When your Baby is Choking

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When baby starts eating solids, it is a very exciting milestone, but it can also be very scary because the threat of choking is very real. You should be prepared and know what to do in case your baby starts to choke—it could save your child’s life.

Coughing is how we get foreign objects out of our throat. If baby is coughing and can breath there is no need to interfere, but if baby is coughing for about three minutes then he is seriously choking and you need to help him immediately. When baby (under the age of one) is struggling to breath, turning blue, or unconscious you should follow these guidelines.

1. Get Help- If someone is with you have them call 911. If you’re alone, take baby with you to the phone and dial 911. The 911 operator will help you the best they can until help arrives.

2. Position Baby- Turn baby upside down, straddling your forearm at about a 60 degree angle. If baby is small enough you can sit down and this better supports you. If baby is too big you can hold baby on your lap at a 60 degree angle.

3. Back blows- Give five blows in a row to the back between baby's shoulder blades with the palm of your free hand. Back blows will usually help expel a foreign object. If object is still lodged, continue with chest thrusts.

4. Chest thrusts- If baby hasn't returned to normal breathing or the object hasn't shot out of baby’s mouth, turn baby’s face up and take your index and middle fingers and place them on the sternum bone in between the nipples. Do about five chest thrusts. If your baby is conscious, then you can repeat the back blows and chest thrusts until the airway has become clear. If baby has become unconscious, stop chest thrusts and back blows and do a foreign object check.

5. Foreign object check- If there is no sign that the object has been removed, check to see if an object can be seen. Open baby’s mouth and with your thumb hold down babies tongue and open the jaw and see if you can see anything. If you see something, try to remove it with the sweep of your pinky finger. Never ever try and remove a foreign object with anything besides your finger (i.e. pinchers, tongs or tweezers may seem like a good idea in a stressful situation, but they can push the foreign object farther down and make the situation worse).

6 Check the airway- If baby is still having trouble breathing, open the airway by doing a head tilt chin lift. Cover baby’s nose and mouth with your mouth and blow two rescue breaths by giving two slow, light breaths. If baby's chest moves up and down then baby’s airway is clear.

7. Repeat the steps.... Repeat the steps above until the foreign object comes out and baby is breathing on his/her own, or until the paramedics arrive and can take over for you.

Hopefully this doesn't happen to you, but it is always best to be prepared. So take a class at your local hospital or recreation center.

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