Yesterday was my husband’s birthday so we all went out for dinner to celebrate as a family. We went to a popular Japanese and sushi chain restaurant that we all love in our family.
Our kids were having a blast, picking colourful plates from the conveyor belt and trying to master the use of chopsticks. My husband and I were having a good chat and feeling proud of our kids who were very adventurous with their eating on this particular family outing.
Suddenly I felt something wasn’t quite right. Our nearly 4-yo has always been much quieter than her older brother, but this time it felt unnatural. She was looking down at her plate and I immediately knew something was happening.
I had recently attended a first-aid course with Daisy First Aid and I was aware of choking hazards such as nuts and grapes. Attending the course didn’t mean I no longer feared something going wrong but now I feel now more relaxed knowing that, although accidents are part of life, I have some knowledge on how to deal with them. You can read more about it here.
But what I didn’t realise before, is how this short course not only prepared me to react properly if something goes wrong but also, how to identify the situation early. I only needed to look at my daughter to know she was struggling.
If you’ve been lucky enough to never see anyone choking, here’s what I saw: She was looking down completely silent but her face had a terrified expression; her eyes were wide open and she couldn’t cough or make any noise. I immediately knew she couldn’t breathe.
I’m normally really careful with big items that could get lodged on the kids’ throats such as small tomatoes, grapes, whole nuts, etc. However, I didn’t realise something thin but tough to chew could be equally dangerous.
Our daughter was choking on a seaweed sheet, from her piece of sushi. When she finally managed to cough it out, it was a long and stringy piece and I could see she hadn’t managed to chew it at all.
I realise sushi is not a popular choice for kids and I don’t mean to make you paranoid about everything your kids eat; I know only too well how hard it is to make them eat something vaguely nutritious.
But I want to highlight that not only the ‘usual suspects’ are dangerous and we need to keep an eye on our kids when they are eating. Even older kids, our daughter is nearly 4!
Luckily, she managed to spit it out with a few back blows from my husband, who was sitting next to her. If you haven’t been to a pediatric first aid training, there are a few available in Poole. And you can find them at Poole Mumbler.
Or have a look online. Many ‘how-to’ videos explain what to do in these situations, depending on your child’s age.
Blog written by Maria Vargas.
