Ensuring that kids eat safely while you are providing care is incredibly important. Whether it is a baby who is new to eating solid foods or an older child who has been eating regular food for years, there are steps you can take to help ensure the safety of everyone involved!
The Scary Stuff
Choking is scary... period. Introducing finger foods to a baby over 6 months old is important, but there are some foods that are more risky than others. You can help by avoiding high-risk foods that have very little nutritional value (such as candy) and preparing appropriately the high risk foods that do have great nutrients (such as grapes).
Anyone can experience choking, but there are some foods that are riskier than others. These are usually foods that are small, slippery, round, and firm. These have a higher risk of entering and getting stuck in the breathing tube. Examples of food that fall into this category are:
- baby carrots
- whole nuts
- apples
- grapes
- pomegranate arils
Any food can cause choking, but most of the time, babies and children can gag the food forward before it gets into the breathing tube or cough the food pieces back out. However, the small, round, firm, and slippery foods are far more dangerous because they can get lodged and are difficult to expel from the airway, which can cause a true choking emergency.
What You Can Do
Before feeding a child any food that falls into the above category, be sure to evaluate the risk and take care preparing the food. Only give the food to the child if the parent asks you to and check out this resource from Solid Starts on food sizes and shapes to serve a baby at each age. Here are some ways to prepare the food for a baby, directly from the Solid Starts website:
- Apple: cook until very soft, mash, or slice into thin slices
- Blueberries: flatten between your fingers
- Carrots: cook until very soft and mash or slice lengthwise, grate raw carrot
- Celery: slice into half-moons and cook until soft
- Cheese: cut into thin slices
- Cherries: pit and quarter lengthwise once pincer grasp develops
- Chickpeas: smash or purée
- Corn: avoid loose kernel corn and serve on the cob instead
- Dried fruit: avoid
- Fish: de-bone thoroughly
- Grapes: quarter lengthwise once pincer grasp develops
- Melon: cut into thin slices (never melon balls or cubes) or offer just rind with thin layer of flesh
- Peanuts: finely grind and mix into other foods, spread peanut butter thin on other foods
- Peas: smash, mash, mix into a binding food like yogurt or mashed potatoes, smash once pincer grasp develops
- Pear: choose a very ripe pear or if it’s firm, cook until soft or serve in thin slices
- Nuts and seeds: finely grind and mix into other foods
- Nut butters: spread thin on other items or thin out with yogurt, applesauce, breast milk, or formula
- Oranges, tangerines, mandarins: supreme to remove membrane (watch video)
- Rice, barley, and grains: cook well, mix into a binding food like yogurt, allow to self-feed
- Sausage: quarter lengthwise
- Shrimp: cut lengthwise into quarters
- Strawberries: offer whole, very large, very soft berries that pass the squish test. To check if the berry is soft enough, press it between your fingers and make sure it gives under slight pressure. If you have to press hard for it to give, it is too firm. Smash or slice small, round strawberries
- Tomatoes: (cherry and grape): quarter lengthwise, wait for pincer grasp to develop
When in doubt, skip the food that falls into the high-risk category, and go for the softer, safer food that baby is used to. Parents are usually well aware of the high-risk foods and will ask that you only feed babies and toddlers food that they approve, which can be helpful if you are new to this process! Remember, you can make a big difference by preparing all food in advance to make it easier for children to feed themselves and chew well, which reduces the risk of choking.
For Resources and Additional Information:
Choking Hazards-CDC
Foods and Drinks to Limit- CDC
Food Sizes & Shapes to Serve Baby at Each Age - Solid Starts