Strollerderby : choking

Talking Pets, the New Child Safety Gadget?

JeanneSager — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 19:13:00 GMT

My husband's fascination with talking animals was never enough to convince me we needed one (the first time I saw Salem the cat on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, I crossed myself like a good Catholic girl and started muttering the Lord's prayer). Then I heard about the parrot that saved a choking toddler in Denver last week. Maybe it's time to reconsider?

Babysitter Meagan Howard was using the bathroom when she heard Willie, her Quaker parrot, shrieking, "Mama, baby. Mama, baby." Howard rushed out of the bathroom to find her two-year-old charge, Hannah, turning blue. The girl had been eating a Pop Tart for breakfast, which Howard quickly dislodged from her throat with the Heimlich maneuver.

I know some of you will jump on the babysitter for walking out of the room, but it's easy in hindsight to say we should have our eyes on our kids every minute of the day. It's not that easy. Hence the reason I cried the day my daughter learned the crawl. She no longer stayed in one spot when I had to run for the phone. I actually feel a little safer leaving her alone in the room with the dog these days - my mutt has taken on the Nana role from Peter Pan, and she takes it very seriously. If my daughter trips, the dog runs over to soak her face in "kisses." If she tries making it for the front door, the dog barks her head off.

We probably don't have room for a parrot, what with the kid, the dog and four cats (oh, and the husband - can't forget him). But an extra set of eyes can't hurt.

Image: CBS4

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Child Safety, Child Schmafety

Boy Still Recovering After Grape Nearly Kills Him

Jen Chaney — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 18:32:00 GMT

We've all heard that certain foods, including grapes, can be potentially hazardous to feed to young children. Sadly, a California family found out the hard way just how unsafe they can be.

This story in the San Jose Mercury-News explores the difficult recovery still facing Judea Farrow, a 22-month-old who was clinically dead for more than 15 minutes after a grape, fed to him by a daycare center employee, got lodged in his throat. An emergency worker eventually was able to pull out the grape, saving the young boy's life. But he has since suffered some brain damage: He is unable to walk, swallow, smile or speak, but his parents remain hopeful that he'll slowly get closer to normal functioning.

It's a sobering reminder that certain foods present particular choking hazards, especially if they aren't served in appropriately small portions. The Mercury News mentions hot dogs, popcorn and bay leaves, in addition to grapes. This 2007 article from Consumer Reports lists others to look out for, as well as guidelines to follow to make sure your kids swallow safely.

We tend to pay close attention every time a toy gets recalled for being a choking hazard, and for good reason. But the truth is that our kids are more likely to choke on a piece of food, something we sometimes tend to forget. Here's hoping we all remember, and that Judea Farrow's story eventually has a happy ending.

Boy saves friend using Heimlich maneuver

Brett Singer — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:30:00 GMT

Remember the Heimlich? Remember the posters that were up in your lunchroom? I don't think they are anymore, but some kids are still aware of the life-saving technique.

Ryan Lim, a 10-year-old boy from Boca Raton, Florida, dislodged a piece of carrot from classmate Maranda Parliament's throat in the lunchroom at Del Prado Community Elementary School. Lim said, "I was, like, hearing her coughing, and she didn't feel so well, so I turned around when I heard the coughing because she was choking." (I love how they quote him so, like, exactly, y'know?)

Lim said that he heard about the Heimlich maneuver on television.

While this is, of course, a nice story with a happy ending, it got me a little bummed out that the classic poster isn't hanging up in schools anymore. I myself had the Heimlich used on me in 2nd grade; a friend of mine heard me cough, saw the Heimlich poster and leapt into action. I wasn't choking as it turned out, but if I had been, believe me, I would have been grateful.

Asked about a reward, Lim said, "The best thing is to do good deeds. That's really the reward." That's true, but somebody should take this kid to a baseball game or something. He deserves it.

image: umich.edu

Coin-Eating Kids: Something Must Change

Karen Murphy — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 12:52:00 GMT

My younger daughter is really oral. Still. And at five, she was really oral. Even though she spent three and a half years with a nipple in her mouth (mine, not somebody's random one because that would just be weird). Some kids are just oral like that, mouthing things, carrying things in their mouths, all that. So it was no surprise when one day she had a nickel in her mouth for awhile, just sitting there calmly, and then all of a sudden no one could find it anywhere, so the only possible explanation was that it had been swallowed. So we waited patiently but it was never recovered.

But lots of kids require surgery or other emergency procedures from swallowing coins or other little appealing objects.

Take New Zealand, for example. Go ahead, take it. I'll wait.

Okay, ready?

Yeah. New Zealand. A couple of doctors at Starship Children's Hospital took a look at the past couple of years of data on stuff kids had swallowed and had this to report:

Most swallowers were of preschool age.
The average age was three.
They especially liked the ten-cent coins (I like dimes myself).
Hardly anybody swallowed those humongous fifty-cent pieces.
Preschoolers swallowed other stuff too. Shiny! They like shiny!
Grade school kids swallowed a fair number of fish bones.
Okaayyy.
And beads. In kids' ears. And noses.
That reminds me—I told my son not to put that bean in his nose and of course he did.
(Tweezers.)
1/5 of those kids up there (or down under, actually) required surgery.
And 1/3 needed an ear, nose, and throat procedure.
Ouch.

Kidding! The doctors actually didn't say all that.

But, you know, hello, chokable. And x-rayable. So that nice dish of coins we have sitting out where everyone can reach them? Should probably not be there. Except my oral kid isn't so oral anymore, but there's her unpredictable little brother who would probaby like nothing more than to drop those coins down the heater vents, one by one, to hear the metallic clanking sounds, but you never know, he could eat some too.

And so could your kid, so lock up your money! If you haven't already, which you probably have, and I'm like the last parent in the universe to have loose change lying around like that, so irresponsible!

photo: Timaru Herald