My kids have choked and needed the Heimlich maneuver 3 times. That\u2019s right, 3 times! This technique is a procedure where you use abdominal thrusts to remove foreign objects from a person\u2019s airway to save them from choking.<\/p>\n
My first child was 2 when he crammed too much soft, squishy bread in his throat. Thankfully his father noticed and jumped to his rescue. Once on a sunny day at the park, my daughter gagged on an orange wedge. When I saw her panicked face, I also panicked and turned to my best friend for help. My\u00a0daughter cleared the orange on her own that time, but later choked on green beans twice (and she wasn\u2019t just trying to get out of eating them!). The first time my friend used the Heimlich maneuver to pop out those beans \u2013 and the second time I did.<\/p>\n
Kids choke on all kinds of things. Common choking hazards are round things that plug the airway like hotdog slices, grapes, marbles, coins, disc batteries, peanuts, popcorn and pieces of dog food (yup \u2013 kids will taste the dog\u2019s<\/a> food if they get a chance!)<\/p>\n As I learned, non-round foods can also be choking hazards when too much is shoved in at once. Some common offenders are raw veggies, peanut butter, meat, cheese, and chewing gum. Kids can also choke on any small thing they stick in their mouths \u2013 toys, rubber bands, hair clips, and buttons. Often these items can be removed by using the Heimlich maneuver.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, one of the deadliest choking hazards\u00a0are latex\u00a0balloons (and gloves) \u2013 these do not come out easily with abdominal thrusts.<\/p>\n My kids\u2019 father, our friend, and I all knew how to save my kid\u2019s lives because our jobs (teacher, flight attendant, and pediatrician) required us to be trained in CPR, including the Heimlich maneuver. Children choke \u2013 often! Learn how to use the Heimlich maneuver, or even better, get CPR\u00a0certified (contact your local American Red Cross for classes) so that you too can save a life \u2013 your child\u2019s or another\u2019s.<\/p>\n American Red Cross<\/a><\/p>\n Choking Prevention<\/a> My kids have choked and needed the Heimlich maneuver 3 times. That\u2019s right, 3 times! Here’s how to keep your kids safe from choking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[96,311,312,313,310,267],"class_list":["post-1717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-safety","tag-child-safety","tag-choking","tag-choking-hazards","tag-cpr","tag-heimlich","tag-nutrition","ages-all-ages"],"metadata":{"_edit_lock":["1732295814:6"],"_edit_last":["6"],"_thumbnail_id":["1721"],"slide_template":["default"],"video_format_choose":["youtube"],"_custom_body_class":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["90"],"qode_animate-page-title":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-text":["no"],"qode_show-page-title-image":["no"],"qode_show-sidebar":["default"],"qode_hide-featured-image":["no"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_ages":["294"],"_wp_old_date":["2018-10-23","2018-10-25"],"wpfp_favorites":["34"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1732295919"],"ase_chapter_enable_timeline":["off"],"_wpb_vc_js_status":["false"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":["[]"],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":["[\"\"]"],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["3"],"_yoast_wpseo_wordproof_timestamp":[""],"_wp_old_slug":["how-to-save-a-life-prevent-choking"],"_yoast_post_redirect_info":["a:4:{s:6:\"origin\";s:49:\"pediatricsblog\/how-to-save-a-life-prevent-choking\";s:6:\"target\";s:42:\"pediatricsblog\/keep-kids-safe-from-choking\";s:4:\"type\";i:301;s:6:\"format\";s:5:\"plain\";}"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":["keep your children safe from choking"],"_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":["Kids choke on all kinds of things (foods, toys, balloons - even dog food!) Here's how to keep your children safe from choking."],"_yoast_wpseo_linkdex":["74"],"ase_map_component_start_point":["a:2:{s:3:\"lat\";d:29.76;s:3:\"lng\";d:-95.38;}"],"ase_mapbox_style":["openstreet"]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1717"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4721,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1717\/revisions\/4721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kpthrivingfamilies.org\/pediatricsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Keep your children safe from choking by:<\/h3>\n
\n
Resources for Parents:<\/h3>\n
American Academy of Pediatrics<\/h3>\n
\nResponding to a Choking Emergency<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"