First real choking incident

[paranoidmumdroid]

My 6 mth old managed to choke on pellet of ciabatta at the weekend. He'd been sucking away at a piece for ages, then started gagging badly but sorted himself out.
But in the post-gag heavy breathing he sucked the bread back down and genuinely choked - no noise, no breathing or coughing. So I did back slaps head down etc and after a couple a large lump of bread came out.
My husband and I are now both terrified of giving him anything that isn't mush!

Anyone else dealt with real choking (not gagging) - when do you start to get over it??!! Obviously baby isn't bothered at all...

[Rhian82]

I can't help, but I'm interested to know what people say. My husband is terrified of DS (9 months) choking, and really reluctant when giving him lumpy foods. But obviously he's at the age where we really need to get him used to them!

[GwarchodwrPlant]

It's horrifing when it happens and you have my sympathies but babies, children and adults can choke at any time.

He has just as much/or little chance as any other baby of choking again so please don't let it scare you into putting you off.

I would keep on giving him food, as you were and follow these rules to make it as safe as possible:

Make sure he is able to sit up unsupported by himself, if he can't do that then I would wait another few weeks.

Offer him food that are chip-shaped.

Allow him to be in control of what he puts into his mouth.

Don't distract him whilst he is eating.

Avoid small round things like nuts, grapes and cherry tomatoes.

[GwarchodwrPlant]

I started BLW with my DS when he was 6mths old, he is now 10mths old and eats like a pro. We have never had an actual serious choking incident but he has gagged and choked a little bit so I know how heart lurching it feels!

It does get better and easier though and it's a real joy to watch them eating confidently, picking and choosing which foods they like and learning the motor skills necessary in order to handle fiddly foods such as peas and rasberries!

Good luck!

[warthog]

don't stop. anyone can choke. my mum choked when i was about 25. very frightening.

babies' gag reflex is in the roof of their mouths, not at the back, so it's easy for them to gag. don't be put off by that. as they get older, the reflex moves further back. it's to help them not swallow bites that are too large, i believe.

of course, i could be totally wrong.

[thisisyesterday]

agree with gwarchodwr

my BLW baby has only ever choked once, on a piece of carrot but my god it was the scariest moment of my life

thankfully though it is rare, and in fact babies who are allowed to eat by themselves learn very quickly how to control what goes into their mouths

[paranoidmumdroid]

GPlant i'm doing all the right things in your list - i just didn't expect that a bit of bread would cause trouble.
He'd been gumming it for so long that it was a dense pellet. I suppose that I shouldn't give him bread unless it's a small finger, but he still sucks on it rather than eating it. Maybe we'll have to give bread a miss - but that rather defeats BLW ethos of him eating what I eat, especially at breakfast.

He's a big strong boy who has been sitting unsupported comfortably since pre-5 months,so physically he's mature enough and he does swallow things well normally.

Up til now i've managed to be very relaxed about the gagging but i'm a bit on edge now obviously. So relieved I read the first aid manual a couple of months ago and i knew what to do.

BTW what fruit should i give? Bananas and pear seem to be ok if a bit frustrating because they are so slippery, but i'm afraid of apples because of choking and am a bit stuck for ideas. I'm not a great fruit eater to be honest. Any tips gratefully received

[GwarchodwrPlant]

Don't stop and give bread a miss, you just need to build your confidence back up again! As you say it defeats the object of BLW. You are doing all the right things, it was just unfortunate that it happened. If a baby/child/adult is going to choke then they will. The only thing you can do for your bay is to make things as safe as possible which is what it sounds like you are doing.

Try bananas and pears, I used to give my DS a huge strawberry with the end still on so he could use it to grip.

I would give apple and orange segments too but that is up to you.

Melon is nice and you can cut it up into almost any shape.

Have you had a look at Aitch's BLW sight? Very reassuring and lots of ideas and info.

[ijustwant8hours]

DS choked on baby corn when he was 10m ish.

Although it was horrible, in a way I found it very reassuring to know that the first aid stuff works and i could do it.

Well done by the way!