If your child chokes on something do you report the product?

[Lorddenning1]

My 2 year old has choked this morning on some cereal, and after closer inspection they are quite hard and the perfect shape to block small children's air ways, even after sitting in milk for a while they are still hard. There is no warning on the box and I have checked with friends and they give their small children this too.
Do I report it to the supermarket or do I chalked this down to experience that all small children have the potential to choke on anything.
It was the scariest 2 mins of my life, watching my baby boy not be able to breath, I had to use the Heimlich maneuver around 5 times to get it out :( he then threw up and amongst the sick, the hard cereal was whole and was causing him to choke, what do I do now, I feel like I need to warn people, please be kind as I'm a bag of nerves now.

This is every parent's nightmare. Firstly well done on successfully getting it out. I would absolutely report - to the manufacturer rather than supermarket along with pictures (if you still have the hard piece he threw up). Hope you both are feeling ok now.

I'm sorry you've had such a horrible experience, but kids can choke on just about anything.

I was told on the phone to 111 that if you've had to perform any backslaps or heimlich on a child they should be taken to be checked over as it's very easy to cause them damage. Sounds like you did brilliantly, no idea about reporting the product though, I think I would do, what was it out of interest?

I would t report the product unless I felt that it had been advertised as being for babies/ toddlers or was faulty. If it’s a brand of cereal marketed at infants I might report, but not if it’s standard cereal. No food comes with age-restricted warnings on it but as a parent you have to risk assess what you give your children. Grapes for example don’t have a warning on them, but most parents would cut in half before giving to small children. Similarly cherries don’t have a warning on but you would destone them before giving to a baby.

As a parent you should be able to use your common sense to know if something is unsuitable. If the cereal is made of big, hard pieces (Eg: golden nuggets, Choco rocks) it’s obviously not suitable for an infant. If it’s your first time buying the cereal you weren’t to know, but I think it would be overkill to report the cereal as it’s not usual for food to have a choking hazard warning on. It’s possible to choke on most things.

for you though as it sounds like a terrifying ordeal and I’m glad your DS is okay.

This is the cereal in question, it's the Aldi cheaper version of the Krave cereal. Amongst the sick, prices of what he had chewed there was a whole piece of his cereal, but it's been cleaned up now :( didn't think to take a picture.
I just think other parents should be warned about smaller children eating this cereal.
I didn't realise I knew how to stop a baby choking, I am going to book a first aid course next week as this has proper scared me :( my 8 year old son is also very upset, I think this is a good lesson for us all to learn to what to do in an emergency. He rushed to get my phone to ring 999, because it wasn't shifting at first :( maybe in future I could teach him to go and get help too :(

He is 3 in January, so not a tiny baby, he has grapes but cut in half and also mini eggs are banned from the house and he is never left unsupervised when he is eating

Most important thing is to get your child to the out of hours or walk in service to get checked out. That should be your main concern not whether or not to contact the supermarket.

This cereal is pretty obviously not aimed at toddlers. And anyone (child or adult) who swallows one of those whole with risk choking on it. Break them in 2 or supervise very closely if you feed it to your child again.

The reason I haven't taken him yet is, there are no marks on him, he throat isn't red and he has eaten some porridge later on, he is running around and playing like he normally is, he doesn't seem unwell, should I be taking him?

I feel really bad giving him this cereal but after checking with my other mum friends, they have also given it to their young children too

Good that you managed to get it out and yes, he may need a check if you really struggled to get the piece of cereal out.

But I don’t think this needs reporting, it is not advertised for young children and as people said above, there are no guarantees on what they can choke on or not. I will see it as lucky escape of strange accident.

I would let them know in an FYI way because your child was lucky he had you the next one might not be

They might just need to adjust the recipe to make it softer

When I did a paediatric first aid course we were told we should always get them checked out after a choking incident, even if you managed to clear it.

I wouldn't report it. I might if it was marketed at toddlers, but it's not, and frankly they can choke on anything.

Hope you're okay though OP

You need to get him medical attention asap - if you had to do the heimlich then he could have internal injuries too.

No harm in writing to the manufacturer to let them know too.

I'd email head office. I'm sure at some point there wasn't advice re grapes. I certainly didn't know about that when my ds was small!

It's up to them to investigate if danger or unfortunate accident.

Well done in acting so fast and getting it out. Totally agree you get him checked over now though.

Then come home and have yourself a well deserved large

Why on earth would you feed a 2 year old chocolate cereal?? It's clearly not aimed at toddlers so think yourself lucky that your toddler is ok and don't feed them cereal aimed at older kids and adults again - the sugar content alone should have made that obvious. Don't blame a supermarket for your parenting. Try a plain cereal like cornflakes, rice crispies.

Two year olds are not really toddlers though are they? They are supposed to be potty trained and doing university preparation by age two

It's so so scary. My DD choked on a bit of apple when she was 2, I have never been so terrified in my life, she's 11 now and i swear I'm still anxious when she eats one. When her brother was weaning I cut apple (and everything else) in to the most minute peices for him lol.

I wouldn't report that cereal, as it's not aimed at small children. Although my 3yr old sometimes has the Asda version and he won't be from now on so thank you for the warning!

Also, have you had your little one checked out? I'm sure the advice is after Heimlich people should be checked out by a doctor.

Please get him checked, OP, the main NHS website states:

"Abdominal thrusts can cause serious injuries. A health professional such as your GP or a doctor in A&E should always examine someone after they have received abdominal thrusts."

I would say that this is even more necessary in such a young child. Even if he seems fine there could be internal damage/bleeding which is not immediately obvious. The Heimlich manoeuvre is absolutely brutal, but very well done on doing it and getting it out.

In answer to your question, yes, I would report it to the manufacturers. Chances are it just a freak accident, but if another 20 people have reported it then there's a pattern. They won't know unless people tell them though.

Thank you op for warning us all. Hope your ds is ok and not to scared about what happened.

I would get your child checked out but I wouldn’t be reporting this to anyone.

I doubt many parents would be giving a toddler fake Krave! It’s not appropriate at all so I would not see the need to report.

Personally I'd wouldn't report as it's. It aimed a small children. There are so many things that kids, and adults, can choke on. It's our responsibility as parents to minimise that risk.

*isn't aimed at small children. Please excuse my typos!

I wouldn't give my toddler that type of cereal because of potential choking however anyone can choke on anything. What I do is warm up the milk so it melts the cereal for my little ones but mostly I give them weetabix because my greatest fear is one of them choking!

I wouldn't bother reporting them because it's common sense not to give that product to a small child.

Sorry you've had an awful experience I'd get little one checked over.

Definitely get little one checked out op even if he seems fine, like I said 111 told me it's needed after any intervention.