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 🥺😳

@JohnMiddleNameRedactedSwanson

I imagine quartering is to guard against human error. Halving is only effective if done lengthways and I have seen people halve grapes the other way before now, which is of course useless.

This. Some people are just stupid and if told to cut the grapes in half will do it the wrong way. The advice to quarter legislates against this. Halving lengthways is perfectly adequate.

@FitterHappierMoreProductive

I don’t leave my kids unattended to eat either - but when my six year old was sitting next to me choking on a grape, she was completely silent - but fortunately being six, had the sense to grab my sleeve and tug it. Thank goodness I didn’t ignore her, like we do often do!

I think most people don’t realise that choking is silent. It’s quite terrifying.

Most nine year olds are capable of getting a simple meal on their own, I would really hope they'd be able to cut their own food and chew it. Unless they have specific issues around coordination or behaviour and development, if they can't manage their own food at that basic a level, the parents aren't doing them any favours

My 5 year old can do her own seat belt. I still check she's done it properly and check the seat. She can make sandwiches. She's capable. But as has been repeatedly pointed out on this thread, grapes are a terrible food for choking, they're easy to inhale and extremely difficult to dislodge. I'll take the trouble to cut a grape rather than rely on my child not moving an inch or talking at the table. I'll cut the grape rather than assume a child will do as they're told 100% of the time and cut every grape even when they can't fully understand and assess the risk themselves.

Obsessive grape cutter here 🙋🏻‍♀️

I won’t serve grapes at my nursery. Not worth the risk.

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

It’s because the average person is a numpty. The advice of halves is sufficient but doesn’t take into account people not using common sense. The average grape is fine in halves. If you have a grape masquerading as a mini grapefruit then quarters is more sensible but people don’t think and just do halves ‘because I’m told to’ when common sense would say quarters in that instance. So they modify rules based on lowest common denominator. This means we now have lots of people, who also don’t think, slavishly doing quarters on small/average grapes that could happily be halves.

I’m not sure people cutting them up and babying older kids is great. Putting the effort into teaching them not to dick around when they are eating things like grapes, to chew properly etc means that they are then less likely to be the rare case of an adult choking on a grape. I eat whole grapes and feel pretty confident doing so and am also confident my now adult kids are also okay eating while grapes as I drummed that stuff in from school age.

I once had a guy who choked to death on a macadamia. Freak occurrence. Over the decades I’ve had the very odd person through after choking on something odd. I’ve never struck these things, or macadamias, off my food list or gone on some crusade against them. You have more chance of being hit and killed by a car while walking along a footpath.

Absolutely terrifying @LostToucan and she wasn’t “dicking around” as a PP so charmingly put it, she was sitting quietly next to me, eating grapes while I read her a story. I thought I was totally safe giving her whole grapes in that scenario. Not so.

Is popcorn more dangerous than grapes?!

A surprising number of people on this thread know a child who choked to death on a grape, given that it only happens to about 1 child a year in the UK.

Choking is always a risk - so many people let their toddlers walk round eating, that has to be a risk too. My MIL gave my 15 month old a whole apple and then encouraged her to run up and down as fast as possible - aargh! Obviously never read sleeping beauty!

If you feel strongly that you want the grapes quartered, then just ask. It's not that weird a request. Our nursery doesn't serve grapes. I think halved is fine as long as children sitting down and well supervised.

I cut Ds’s into 8ths because I don’t really get it 🤣
His childminder gives him grapes...

@SakuraEdenSwan1

My youngest is 9 and I still slice his grapes up, lengthwise into quarters.

Unless he’s got additional needs, that’s just ridiculous.

Maybe send them this:www.capt.org.uk/news/why-are-grapes-so-dangerous#:~:text=Young%20children%20are%20particularly%20vulnerable,Their%20airway%20is%20very%20small.

www.capt.org.uk/news/why-are-grapes-so-dangerous#:~:text=Young%20children%20are%20particularly%20vulnerable,Their%20airway%20is%20very%20small.

I quarter my 2 year olds grape if not more depending on size as some are humongous. I would tell nursery not to give any and I'm sure you probably get to see the menu before hand, so just gently ask to remove foods and snacks that are choking hazards. I would for instance say no to any hard veg/fruit in my case because I haven't seen the way they have cut it.

I cut everything in tiny pieces from cucumbers to carrots and apples. My little one has a habit of putting all the pieces in his mouth all at once and still manages to get himself into trouble sometimes, so now I just give him a few at a time which is what scares me the most when he starts nursery in Sept because I won't be there to monitor him.

I had a narrow escape choking on a minstrel last year where it just slipped at the back of my throat while watching tv and thankfully coughed it back up and I was alone in the house with my baby sleeping. It's really scary. The minstrel as you know is covered in a shiny glossy exterior where it can easily slip so grapes are worse and lethal for children.

@ChonkyChook

Most nine year olds are capable of getting a simple meal on their own, I would really hope they'd be able to cut their own food and chew it. Unless they have specific issues around coordination or behaviour and development, if they can't manage their own food at that basic a level, the parents aren't doing them any favours

My 5 year old can do her own seat belt. I still check she's done it properly and check the seat. She can make sandwiches. She's capable. But as has been repeatedly pointed out on this thread, grapes are a terrible food for choking, they're easy to inhale and extremely difficult to dislodge. I'll take the trouble to cut a grape rather than rely on my child not moving an inch or talking at the table. I'll cut the grape rather than assume a child will do as they're told 100% of the time and cut every grape even when they can't fully understand and assess the risk themselves.

How long is it you plan on continuing to check that seatbelt? People are cutting up grapes for kids that are seven and nice.

Similar to minstrels, there was a child who died from choking on a mini egg. Similar smooth exterior and shape. Absolutely terrifying.

www.express.co.uk/life-style/food/1092036/Cadbury-Mini-Eggs-easter-eggs-chocolate-choking-hazard-warning

I definitely would request - the safer the better.

I knew a young boy who was brain damaged after choking on a grape when he was 3 - he died last year aged 6.

It is not worth the risk for something so simple.

Grapes in half lengthwise is the advise I know. So I don't understand the issue really.

Please do ask them to cut them further. Please also ask them to either cut sausages lengthways or stop serving sausages at all (a lot of schools and nurseries near me have stopped serving sausages completely). Please read this to understand www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8955561/amp/Beautiful-two-year-old-girl-chokes-death-sausage-given-lunch-nursery.html

My friend is an anaesthetist and says if I'd seen what she'd seen I'd be cutting up grapes until they're adults...

Our primary school insists that any grapes brought to school are cut in half lengthways - up to age 11, so it is a genuine hazard they don’t want to take the risk with. I did used to cut them at home when they were smaller but only once my mum told me that my sister in law did as you were supposed to - I had no idea but that was about 10 years ago.

I work in a nursery and we don’t even have grapes but if we did I would quarter them. It’s not a bad request to make

I’m almost glad that when my children were young grapes weren’t available all year round and when they were, I couldn’t afford them. We got by on apples, oranges and bananas. Goodness knows how they grew up without vitamin deficiency.

Halves lengthways are fine unless a child has an abnormal shaped/ sized oesophagus (happened in my nursery). The shape means that if lodged won’t get immovably stuck (throat contracting with force it up or down).
If you really care then request it be cut in quarters but health and safety wise is not necessary.

Definitely not unreasonable. My three year old granddaughter (who is still putting things in her mouth that she shouldn’t) came out of nursery with a pocketful of marbles this week. I mean really, why are three year olds playing with marbles? Biggest choking hazard ever 😡