It is natural for parents to start their babies on solid foods as they get older. There is no specific food recommended; it is usually based on what the toddler likes and what is healthy. One of the most nutritious foods for an infant or any individual is fruit. One of the most common snacks given to toddlers as they start to eat solid foods is grapes. When parents give their toddlers food, their first precautions are to make sure that the food is easily chewable and not a swallow hazard. This precaution can extend into preschool children’s age, around 4 to 5 years of age. This is why most parents will cut up foods that are choking hazards into small pieces. An example of a food that is usually cut up is a hot dog. The foods that parents try to avoid giving their children that are high-risk choke hazards or nuts and popcorn.
A recent story that displayed grapes can be lodged into a child’s throat if they are not cut up as well. This was found out because a preschool-age child that was five years old in this story had a throat X-ray done and it was found that a grape was lodged in the throat area. A mother named Angela is warning every mother in America about the choking hazards associated with children eating whole grapes. Her five-year-old toddler was a victim and could have died from choking on a grape. The toddler was very lucky that the great did not occlude his entire airway. This situation was dire and a five-year-old boy had to be rushed into emergency surgery to have the grape removed. Angela immediately took to Facebook and shared her story and her son’s x-ray to warn other parents about the dangers of young children eating whole grapes.
The Facebook post that Angela posted shows the X-ray of the boy’s throat and she let the parents know how serious the surgery was. She also let the parents know that the grape could have killed her son if she and the medical professionals did not react in such a swift manner. She also warned parents that they might think that their children are swallowing their food completely, but some are not. Things such as going to the playground to hang with friends and other distractions can cause a child to be in a rush while eating lunch and they can just swallow foods such as grapes whole. In the Facebook post, Angela also stated that if you are a parent and have any second thoughts, if your child has any difficulty swallowing or will try consuming foods such as grapes or baby tomatoes whole, you should cut them up just to be on the safe side.
