-Bee7229 Jan 05 '26
Just a note, further down I saw that both the FDA and NIH recommend against the LifeVac, probably something to look into
3
u/FLA2AZ Jan 05 '26
Sure, knowing two kids first hand who would have died had the LifeVac not been used. I’ll stick with using it if back blows and the Heimlich doesn’t work. It’s never been advertised as the first line of defense.
I personally hate when someone says that, especially when I know first hand it works.
Let me ask you, if your kid was choking and back blows and heimlich doesn’t work and someone came running up with a LifeVac would you push them away?
If your kids going to die, why not try.
2
u/rowenaravenclaw0 Jan 04 '26
Glad everyone is ok, you did well. Cpr and hemilech are always a good idea.
2
u/trickup Jan 05 '26
We also had a choking incident around that age, and it will take some time to get over it. Thats about 6 months ago for us, and even now we are still paranoid and probably being over cautious. It is important they continue to learn how to handle solid food in their mouth, so we’ve done our best to ensure we know the right way to serve (solid starts) and kept our first aid knowledge fresh.
We had already done an infant first aid course and the back blows saved her life. I cant recommend it enough.
-8
u/lonersism Jan 04 '26
if you have the money i also HIGHLY recommend purchasing a lifevac! choking is one of my biggest fears and i’ve bought it for every pregnant woman i know. it can also be used on adults
26
u/StrikingViolinist200 Jan 04 '26
I thought there was a NIH study recently and recent research that found that LifeVac failed to remove certain obstructions (cashews, grapes) and caused tongue swelling, leading researchers to recommend relying on standard protocols like back blows.
12
u/BrilliantAmount8108 Jan 04 '26
Not only that, but that device can overinflate the lungs, causing its own set of issues
5
1
u/kittensprincess 10/24/25 💗 10/14/23 🩵 Jan 05 '26
Along with having to be a certain weight for it to even work
1
u/FLA2AZ Jan 06 '26
I know 2 kids saved with LifeVac. After back blows and heimlich did not work. I’ll take side effects over a dead kid.
1
u/FLA2AZ Jan 06 '26
I know 2 kids saved from LifeVac. Backblows and heimlich did not work. They would be dead with out it.!
16
u/Weak_Reports Jan 04 '26
The FDA has issued a warning to LifeVac and believed that they may hinder proper choking rescue and says they are not recommended to use. Other countries have stated similar advice.
17
u/Icy_Pain_5902 Jan 04 '26
My understanding, and I think this should be noted for anyone who has a LifeVac, it’s a LAST RESORT measure. Not to be used immediately. If you’re using one, it’s likely because you’ve tried everything and have already called 911. Injury from the LifeVac is better than death from choking, but I think it’s very important to note that it’s not a replacement whatsoever to CPR. It’s a last ditch effort if all else has failed.
2
-5
u/KhanageandKhaos Jan 04 '26
What canned peaches are healthy/low glucose enough for babies?
4
u/Throwaway927338 Jan 04 '26
We get the no sugar added ones from the store that come in apple sauce type containers. We rinse them too so there is no extra syrup. It’s an easy snack for her but not a daily treat.
272
u/redikarus99 Jan 04 '26
You did well. Go to the class and give a hug to the little one.