Please help, I am at the end of my tether trying to stop my DS putting stuff in his mouth.

[MegaLegs]

DS4 is nearly 20 months, he has SN and developmentally he is still at about the 10 month stage.

He crawls well now but he is a demon at finding the smallest of bits and putting them in his mouth. He terrified me two weeks ago, I had to dial 999 as he was choking and I couldn't get the object out.( It was the corner of a choc buttons packet)
I am on constant alert, forever hoovering and picking up bits. My older three are nagged to never leave anything small on the floor.

The last few days I have tried getting really firm with him, pushing his hand away from his mouth and saying "no". I am so scared he'll choke again and it's really starting to stress me out.

ML - It must have been so frightening for you to have to dial 999. I'm sure that others will come on with more advice, but have you done a first aid course, to learn to dislodge objects, and to give CPR? Maybe your ds will outgrow it, but in the meantime, if you felt more confident, it might help you to relax a little.

The paramedic who attended my friends ds when he was choking on a button was very reassuring. He said that he was 99.9% confident that he could dislodge any dangerous objects, and that the only two things he feared for were a) bits of balloon, or b) bits of polystyrene, as they wont come up with the thump on the back.

Remember that if the object is not perfectly round, it is unlikely to be a threat to life as you can do mouth to mouth and get air in past it, until help arrives. It is round objects which can seal the airway which are most dangerous.

Not sure if that is as reassuring as you wanted, but HTH.

That is VERY reassuring - thank you - and yes you are right I would feel much better about doing a first aid course. (I used to teach swimming and did lots of life saving courses but definately need a refresher) Have just left a message with my HV to ask about local courses.

He has done it a couple of times now but tipping him forawrd and a a hefty thump have always removed the object. This time he just stayed silent and red and his eyes were bulging OMG it was so awful. I was holding him upside down and trying to talk to the emergency operator at same time when he started to cry and therefore breathe, up until that moment I really thought he was going to die.

Oh good. Hope that the course is good. Make sure that they teach you the squeeze from behind technique (the one with the fancy name) for when he gets older too, just in case . . .!