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Original poster

Do you still cut up your kids’ grapes?

169 replies

ziggiestardust · 29/09/2018 20:03

My DS is 8 in a few weeks and I still cut up his grapes, in case of a choking hazard. My MIL thinks that I’m crazy and laughed at me when I told her I did this 🙈

What do you do?

OP posts:
PrueDent · 30/09/2018 07:59

I do for my 10 go's packed lunches. Choking is so sudden and silent it could take a minute or longer for anyone to notice. It's such a short time from choking to asphyxiation. By the time an ambulance arrived it could be too late. Just not worth the risk.

Thecatmilk · 30/09/2018 08:02

No... At primary school age I was allowed to take the box of grapes into my own bedroom and munch at will.

applecatchers36 · 30/09/2018 08:03

Yes

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KingPrawnOkay · 30/09/2018 08:05

I cut up grapes for myself. It’s like triangle sandwiches - they just somehow taste better cut in half. Grin

Allyg1185 · 30/09/2018 08:09

Yes i do and my ds is 7

MysteriousQuinn · 30/09/2018 08:11

Can't understand why anyone wouldn't! It's just not worth the risk. Horrified at pp's who don't especially for the really young children.

GreatDuckCookery6211 · 30/09/2018 08:12

Up until mine were about 6 years old I think. Older than that they were big enough to be told to bite them!

WalkingTed · 30/09/2018 08:16

yes I do
always have done and still do when prepping a fruit salad for the family... my 14yo always cuts her grapes now also

NigelGresley · 30/09/2018 08:24

FFS, page 5 and people are still saying its ok because their DC know how to chew.
THIS IS NOT ABOUT HELPING THEM TO EAT.

glintandglide · 30/09/2018 08:31

Calm down Nigel. People are saying their children bite their grapes in half. Same as cutting them in half. No need to raise your blood pressure

Ollivander84 thanks for that- out of interest is that the only one you could find? Because I couldn’t find any (apart from the BMJ article which isn’t referring to older children and does come up when you google)
I think people kind of enjoy the drama of exaggerating the whole grape thing. All the capital letting shouting and nastiness about people who don’t. It’s something to feel superior about, like many minor aspects of parenting.

No doubt it’s something to be aware of, as with all choking hazards, and something new parents should be educated about with their general weaning advice but c’mon- let’s not act like grapes are some kind of poison

WickedGirl · 30/09/2018 08:46

I do for my youngest as she is only 4

I’ve also taught her that if she is given a whole grape, she is to bite it in half, eat the first half then the second

whyispeppainthenightgarden · 01/10/2018 18:40

Just realised why It never occurred to me to cut them up. Just given one to dd and watched her eat it and she ripped it into pieces first

maggienolia · 01/10/2018 22:37

Always cut them for my 10yo.
Also cut them for a 90yo with dementia who we left snacks for.
It just becomes habit I guess.

MadMum101 · 01/10/2018 22:51

I do when they are in my 8 yr olds packed lunch. Not when he has them at home.

I did the same with my older 3 until they left primary school.

Yika · 01/10/2018 22:54

I don't now but used to when my DD was younger (she's 8 now). I would never put them in her snack box though even now. A colleague's child choked to death age 2 - not on a grape, as it happens, but a piece of cheese. The grief and devastation of that family ... if you can do anything to minimise choking risk, why wouldn't you?

TokyoSushi · 01/10/2018 23:01

Yes! Mine are 7 & 5, I expect I'll still do it when they're 17 & 15!

Shattered777 · 01/10/2018 23:07

Absolutely and I probably will for a good few more years. I’ve heard too many stories about choking and the risks not to.
I don’t really understand why you wouldn’t if they pose any sort of risk to a child.

Orlandointhewilderness · 01/10/2018 23:21

yes it is a relatively small chance that your child would choke on a grape, but why wouldn't you do your best to cut that risk down?! it takes a couple of minutes to cut them up and there is a chance (however tiny) that by doing so you could potentially save your childs life. I can't get my head around people not doing it tbh. for the sake of 2 minutes. My DD is certainly more important to me that 2 minutes of my time.
I remember her choking badly (the silent type) when she was 3 on a hula hoop my poor DM had given her absentmindedly. It was the longest few seconds of my life and it DOES happen.

Orlandointhewilderness · 01/10/2018 23:22

oh, DD is 7 and i will cut them up as long as i can for her.

aliphil · 02/10/2018 12:20

DD is 6 and I probably stopped doing it in the last year or so. But she has always eaten things like grapes and cherry tomatoes by scraping her teeth down them to break the skin, then sucking out the middle, if you see what I mean. I would cut them for packed lunches etc. but she doesn't have those very often.

Dontfeellikeamillenial · 02/10/2018 12:43

I avoid buying grapes. Kids are 2 and 5.

JaniceBattersby · 02/10/2018 12:47

I have four very young kids. I just don’t buy grapes because I CBA cutting them up for them.

Theg00dwife · 02/10/2018 13:37

My friend is a paediatrician. She said she still cuts her 12 year olds grapes in half. She can’t unsee what she’s seen in A&E with children choking on grapes and said they are literally impossible to get out!

HowsAnnie25 · 02/10/2018 14:21

I still do it, my children are 7 and 9.

ChipsAndKetchup · 02/10/2018 14:30

I am astonished at the defence of some of these posters that don't cut their grapes up by saying 'my children can chew'. I suggest you educate yourselves a little better about the dangers of grapes.

And for the posters that admit it's just too much hard work to cut them up, I sincerely hope you never live to regret the fact that you know you should do it but just can't be arsed.