To ask when you are supposed to stop cutting up grapes

[1Veryhungrycaterpillar]

V dumb question really but I still do this for my eldest (5) and my Dzh laughs at me, it's mainly because they are for packed lunch and I can't trust her not to rush her lunch at school

[WMittens]

when you are supposed to stop cutting up grapes

I find after 6 or 7 cuts they're too small to hold properly, so leave it at that.

[Gonnabmummy]

I am currently pg with first so a while off grape eating yet but glad I found this thread! I don't know if it would of crossed my mind otherwise but totally see the risk

[cherryade8]

Er I've never cut up grapes, my dd is 18mo and never choked. She chews them.

[TondelayoSchwarzkopf]

Blimey. This thread has scared the shit out of me. I stopped chopping up grapes when DS was about 12 months and I am quite neurotic about the whole food safety thing (I refuse to buy DS lollipops - he is 4 - for choking reasons).

How sad for those poor children

[MoominsYonisAreScary]

I'm not sure, I still cut up grapes for ds3 who is 2.3 and I also slice sausages down the middle.

Probably because I trained as a nurse and they showed us slides of throats with stuff wedged in them and sausage and grapes were two of them. My friends son choaked on a grape at 4 but luckily his dad managed to dislodge it.

[LifeSavedbyLego]

Ah. I've failed again. I've never cut up a grape.

[crashdoll]

I'm going to trot out an old MN favourite: "anecdote does not equal data".

[WuzzleMonkey]

"All these people who say their children are "good chewers". Do you think the rest of our kids gulp their food down like a starving labrador, or else we provide it liquidised so they can suck through a straw? We don't cut grapes because of our children's inadequate mastication skills, but because there is strong evidence that they are a higher choking risk than other foods and all kids (even the champion masticators) can laugh at the wrong moment etc."

^ This^

[DisappointedHorse]

I cut up grapes until my youngest was 5, I still do occasionally.

I had never considered cherry tomatoes, sausages or marshmallows though, all of which are eaten frequently in this house. Especially the tomatoes, DS eats them like sweets.

Seriously though, when do you stop and just leave it to trust? Mine are 9 and 6 and I still have a dreadful fear of them choking.

[AlwaysWashing]

I get the piss taken out of me for cutting up my 2 year olds grapes still.
Don't care, will do it for as long as I need to. He's precious & it takes 2 minutes of my time. No brainer as far as I can see.

[shallweshop]

My kids pre-school would only allow grapes as a snack if they were cut up because of the risk of choking. Grapes are notorious for being a choking hazard. I have just started giving DD whole grapes for packed lunch and she is 8.

[RikeBider]

No harm ever came to anyone from having their grape/tomato etc cut in half. It's not going to stop them learning to chew or talk or anything else - so do it until to feel comfortable to stop.

[diplodocus]

I've only relatively recently stopped for my 5 and 7 year old, but they still need to eat grapes at the table with someone there. I'm normally pretty relaxed about stuff but this is my Achilles heel - I was a nurse and the results of a few fatal chokings in A and E.

[Levantine]

I am relaxed on many many things but I can't see much difference between giving my two year old a bowl of marbles to put in his mouth and a bowl of grapes.

I know that sounds dramatic, but really, why would you give a two year old a chokeable object?

[tholeon]

I cut them up for my 17 month old but I let my 4 year old have whole ones, I have taught him to be extra careful about sitting down and not talking when he eats them, and I reckon he will get given them whole by other people, so needs to know how to eat them safely. Similarly with those horrible round lollipops. Am shocked about the number of whole ones I see given out at toddler groups etc though.

[Lovethesea]

It's the simple fact that once stuck all the immediate paramedic help in the world can't usually get grapes out.

Other food shifts with backslaps or Heimlich. Grapes dont.

One cough or laugh, one swallow when a juicy grape squirts the back of the throat, it's really not about telling them to chew.

[TheCountessOlenska]

I always cut up grapes but never even thought about marshmallows - eek (don't think DD has ever had them though).

And what's bad about popcorn!? we're always eating that!

At the toddler group I go to they never cut the grapes up AND they don't have lidded cups for the coffee

[londonchick]

I have attended some fatal chokings too and they are possibly the most traumatic things I've seen.

Children do have differently shaped airways and require different management.

Those who are mocking the people who cut up grapes have, quite frankly, left me a bit disgusted. Maybe they could come and watch a child die from choking after a complete and utter accident and see if they still want to make smart c

[londonchick]

Comments (dammit, posted too soon!)

[1Veryhungrycaterpillar]

Must have been horrific London

[1Veryhungrycaterpillar]

It's making me laugh because I'm so far from precious it's untrue but cutting grapes just seems common sense to me

[TheCountessOlenska]

1Veryhungry Me too, I'm ridiculously lax by most people's standards (no baby monitors, stair gates, reins etc) but choking really scares me so I will continue with my grape cutting possibly forever

[ifyourehoppyandyouknowit]

Choking aside, if you cut grapes up they fit better in little sandwich boxes.

DS, at 18m, can bite and chew grapes, but he needs reminding, so I keep cutting them up. I gave him strawberries whole though, so maybe my logic is flawed?