4yr old eating in the car

[itsturtlesallthewaydown]

I'm wondering if MN can help resolve a debate I have with my DH.

I think it's a choking risk for a 4yr old to eat whilst driving and so they should never be given food in a car. If they want a snack you should stop at a service station. My DH says it's OK to give them food whilst driving.

What does everyone else think?

YABU: It's ok for children to eat in a car.
YANBU: It's a choking risk and children should never eat in a car.

I choked in the car when I was 7! I didn’t make a sound, had I been alone my Dad would never have noticed, luckily my sister screamed that I was blue. Coughing isn’t always choking, choking is silent and not breathing. Luckily we were in a car park and I wasn’t in a child’s seat so my dad got me out fast but being on the motorway would have been completely different. I don’t even like my DSDs eating in the car and they are young teens.

This is an extremely cavalier attitude to the risk of choking.

OP you’re right and your DH is wrong. I went to a first aid session for parents of babies and toddlers run by a paramedic once, and I know what he would say, having actually seen children who had died from choking.

Having said that, I have fairly recently let my youngest (5.5) have some food in the car but I limit it to less risky things such as soft sandwiches, a bit of chocolate. Still, I know what that paramedic would say….

PFB: will absolutely, definitely choke, and should not be allowed to eat anything at all, ever, unsupervised, until they're about 35.

Subsequent DC: they'll be fine.

You’re less likely to notice, and you may not be able to pull over straight away. Increasing the chance of death.

There’s some worrying ignorance on this thread.

Both mine ate in the car at 4 yrs old. Even younger probably

Yeah, I definitely remember that paramedic whose first aid course I went on, who had witnessed child deaths from choking, saying that it was only ever children with special needs who choked so there was no need for most of us to worry. Jesus 🙄

This.

Thank you for sharing that. We should all be more wary.

Haha I absolutely love how you've managed to make a concerned parent look like a neglectful parent. Well done!!

Haha I absolutely love how you’ve managed to make an obviously lighthearted and entirely inoffensive comment something you’re upset about. Well done!!

Honestly, some people 🙄

They aren't meant to eat in a carseat or a pram as because the position makes it easier to choke.

I'm with you OP.

I know a woman who died a few years ago by choking whilst eating in the car. And that was a grown adult woman. I'm sure the risk is higher with young children. YANBU

It wasn't light hearted and inoffensive. It was nasty and I'm sure you know that. If you thought it was funny your sense of humour sucks.

I'm not upset about it though. I'm just surprised how many people are arseholes.

Username checks out

@itsturtlesallthewaydown

I saw your post and remembered this:

7news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/paramedic-mum-says-kids-shouldnt-be-given-food-in-car-in-case-they-choke-c-4521810.amp

I won't. I think it's a matter of education. Hadn't occurred to me either way before.

I let my 3 year old eat limited things in the car, but only on the sort of roads where I can easily stop. So not motorways or similar.
Not all the time but when necessary, and not “risky” foods.

I agree it's a choking risk, highly unlikely but still a risk. I don't let my young DC eat in the car (plus the mess, no thanks)

Depends what you give them to eat. I understand the logic that if they were choking you would be quicker to react parked up at a service station but if my DD was choking while I was driving I would pull up wherever I was, or if we were on the motorway DH tends to be there whenever we use one (longer journey so likely traveling as a family), and I’m sure he or I (whoever wasn’t driving) would jump to the back to help out. DD eats in the car, things like a Barney (so very soft), wotsits, maybe a banana.

This is OTT... As are all the comments about snacking and/or eating in the car being bad habits. I fully scoffed when I read them I nearly choked on my twiglet.

I have two boys, 2 and 4. They would eat all day, everyday if they could. They are active, growing, and healthy. However, as is recommended by just about every living, breathing orgamism on this planet, little kids need snacks. And if that happens during drive time, bring it on. Just don't give them stupid chokey food if under 4. And it ain't hard to keep an eye on them eating.... wotsit, by fucking wotsit. Just do your job, be a parent.

I did a first aid course with a former paramedic who told us about a women who'd given her kid crisps while she drove them home. Child was quiet all the way. When she got hom, realised the child had choked completely silently.

She said that under the age of about 5, everything is a new experience so the child won't think oh shit, they think "oh this is new and interesting" and just let it happen. As PP have said - choking is silent, it blocks your airway - you can't call out or make a noise. If someone doesn't see you choking, they won't know. So i don't think you are unreasonable at all O.

I don’t let mine eat in the car purely for mess reasons, as a four year old he would have been just as likely to choke at home as I didn’t surpervise his every mouthful. I would have noticed if he had eaten and choked in the car as he never stops talking in the car.

Sorry but your job when driving is to "keep an eye" on the road. You cannot give your full attention to the road and DC eating in the back. Of course if you're on a longer journey there's a chance it will fall when your kids would normally have a meal or snack. So you either feed them before or after the journey, or you stop where you can keep a proper eye on them. I guess the final option is that you ply them with snacks and hope you are one of the lucky ones 🤷‍♀️

@abs12 I completely agree with you. Some of this is hugely OTT. Let's face it, if we stopped doing everything that had a small risk, none of us would ever leave the house.
Giving my children snacks helps me keep my sanity when driving. My two year old would just scream otherwise.

....and never, ever give them a bath. Or perhaps just hope you're one of the lucky ones 🤦‍♀️

Do you have health anxiety?

I do not think YABU. I do not let my 4 year old eat in the car. For me it’s the fact that it may not always be easy or safe to pull over quickly, and when someone is truly choking you need to act quickly.

I have choked as an adult and needed back blows to dislodge something stuck and it’s frightening, so to say that risk is near nothing for a 4 year old is not true