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My current boss is a tad overcautious when it comes to things like children choking.
Now, I spend much of my time with friends who primarily did baby-led weaning with their kids. At 13 months old, my one friend's child still had NO teeth but ate regular table food- she just gummed at it.
Now, I understand certain foods can be choking hazards- such as grapes. However, there is a balance. I figure for the 3-4 year olds, halving the grapes (or quartering extra large ones) is enough. For the 1-2 year olds, quartering regular grapes should be sufficient. After all, if the parents are packing whole grapes in lunches, I assume the child is used to eating them whole at home.
But, no, the grapes are MINCED into a mush resembling salsa for 2-1/2 year olds.
But the icing on the cake was when we were told to start breaking up goldfish into small pieces for the 1 year olds- who were previously eating whole goldfish on their own without a problem. Apparently, one child burped/coughed while eating one. So now, the kids are reduced to eating goldfish crumbs. What's next? Teaching kids to lick their fingers to eat Cheerio dust off the table?
Personally, I don't jump every time a child coughs or gags while eating. I stand guard waiting to jump in in case the body's natural reflexes fail and the child DOES start choking. Once the brief moment passes, I reassure the child that s/he's ok, offer a drink, and give him/her a chance to catch a breath before allowing him/her a chance to continue eating. I'll also give a gentle reminder to slow down. I'm 26 and if I have a little air bubble or a tickle in my throat, I'm liable to cough or gag on my own food. It doesn't mean I'm choking.
I also know that fighting a child to eat can lead to more problems- including gagging and vomitting, but that doesn't mean a child dislikes the food or has a sensitivity to it. It may just be a power struggle. Recently, one of our 1 year olds gagged and threw up her yogurt (Trader Joe's whole milk greek yogurt with citrus and avocado- which my coworkers say she shouldn't have because it's 'adult' yogurt; I disagree). The child was very upset when she was being fed the yogurt and was fighting it; they were forcing the food into her mouth as she was crying and trying to turn her head away- I'm not surprised she threw up. In fact, she was so upset that she gagged again and threw up a second time.
My approach would have been to just leave the spoon and yogurt on the table and give her a chance to calm down- maybe let her try to feed herself. At the very least, stepping back for a moment to allow the child to calm down probably would have prevented her from getting sick.
We had one girl (almost 15 months) who fought eating everything until one of my other coworkers who normally doesn't feed her started stepping in and feeding her breakfast. We put a bib on her and give her a plastic spoon or fork and just ignore her. (And I'm not talking one of those 'forks' that's really a spoon with some superficial tines. I'm talking a child-sized fork that has blunted tines that she can actually use to stab food).
She even eats foods we previously assumed she "hated." It wasn't about foods at all. It was all a power struggle.
Now, I spend much of my time with friends who primarily did baby-led weaning with their kids. At 13 months old, my one friend's child still had NO teeth but ate regular table food- she just gummed at it.
Now, I understand certain foods can be choking hazards- such as grapes. However, there is a balance. I figure for the 3-4 year olds, halving the grapes (or quartering extra large ones) is enough. For the 1-2 year olds, quartering regular grapes should be sufficient. After all, if the parents are packing whole grapes in lunches, I assume the child is used to eating them whole at home.
But, no, the grapes are MINCED into a mush resembling salsa for 2-1/2 year olds.
But the icing on the cake was when we were told to start breaking up goldfish into small pieces for the 1 year olds- who were previously eating whole goldfish on their own without a problem. Apparently, one child burped/coughed while eating one. So now, the kids are reduced to eating goldfish crumbs. What's next? Teaching kids to lick their fingers to eat Cheerio dust off the table?
Personally, I don't jump every time a child coughs or gags while eating. I stand guard waiting to jump in in case the body's natural reflexes fail and the child DOES start choking. Once the brief moment passes, I reassure the child that s/he's ok, offer a drink, and give him/her a chance to catch a breath before allowing him/her a chance to continue eating. I'll also give a gentle reminder to slow down. I'm 26 and if I have a little air bubble or a tickle in my throat, I'm liable to cough or gag on my own food. It doesn't mean I'm choking.
I also know that fighting a child to eat can lead to more problems- including gagging and vomitting, but that doesn't mean a child dislikes the food or has a sensitivity to it. It may just be a power struggle. Recently, one of our 1 year olds gagged and threw up her yogurt (Trader Joe's whole milk greek yogurt with citrus and avocado- which my coworkers say she shouldn't have because it's 'adult' yogurt; I disagree). The child was very upset when she was being fed the yogurt and was fighting it; they were forcing the food into her mouth as she was crying and trying to turn her head away- I'm not surprised she threw up. In fact, she was so upset that she gagged again and threw up a second time.
My approach would have been to just leave the spoon and yogurt on the table and give her a chance to calm down- maybe let her try to feed herself. At the very least, stepping back for a moment to allow the child to calm down probably would have prevented her from getting sick.
We had one girl (almost 15 months) who fought eating everything until one of my other coworkers who normally doesn't feed her started stepping in and feeding her breakfast. We put a bib on her and give her a plastic spoon or fork and just ignore her. (And I'm not talking one of those 'forks' that's really a spoon with some superficial tines. I'm talking a child-sized fork that has blunted tines that she can actually use to stab food).
She even eats foods we previously assumed she "hated." It wasn't about foods at all. It was all a power struggle.
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