Silly question re. choking (blw)

[islandbaby]

What is it that causes dangerous choking exactly... am I right in thinking it's big pieces of things that get lodged in the windpipe? It's not just bits of food that might get a bit stuck going down...

I've just started to let 5.5month DS play with food, but have been carefully monitoring him as don't like the idea of him having a chunk of food loose in his mouth until he's a bit older. So he'll suck on a crust of toast, but if a soggy bit breaks off into his mouth I tend to retrieve it. What are the chances he'd actually choke on a piece of soggy toast? He's also sucked a dry cracker, but when a bit broke off I swiped it out of his mouth too, and same goes for a strawberry when he'd sucked a pea-sized lump loose from the main fruit. Is he going to choke on a pea-sized lump of soft strawberry, or should I just let him have a go at swallowing it?

Sorry, this is such a badly formed post, but I'm really tired!

Just to add, he's a very strong little man. He's been sitting unsupported for a while now, and has had complete control over his head almost from the start (well, 1mo), and can manipulate food to his mouth pretty easily.

tbh he is more at risk from you trying to 'retrieve' it than he is from eating it himself...
have you done an infant resus course? most maternity hosps have them, and regardless of weaning it's a good thing for any parent to have under their belts.

They are pretty good at gagging back up anything that is too big to swallow. The only time my ds has ever struggled is when he been reclined back (in a car seat) and couldn't cough it up.

I'd avoid hard things like raw apple or carrot for now, and also round, wind-pipe sized things like graped or big blueberries (squash them or slice lengthways). Toast, soft fruit etc should be fine.

Yeah, I'm pretty careful not to stuff my fingers in his mouth and push anything in. It's more that when i see it's breaking off I just take it from his lips. Like I say, he's not having much.

Thanks AitchTwoOh, an infant resus course is a great idea, I did find out about one but haven't had the chance to check it out further. I think I would feel more confident then.

Thanks RitaMorgan, you're right. Good advice.

Have a look at the St Johns Ambulance website - they do infant first aid courses all around the country.

I agree with everyone else what you describe sounds perfectly safe - he won't choke on toast or strawberries. He probably will gag quite a bit when he does get lumps into his mouth but this is a healthy and normal response.

How is he going to learn how to manipulate food in his mouth, move it around, make it smaller and swallow if you keep hoyking it out?

Chocking is when food gets stuck in the airway and baby can't get air in and out. It is very rare.

Gagging is when they are trying to swallow something that is too big. A baby's gag reflex is much further forward on their tongue than ours, as a safety mechanism. WHich means they do gag, in our case quite often! I agree it is quite alarming at first, but I think, with solid food (we're doing BLW) it's a necessary process that they need to go through in order to learn how to manipulate food and how to eat.

You will probably feel safer if you do a first aid course. ALways feed baby with him sat upright. And as easy as it is to say and as difficult as it is to do, try to relax! Good luck.

Thanks. Yes, I totally agree that trying to take the food back out is bad practice, it's just getting over the hurdle of accepting that it's ok for it to be in there! But today he sucked off a bit of rusk, gagged on it for a while then swallowed and carried on sucking.

Don't retrieve it for him, but never leave him unsupervised with food. i.e in the buggy or car?