(Page 2 of 2)

Parents and caregivers can take steps to reduce the risk of choking in children. The CDC recommends the following:

• Keep a watchful eye on children who are eating and playing
• Keep dangerous toys, foods, and household items out of reach
• Learn how to provide early treatment for children who are choking.

Parents should supervise young children during mealtime, says the AAP, and should teach children to chew their food well. Children should be sitting — not lying down or in motion — while eating. Eating "on the run" increases the risk of choking.

The AAP recommends that children younger than 4 not be fed any round, firm food unless it is cut into small pieces no larger than one-half inch. Children under 4 do not have a full set of teeth and cannot chew as well as older children, so large chunks of foods may lodge in the throat and cause choking. And caregivers should be aware of older children's actions. Many choking incidents occur when older brothers or sisters give dangerous foods, toys, or small objects to a younger child.

Although food items are the cause of most choking injuries in children, toys and household items can also be hazardous. Balloons, when uninflated or broken, can choke or suffocate young children who try to swallow them. According to the CPSC, more children have suffocated on uninflated balloons and pieces of broken balloons than on any other type of toy.

The AAP advises parents to follow the age recommendations on toy packages and to keep small household items away from young children.

Medications in the form of pills can present a potential choking risk for small children. "Make sure that a child is old enough to comfortably swallow a pill," says Shirley Murphy, M.D., acting deputy director of the FDA's Office of Counter-Terrorism and Pediatric Drug Development. "Parents with children who have trouble swallowing pills should ask their doctor to prescribe a liquid or other form," says Murphy. Some medications come in liquid, syrup, or effervescent form. The agency encourages pharmaceutical companies to develop age-appropriate formulations for all medications, says Murphy.

By being alert to potential choking hazards, parents can make their environment safer for children. But sometimes, despite all precautions, a child may choke. "Parents who know basic choking rescue procedures may be able to save their child's life," says Stutsman.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends using abdominal thrusts (the Heimlich maneuver) to clear a blocked airway in conscious adults and children ages 1 year and older. And knowing how to perform CPR procedures on a child or adult who has stopped breathing can also mean the difference between life and death.

The AAP advises parents to take classes in basic first aid, CPR, and emergency prevention from either the AHA or the American Red Cross.

Unsafe Foods for Young Children

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping the following foods away from children younger than 4:

• hot dogs
• nuts and seeds
• chunks of meat or cheese
• whole grapes
• hard, gooey, or sticky candy
• popcorn
• chunks of peanut butter
• raw vegetables
• raisins
• chewing gum.

Dangerous Objects for Young Children

The American Academy of Pediatrics advises keeping the following items away from infants and young children to reduce the risk of choking:

• latex balloons
• coins
• marbles
• toys with small parts
• toys that can be compressed to fit entirely into a child's mouth
• small balls
• pen or marker caps
• small button-type batteries
• medicine syringes.

Actions to Relieve Choking in an Infant

1. Hold the infant face-down on your forearm. Support the infant's head and jaw with your hand. You may need to sit or kneel and rest your arm on your lap or thigh.
2. Give up to five back blows with the heel of your free hand.
3. If the object comes out and the infant begins to breathe after only a few back blows, stop the back blows. If the object does not come out after five back blows, turn the infant onto his or her back and give up to five chest thrusts, supporting the head and neck. Hold the infant with one hand and arm. Use two or three fingers of your free hand to push on the breastbone just as you press for chest compressions during CPR. Stop chest thrusts if the object is forced out.
4. Alternate giving five back blows and five chest thrusts until the object comes out or the infant becomes unresponsive.
5. If the choking is not relieved, the infant will become unresponsive. When the infant becomes unresponsive, shout for help and start CPR. Chest compressions may force the object out. If you are alone with the infant and these steps don't work after about one minute, phone 911.

Actions to Relieve Choking in a Child Age 1 and Older and Adults

1. Ask, "Are you choking?"
2. If the child speaks or is coughing, do nothing. Allow the child to try to cough up whatever is blocking the windpipe.
3. If the child can't speak, cough loudly, or cry, tell the child you are going to help.
4. Stand or kneel firmly behind the child and wrap your arms around the child.
5. Make a fist with one hand.
6. Put the thumb side of the fist on the child's abdomen, slightly above thenavel and well below the breastbone.
7. Grasp the fist with your other hand and give quick upward thrusts into the child's abdomen.
8. Give thrusts until the object is forced out or the child becomes unresponsive.
9. If the choking is not relieved, the child will become unresponsive. When the child becomes unresponsive, shout for help, lower the child to the ground, and start CPR. Chest compressions may force the object out. If you are alone with the child and these steps don't work after about one minute, phone 911.

Tags: Parenting and Families

About the Author

www.fda.gov
FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.