What age do you stop cutting up grapes ?

[Mingo2010]

At what age do you stop cutting grapes up for your child ?

Only stopped doing it for my DD about a year ago - she just turned 12. I still wince when she puts one in her mouth.

Yes, yes, I know - it's one of my very worst fears.

Gosh do you know what I honestly forgot about this I don't think I've been doing for the last couple of years probably since school started

My twins are 12 and I still cut them sometimes 😳

If they grab a grape out of the fruit bowl I bark at them to crunch it!

@modgepodge

Is it only grapes though? I always cut blueberries for me 1 year old, and would cherry tomatoes too...I’m not normally fussy/overprotective tbh but I can never understand why it’s only grapes which feature in the advice, other similar size foods aren’t??

I think grapes are the most well-known, possibly because of their danger? I think it's because they're almost exactly the same size and shape of a child's windpipe and because of their texture, are almost impossible to dislodge.

But I also do cherry tomatoes, sausages and larger blueberries..

I never cut them because I didn't know you were supposed to.
I feel very bad about it it now but obviously got lucky.
Now I know, I'd say maybe 5?

My oldest is nearly 7 and I'll cut his up for a while yet esp as youngest is only 3.5 but even 7 year old can be silly and run about etc with food in his mouth even though I repeatedly tell him not to.

@modgepodge

Is it only grapes though? I always cut blueberries for me 1 year old, and would cherry tomatoes too...I’m not normally fussy/overprotective tbh but I can never understand why it’s only grapes which feature in the advice, other similar size foods aren’t??

The ones to watch are the trachea sized ones. Hotdogs, grapes, cherry tomatoes, pop corn are the classics.

Children's throats change shape over time [not a doctor] from more funnel-shaped to more tube-shaped. So things get lodged more easily younger. Also I don't jump on trampolines with grapes in my mouth and DD would have at 5 if I'd let her.

I was at work discussing how I’d still cut up dd’s grapes at 10 and I probably shouldn’t when a 11 year old choked on a watermelon pip. Tbh now she’s 12 I’d just like her to eat fruit instead of sweets!

Never did it!

A 7 and half year old died in our town, even with paramedics trying to save her. I'll carry on until 10 but try not to buy them at all

If I put them in packed lunch I will carry on cutting them as they often eat their lunch so fast so they get more playing time.

Personally an extra 2 min of effort is worth it for me.

Do people realize that kids can choke on popcorn too? Or a bite of pancake? Or marshmallows . Cherry tomatoes. Sausages.

Why isit always grapes that women freak out over.

@Yeahnahmum

Do people realize that kids can choke on popcorn too? Or a bite of pancake? Or marshmallows . Cherry tomatoes. Sausages.

Why isit always grapes that women freak out over.

If you'd bother to read the thread before making a sexist remark, you'd have learned why grapes are a bigger concern than most food.

My eldest is 5, I will cut grapes as long as I feel it's necessary.

@Yeahnahmum you lost any sort of argument when you made it sexist

VaTeLaverLesMains

I still cut up apples for my 20 y old but that's just for fun.“

Thanks, don’t feel so daft now - 17 here 😁

@itsaratrap

Haha my dad still chops up apple for me and I’m in my 30s!! I think it’s a cultural thing, they chop all their fruit and put it as a sharing bowl in middle of the table!

@pineappleUpsideDownCake to be fair, I would cut for packed lunches

I never cut up grapes, it wasn't a thing 20 years ago, we taught them to bite into grapes

@SabrinaThwaite

If your kids are teens, you do realise they can leave home quite soon. At some point they need to be caring for themselves. My girls were cooking full family meals by 12, using a cooks knife properly (keen cooks here), cutting up teens fruit is bizarre

I was going to comment on this thread a few days ago but it was “too soon”.

The day before this thread was started my DS 6 choked on a polo! Thank fuck it had a whole in the middle. He still struggled to breathe.

He was sat still and he has no idea how it happened. He’s usually a cruncher not a sucker of sweets.

Now if that was a mini egg, grape, baby tomato - fuck knows. I’m not risking it anymore so I’m going back to chopping them up (and banning mini eggs!)

Blerghhh makes me shudder. My mum once saw an 8 year old die choking in A&E.

My best friend laughs whenever the issue of cutting grapes is bought up. She’s never done it and doesn’t see the point.

@minnieok

Thanks for pointing out that my kids will be leaving home in the near future, I had actually noticed that.

However, the point that the first aid trainer made about the potential for both children and adults (given that the average adult trachea is about 15-20mm) to choke on whole grapes still stands.

@hellofromcornwall

Gosh that sound super scary, glad all worked out!!

@SabrinaThwaite
Yes, I was suddenly eating whole grapes while lying on the sofa watching tv and I choked... I genuinely thought I was a goner for a split second.

I don’t do it for my six year old anymore.

MN - 12
RL - 3 or 4 (if ever).

Very true

I still cut them for the whole family. DS is 10. I also cut cherry tomatoes and other things, so it's not just grapes!
My cousin is a nurse on a children's ward. They get at least one admission a week if a child who had choked on a grape. They don't all survive. I don't give a shit if posters laugh or think I'm mollycoddling. What I think of their blasé attitude to a child's life would get my post deleted.