Anyone who has choked on food or saliva will tell you that it was a near-death experience, as if their life had flashed before them. At least, that’s how I’d describe the experience of choking. I choked on a fish bone once, and every time I think about it, I silently pray that I never have to go through that again.
If choking can be traumatic for adults, think about how it would feel for a child. For the child, it’s presumably a time when the voices around them fade away and they strive to concentrate all of their senses on one thing: survival! When this occurs, both the parents and the child may be distressed. As a parent, remaining calm can allow you to make more beneficial judgments that can salvage the situation. In this article, we will extensively review the actions to take in such a critical situation.
Recognize A Choking Child
Being a parent means that your attention is frequently split. Be it preparing a family meal, doing laundry, or caring for a sick child; a parent’s responsibilities are never-ending. However, it is very important to stay on top of things by regularly checking in on your children and monitoring what they are up to.
Everyone gets a universal cue when they choke, which you should watch for in your child. Some of the cues include:
- Gasping for air or struggling to breathe.
- Going mute – no speaking or crying.
- Grabbing at the throat or chest.
- Eyes wide with panic.
- Worst-case scenario: passing out.
However, children of different ages prefer to react in the best way they know how to express themselves in order to alert someone that something is wrong with them.
- Babies (under 1 year): Weak or no cough, bluish skin, limpness.
- Toddlers (1-3 years): Drooling, trouble swallowing, pointing at the mouth.
- Older kids: Noisy breathing, wheezing, struggling to cough effectively.
First aid for choking kids
Again, remaining calm is critical in this situation. The first thing you need to do is examine the issue. Is the child conscious and capable of coughing? Can the object be seen in the child’s mouth? If the answer is no, you may want to consider going to your local clinic. But, before you leave your house without slippers, try this with your child under the age of one.
- Lay the infant face down on your forearm, resting your arm on your thigh.
- Deliver 5 firm back blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand.
- Check the mouth for the object after each blow.
If the back blows didn’t work, try the chest thrust for a child under 1 year.
- Flip the child face up, head lower than the body.
- Place two fingers, center of the chest, below the nipples.
- Give 5 swift, inward compressions.
- Check the mouth after each thrust.
While back blows can be an effective approach for getting an object out of a child’s mouth, if your child is older than a year, you should seek an additional option. Try an abdominal thrust.
- Get behind them, either standing or kneeling, and give them a gentle hug with your arms around their waist.
- Form a fist with one hand, thumb inside, landing it just below the ribcage and above the navel.
- Lock onto that fist with your other hand and give a strong pull inwards and upwards.
- Go for the repetition – up to 5 times.
- Stay vigilant – check the mouth after each thrust.
If none of these recommendations were helpful, head to your nearest clinic for professional assistance. Additional advice for situations like these includes what you should and should not do.
Let’s look at a few of them
- Keep your fingers to yourselves. Avoid putting your fingers in the child’s mouth unless the object is clearly visible.
- The Heimlich maneuver, also known as the abdominal thrust, is not intended to be used on infants. So don’t even consider it as an option when back blows fail you.
- Always practice choking first aid; it’s like learning karate for parenting since you never know when your child might choke on a snack.
- As a parent, you should be familiar with CPR. It is true that signs of a child choking can include coughing, gasping for air, or having a widened eye. However, things might quickly turn catastrophic, such as the child being unconscious. So mastering CPR can literally save your child’s life when there is no medical assistant nearby.
