Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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:

owabno · 02/10/2018 14:32

Wow. People really don't get it, do they?

It's not about chewing ffs.

And this wee gem.....

an 8 year old gettting grapes cut up for them really isn’t a great idea in terms of their development

Haha. It's hardly detrimental is it?

Hmmalittlefishy · 02/10/2018 14:47

Yes. Dd is 8 so still cut them although she prefers an apple. But with younger siblings it's not worth the risk
I also don't let them run or even walk about with lollipops in their mouth. I'm always amazed at how many parents don't mind at parties and school gates but I really panic they will fall and fall onto the lollipop or choke

Borntobeamum · 02/10/2018 14:57

ANYONE OF ANY AGE can choke on A grape.
Even 55 year old women.
Trust me. It's not pleasant.
Please cut up grapes for children.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Families

IFartGlitter · 02/10/2018 14:59

I’m a HCP, I work in trauma, I’m Advanced life support trained, I STILL cut grapes for my dc even though my eldest is 10. All the training in the world won’t help unless you’re in a well stocked resus and even then, with grapes it’s very difficult to dislodge them in time. Time being critical. Hypoxia kills. The size and shape of a child’s trachea coupled with the skin on whole grapes means that they (and cherry tomatoes, sausages) are the worst thing to choke on.

albert92 · 02/10/2018 15:11

@Dermymc all of these kids clearly know how to chew, do your research. Any one can choke on food especially because of the size and texture they are the perfect size to get stuck in your wind pipe and many people have died. An 18 month old can easily choke on a anything whether they can chew or not. Are you an idiot

albert92 · 02/10/2018 15:15

@Millie2013 your meant to cut them top to bottom so the prices are longer and thinner

cricketmum84 · 02/10/2018 15:22

Yes I chop up for my 9yo. She choked on a mini milk of all things when she was small and I'll never forget that panic. I also choked on a barley sugar sweet when I was little and my dad dangled me upside down while my mum hit my back before it flew out. I think I'm a bit OTT with cutting things up because of these two events.

MrsDc7 · 02/10/2018 15:23

I will probably cut up my children’s grapes until they leave home I’m not even joking

MadisonAvenue · 02/10/2018 15:29

My sons are 21 and 18 and cutting up grapes wasn’t something we were aware of when they were young. In fact it was quite normal for people to weigh and price up grapes in a supermarket and then allow their children to eat them as they shopped!

Cutting them is definitely something I’d do now though if they were young children, sod the fact that they can chew. A neighbour of a family member had a young child who choked on one and very sadly died earlier this year.

Smishsmash · 02/10/2018 15:33

I always cut up grapes. Sausages are meant to be cut up too. There was a story on the news a couple of years ago, about a toddler who choked to death on a piece of toast. My Aunt was at a wedding, where a guest (an adult) choked to death on a piece of beef.

m0therofdragons · 02/10/2018 18:01

No but dc are 10 and 7 and not allowed to eat grapes walking around. Not supposed to eat walking around at all but I'm completely firm with grapes.

StarfishSandwich · 02/10/2018 18:09

Sod chopping up grapes, sounds like a massive faff. I’m sure DS won’t miss them if we just don’t have them at home until he’s old enough to be trusted to chew them properly. Which tbh I do feel should be by the time they are 7 or 8.

Purple52 · 02/10/2018 18:40

My kids eat grapes before I know they’ve got them!! No I don’t cut them up. But I’ve always taught them to bite them!

ChipsAndKetchup · 02/10/2018 18:53

It's the width of the grape that's the issue. Just the right size to sit in a child's windpipe. So biting them in half is only effective if the child is doing it lengthways.

NC4Now · 02/10/2018 18:57

I’m a journalist and pretty thick skinned, but I’ll never forget an inquest I covered of a child who choked on a grape.
I cut them up all through primary school. My children aren’t mollycoddled but that one is one I worry about. I’m equally wary around blind cords and young children.

albert92 · 02/10/2018 19:46

@StarfishSandwich cutting up grapes takes about 30 seconds it's not defiantly not a big faff compared to organizing a bloody funeral !

StarfishSandwich · 02/10/2018 20:02

@albert92 But grapes aren’t an essential food group... he could just not have them.

albert92 · 02/10/2018 20:31

@StarfishSandwich yes I know but a lot of people do still have them and it's not faff cutting them up, if my child asked for grapes instead of taking them away it's easier to just cut them

MrBull · 02/10/2018 22:26

Kids die from choking on grapes. I know of one locally myself. It's more common than people think. Not worth the risk. Can you imagine your child dying from something so avoidable?

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7