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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that the choking risk is just a myth?

254 replies

BattyKoda · 22/02/2010 21:39

As in, "it's dangerous to put your baby/toddler to bed with a bottle/beaker as they might choke". Is it more dangerous than say a dummy? I have found one story on the web of a baby choking on a dummy, but can't find anything about the risk of choking on fluid.

(I have asked this on another thread but have had no response so I have put on my hard hat and am braving it here, please go easy on me )

OP posts:
doesntplaywellwithothers · 22/02/2010 21:45

Batty, tbh, I haven't heard choking as a reason not to give them a bottle in bed...it's that it's bad for their teeth. But...mine have never done it, so it may be that I'm just ignorant to it...

Original poster
BattyKoda · 22/02/2010 21:47

Other thread here

OP posts:
Original poster
BattyKoda · 22/02/2010 21:48

Lots gave it as a reason not put a child down with a drink.

OP posts:
MadamDeathstare · 22/02/2010 21:48

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PrettyCandles · 22/02/2010 21:49

All three of my dc choked while being spoonfed purees somewhere between 6 and 8m. Two of them choked badly enough to turn blue, and one of them needed back-slaps to clear his airway.

So, yes, I think that the risk of choking on a drink is probably quite genuine and not a myth.

Besides, how many of us have choked on a drink and coughed, spluttered, sprayed it around and gasped as we struggled for air? Not uncommon, I think.

thisisyesterday · 22/02/2010 21:50

no, it isn't a myth.
if a child falls asleep and the drink is still going into their mouth they can asphyxiate. it's a very real risk, and it's why you should also not prop bottles up on little babies

it's also not good for teeth

Coldhands · 22/02/2010 21:50

No idea. I had never heard of it until I read the other thread. I can't see how tbh. Sometimes my drink goes down the wrong way and I cough loads but I don't see how I could choke.

Original poster
BattyKoda · 22/02/2010 21:50

Thanks MadamDeathStare - saw it just after I posted this

OP posts:
thesecondcoming · 22/02/2010 21:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Coldhands · 22/02/2010 21:51

Just asked my DH and he thinks you can too. I had no idea and had never thought of it!

Coldhands · 22/02/2010 21:52

"it's also really fucking lazy-sorry.
five minutes to give a bottle? do you really not have the time?"

Its not about that, its about leaving a drink with them at night.

Original poster
BattyKoda · 22/02/2010 21:55

Thisisyesterday - do you have any proof of this? Genuinley would like to see something that proves this point.

I have found this but no mention of risk of choking on liquids...

OP posts:
Original poster
BattyKoda · 22/02/2010 21:56

Yes I do have the time thesecondcoming...

OP posts:
SPBInDisguise · 22/02/2010 21:59

really stupid question but how can you choke on a dummy unless it;s far too small?
Also, when does this stop? I always give DS a cup of water at night, he's 3. There's nothing worse than waking up with a dry mouth and no water, hadn't thought of choking

Whoamireally · 22/02/2010 22:01

Maybe you won't choke (as in block your airway) but you could aspirate the milk. Your vocal cords are your body's last line of defence before foreign bodies enter the lungs - hence the cough reflex.

The word 'choke' is flagrantly misused in common parlance.

Original poster
BattyKoda · 22/02/2010 22:01

Dummy incident

No details though.

OP posts:
thesecondcoming · 22/02/2010 22:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PrettyCandles · 22/02/2010 22:04

The risk is of the baby falling asleep with a pool of liquid in his mouth. Then he turns over, the liquid sloshes into his throat and chokes him. You'd hope he would cough it up, but what if he doesn't succeed...?

And, just to add to that, the liquid pooled in the baby's mouth can seep into the Eustachian tube and cause ear infections.

Original poster
BattyKoda · 22/02/2010 22:04

Does this actually happen whoamireally?

OP posts:
Original poster
BattyKoda · 22/02/2010 22:08

thesecondcoming - I'm asking more about infants that are at an age where they feed themselves a bottle.

Prettycandles - have never heard about the ear infection thing before, thanks for mentioning that. The coughing up thing, this is what I'm trying to establish, has there ever been an incident of a child not coughing liquid up, but choking on it instead?

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 22/02/2010 22:10

you need proof that it's possible to aspirate milk and die?

really?

thisisyesterday · 22/02/2010 22:13

i do remember reading of a baby dying after being left with a bottle propped up in its mouth

will ahve a google for it, was only in the last couple of years.

the same could happen to a sleepy toddler

Whoamireally · 22/02/2010 22:13

Not often in very young babies, whose throats are designed so that they can breathe and suck/drink at the same time, but yes definitely in older babies upwards.

We all aspirate our saliva anyway without realising, especially when asleep - but if you're fit and well your body can fight off the bacteria. Introduce milk into the equation, and it's not always so straightfoward.

People say 'choke' when really they mean, coughing and spluttering. Proper choking is when your airway is blocked - so milk won't cause a baby to choke but it might cause them to cough and splutter a bit.

Imagine if someone poured a can of coke into your mouth very slowly. If you didn't keep gulping at exactly the right speed it'd make you cough - but if it still kept on coming even while you were coughing you'd have to breathe in at some point, right? And you'd breathe in a mouthful of coke as well as the air...makes me cringe just thinking about it!

thisisyesterday · 22/02/2010 22:13

baby dies after being left with bottle

Original poster
BattyKoda · 22/02/2010 22:15

I can't find anything (maybe it's just me ) on the internet reporting any incidents or prooving this point.

So yes, really. Would be a assive help

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