Choking Up

re: Choking Up

Ana — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:05:06 GMT

isn't that the scariest thing ever, same thing happened to my now 6 month old when she was about 3 months except it was breast milk-who knew even the fluids could be that dangerous. We layed down in bed together as i was nursing her and she fell asleep sort of sideways with a pillow propped behind her so I didn't burp her-big mistake. Well I woke up in the middle of the night to move her to her little side bed which is attached to ours and i guess she some air tried to come out pushing milk into her air passageway. It was so horrifying and I was just paralyed- all i could do was say was she's chocking, my husband woke up immediately and did the back thumping thing but it still took some(very loonng) seconds for her to start breathing again, with watery eyes and curdled milk coming out of her nose and everything. Good thing i read this though, I'm definitely going to watch out for the chewables when she's started on those.

re: Choking Up

jenbrooke — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:45:23 GMT

Oh gosh, I am so sorry for that choking scare. The thought terrifies me. I took CPR about a week after Mathis was born and we got a take-home poster which has the most complicated series of steps ever. I really think I should take another class. Also, we took Mathis swimming this weekend in Texas and that scares me a lot too.

re: Choking Up

Kat — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:50:03 GMT

When it happened to my son, I was so freaked out that I didn't take time to get him out of his high chair. I flipped the entire high chair upside down, with him still in it, to get the food out of him. I was holding him, not the chair, but you get the idea.

Scary, scary, scary.

re: Choking Up

knockedup — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:58:30 GMT

Padding is a great idea, chochomom and K. Thanks!

re: Choking Up

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:04:38 GMT

Our little guy used to hate having his helmut on in the chariot as well. I found that the trick is to put a folded blanket behind his back (pretty much across the entire back of the chariot - but below the helmut level). This gives him some clearance behind him for the back of his helmut (his helmut goes out at least 3 inches from his head!). Now he goes in happily!

re: Choking Up

chochomom — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:24:49 GMT

OMG, I have to retake a CPR course. How scary. Regarding the bike ride incident, have you tried adding some padding or a body support for him. The little guy looks like he's drowing in there.

re: Choking Up

Cara — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:57:44 GMT

My daughter chokes on stuff every day, although never quite that bad, and every time I think I HAVE to go take the CPR class so I can save her if/when it is ever crucial. Somehow, I still haven't done it. I think I'm in denial.

re: Choking Up

zellmer — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:30:33 GMT

This same thing happened to me yesterday, only with a biting biscuit. Word of caution: take those away once they get too small. I had to turn my little fatso over and two back blows chunked it out onto the floor. All this after my husband slipped on some moss while carrying him in his backpack and nearly dropped him on his head onto the concrete. I swear, life with a baby this age is a constant pursuit of keeping them alive.

re: Choking Up

LauraLaura — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:02:47 GMT

Yikes. I confess I haven't taken the baby CPR class yet (and the kid is nine months old today! mother of the year!), but now I just signed us both up. Thanks for the reminder, and I'm so glad Axel is okay. It must be very comforting to have an EMS guy in the house.

re: Choking Up

knockedup — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:25:45 GMT

JuJu, that's just one more reason that we should do away with the penny. Seriously, who needs it?

It's scary how common choking incidents are!

re: Choking Up

Toni — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:49:12 GMT

Omg how scary. I think we as parents have that happen when they are so young and things its a good idea to cram as much food in their mouth as they can. So far cheddar bunnies have been doing good with us but when my daughter was small grapes were our nemesis and always had to be cut in 4 pieces.

re: Choking Up

Ashers mom — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:13:00 GMT

Ours wasn't cheddar bunnies, but the bunny grahams. And the helmet thing does get better. We made sure we wore ours so Asher could see "that everyone's doing it".

re: Choking Up

EG — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:40:24 GMT

Oh my gosh, I was watching Little Man eat carrots the other day and running through that infant CPR stuff in my head. Then I was trying to remember if the back blows thing only goes to age 1. But it seems like the kid in the video was older.

We'll definitely take that class every time we're pregnant. The childbirth class we won't do again. I couldn't stop laughing through the whole thing. The supportive sensitive husbands amused the crap out of me.

Anyway, that's off-topic. Very glad to hear that Axel is okay.

re: Choking Up

hippygoth — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:14:48 GMT

Oh, man, that is so scary. I want to re-take CPR, I did all that years ago when I was in day care, and I read about it again when I got pregnant, but I haven't actually gotten certified in years. It's so terrifying - I'm glad you're all okay.

re: Choking Up

Mo'mama — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:14:12 GMT

OK, now I'm choking up. Just the thought is too scary. Baby CPR refresher is now on the top of my to-do list.

I'm going to bookmark this infant CPR video I found on the Internets, too:

depts.washington.edu/.../infant-cpr-video.html

re: Choking Up

Joanie — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:35:24 GMT

I had a choking incident in a restaurant, and my baby actually turned blue. I stayed calm enough to give her a terrific thump on the back, which made the french fry piece fly out of her mouth. She started crying, which made me so relieved I cried a little myself.

re: Choking Up

Marie Eve — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:32:13 GMT

Terrifying. My son choked two (relatively) serious times I think, and both times I was alone, and couldn't honestly remember a-ny-thing I had read about the Heimlich thing. My instinct was to stick a finger down his throat too, I'm not sure if it's right, but hey, it worked.

Only after these incidents did I really understand the meaning of "seconds lasting like centuries."

Don't worry about the other incidents (pinched hand, etc.), I think it's just a phase they're going through when they become vertical, suddenly they're just these terribly accident-prone little fast-and-furious beings. In our house, we've had a can of maple syrup falling on his foot incident, at least two instances of stuck fingers/hands, and even a accidental stepping on his toes with a heel (I would be the guilt-ridden culprit for that).

re: Choking Up

Liz — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:30:34 GMT

Once I gave my 11 month old raisins. Yes, I am a moron. Anyway, she did the same choking thing, I grabbed her, threw her upside down and then she threw them up into the sink. Of course, after that incident, I read in every baby book and every handout from my pediatricians to stay away from chokables like grapes, hot dogs, popcorn, raw carrots, apples, and of course, raisins. It was five years ago and it still makes me panic when I think about it.

re: Choking Up

Melissa — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:06:45 GMT

Scary being responsible for someone's life, huh? It sometimes scares me more to think about the bumps and bruises to come in the future, than the ones we've already survived. I'm already fearing pee wee football injuries, broken bones and stitches and he's not even 2.

re: Choking Up

mamatulip — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:43:24 GMT

Rattles you to your core, doesn't it? I had a similar experience and it played out almost the exact same way, except Dave stuck his finger down Julia's throat and fished whatever was in there out instead of doing back blows.

I took CPR classes at 8 months pregnant as well and it surprised me how quickly I forgot ALL OF IT.

re: Choking Up

Lisa G. — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:35:31 GMT

Oh geez, this happened to us LAST NIGHT. My nearly-11-month-old grabbed a too big piece of apple and yeah... I totally cried after he coughed it up. And my husband? Calm and collected as well.

So don't be hard on yourself, you're not alone!

re: Choking Up

Sara — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:32:14 GMT

Scary! I never even took a baby CPR class while pregnant. I so should. The last CPR class I had was when I was about 13 to get an official babysitting certification. Yikes. At least everything was pretty immediately all fine and good and no four hour stints in the ER were necessary. I'm still reeling from our hummus episode, and my husband still freaks out if he thinks I'm giving Michael some "new" food, which totally doesn't help.

re: Choking Up

JuJu — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 02:40:22 GMT

I had to do the baby heimlich not once, but TWICE on my 3rd kid - once it was a penny (!) and the other a wad of carpet. *shudder* Not sure where she got the penny, but you can bet all change was banned from our house. Couldn't get rid of the carpet though, we lived in military housing and that kinda had to stay.