To ask nursery to cut their grapes into quarters?

[AliceTheCamelHasFiveHumps]

So, DD14m attends nursery.

They give fruit snacks out each day.

They cut grapes in half lengthwise. (I know this for gross reasons 😷)

I tend to do quarters for safety, as per advice.

AIBU to ask them to cut the grapes into quarters??? Or am I being precious 🥺😳

any chocking hazzard should be totally removed. you cant learn to stop chocking

Surely the size of the grape determines whether it needs to be halved, or quartered?

When I was on a first aid course, the paramedic said the two calls he dreaded getting, because they never end well were children choking on grapes and choking on popped balloons. I hope all the blasé people in this thread take one thing from it- yes your kids might have been fine with while grapes but plenty of kids have died from choking on them and if you’re ever left in charge of young children in the future- half their grapes!!

Oh and it’s not the size per se, it’s the fact that a whole grape is hard to squash, so if it gets stuck it completely blocks the airway. Halving it breaks the skin, allowing the obstruction to be squeezed by your airway if it gets lodged. That was my understanding.

Honestly wasn’t a “thing” when mine were little (but we also would have expected children to be properly supervised when eating and not slobbering each other’s food either ). I think I’d buy them a grape quarterer and ask them to use it.

I rarely buy grapes and when I do I still cut them up for my DC who are 6, 9 and 11 (and think I'm ridiculous)

I don't think you're being precious. Two out of my three children have choked on food (not grapes) and it is vet very scary when it happens.

Surely with grapes it's about stopping the choking risk of the soft round object blocking the airway. If it's cut in half it can no longer do that so halves length-way (not cross way) are sufficient.

Quarters might make it easier for a small child to eat but aren't necessary to avoid the choking hazard.

I no longer cut grapes for my dc (youngest is 6) but have always drummed it into them why grapes are cut up and that they can be dangerous and not to play about with them.

As they get older IMO better to teach kids to bite down/chew on grapes straightaway rather than carry on cutting them up because they often won't be cut up in other settings.

If a child chokes on a grape, it's not like other food, the grape will usually need to be surgically removed, by this point the child is usually dead. Children as old as 7 have died. Choking isn't about being able to chew, it's usually a freak accident that can happen to functioning adults too. Just because many children have eaten whole grapes and been fine does not remove the risk.

No you're within your rights to request this.
Absolutely.

Grapes, sausages. All
choking hazards.

I work in this field. Please speak to the Nursery Manager.

I still cut up my 9 year old's grapes. I know I should probably stop now but it's a niggling worry in the back of my mind. Having said that, the only person I know who has choked to death from eating was a healthy 30 something adult man, so I know that no amount of cautiousness can overcome the fact that freak accidents sometimes happen. It's scary.

@Emeraldshamrock my dc used to do this with oranges, one would suck the juice out the other would eat the skin 🤮
I'm also very precious and people take the piss out of me, as I still cut up grapes and mine are 10 ds almost choked on a grape the scariest thing I've ever encountered, so I will continue to do so.

Also I've drummed it into their heads that they're not allowed to eat grapes at school or friends houses unless they've been cut up

Anecdote is not data. I walked across the road without looking today and I'm fine so everybody can do it without risk.

Comments like "so what" on a thread where people have held funerals or friends have lost family members are appalling.

And its not either/or. Parents chopping grapes as officially advised still encourage their children to chew. They are just mitigating risk of fatality.

And my 9yr old can cook a lasagna and use a sharp knife and handle a kettle. None of those skills are because of a magic airway immune to the risks of fatal choking.

We don’t serve grapes in my nursery and any that come in with a child’s packed lunch must be in quarters or they go back home uneaten

I have seen an adult nearly choke to death on a grape so agree wholeheartedly that they should be quartered for small children

Ask for quarters if it’s going to worry you! I’m sure they have had weirder requests.

For worried parents a good friend taught me a good trick- my 3 year old always has them cut but when I’m there she will often have one or two ‘the grown up way’. I give them whole and she bites it in half, eats that then eats the rest. She now thinks this is how uncut grapes are eaten and I feel now that if she were somewhere else (eg a friend) and whole grapes were given she would naturally bite them in half instead of chucking them into her mouth whole.

3 year old DN* not mine sadly. I don’t give my baby grapes yet I’m too scared 😂

Just tell them she can't have grapes, safer all around.

[quote minniemango]@FFSAllTheGoodOnesArereadyTaken that's disgusting and unsafe, why do your nursery allow that?[/quote]
You’ve never worked in an early years setting have you? You realise that early years children generallY have no manners As they are still learning and it doesn’t matter how quick you are as a member of staff, the child will be quicker if something tasty is involved! We do our best to prevent it happening, but can’t guarantee it doesn’t happen.
WRT allergies, I look after A child with serious allergies. I don’t serve the food he is allergic to on the days he is in. Removes the issue completely.

Where did you hear quarter grapes are better than half OP? My recent paediatric first aid course said to cut them in half.

Your baby your rules. If it makes you feel happier def ask. Ask nicely and not guns a blazing!

@Shrivelled

Where did you hear quarter grapes are better than half OP? My recent paediatric first aid course said to cut them in half.

Advice given by two A&E doctors in their BMJ article The choking hazard of grapes: a plea for awareness

... grapes are widely consumed throughout the UK and beyond. By way of this article, we mean to highlight the need for clear labelling of foods known to be choking hazards, with succinct advice that such should be chopped in half and ideally quartered before being given to young children (≤5 years), and reiteration of the importance of adult supervision of small children while they are eating.

adc.bmj.com/content/102/5/473

@LostToucan thanks I’ll feed back to the company than ran the course.

*that