I think I'm unreasonably terrified of baby choking...

[Namechangegardens]

We will soon by weaning our DS at 6 months. The closer we get to the time, the more reading I have been doing about options. We are keen to start with tastes of puree/liquidised food, and build up from there.

Everytime I read about it, choking is at the forefront of my mind. I am a (non paediatric) medic and have refreshed my first aid knowledge, so would be able to attempt to deal with choking it it happened, but the whole idea is really putting me off and ruining the excitement for me.

I think the fact that a poor baby died from choking at a nursery in my home city is making me feel even worse - it was a terrible tragedy.

I have read what foods to avoid which has given me some reassurance. Strange to feel like this as I am generally quite a non anxious parent.

Did anyone else feel like this?

Yes. I did a first aid course before weaning DD for this reason. I remember the instructor asked every parent at the beginning of the session what they were interested in learning about in particular and every single parent said "choking".

I still kind of hover around when DD (now 5) is eating whole grapes. I'll probably stop supervising eating grapes when she's 18 or something.

With Ds I'm a bit more relaxed but I really need to refresh my first aid knowledge.

I think it's very hard to choke on purees and with finger foods I'm planning to give ds things that are cut into long but very thin pieces. Apparently if you do baby led weaning babies learn better how to deal with eating and are less likely to choke.

I think it's every parents' worst nightmare to be honest but I suspect that babies choking to death is still quite rare. (Or so I tell myself)..

I was the same before starting to wean but once you start it does get easier. Ease yourself in with purees before progressing to finger foods. Just remember they will gag a lot initially as well but tbh the louder the gag the better as choking is often silent so at least you'll know the difference. Also as a medic you'd be so well equipped in the event it does happen. I was also petrified of anaphylaxis to start with (even with relatively rare allergens) but I've eased up with that too, honestly it will happen naturally.

Have a look at Solid Starts website or Instagram.

It’s backed with paediatric advice, but it is a really useful guide to how to serve foods. Plus it shows you the difference between gagging and choking.

"According to ONS, 20 children under the age of 10 years old have died as a result of choking in the last 4 years. The majority are aged between 1 and 4 years old, usually when a child starts to eat solid foods."

That would include choking on toys, pen lids, small objects generally and not just food. While it is a risk, it's nowhere near as common a cause of death for small children as car accidents and you probably don't worry so much about driving her somewhere.

It's important to remember there is a difference between choking, and gagging. All babies will gag on food a lot when they're getting used to eating, that is normal and protective behaviour, it's not a bad thing to worry about. Take precautions, and as she gets older be cautious about things like marshmallows or popcorn as well as the commonly known grapes and chunks of apple and so on. When she's a toddler encourage her to stay sitting down when eating, rather than running around with mouthfuls of food.