At 7 months of age, half of all infants were offered food that posed a choking risk – which increased to nearly all infants at 12 months of age. That was in both groups – a finding that alarmed the researchers. The majority of the choking events happened when the babies were feeding themselves, again, regardless of the group they were assigned to.
The most commonly offered foods posing a choking risk were nuts and grapes, raw vegetables, raw apple, hard fruit, citrus fruits unless each segment is peeled, popcorn, sausages, carrots or other food cut into rounds or coins. At 7 months of age, this was teething rusks for both groups, followed by hard crackers and raw vegetables. At 12 months, hard crackers were the most commonly offered food posing a choking risk.
“Parents receive a wealth of information in the first year of their child’s life,15 and it is possible that messages about food-related choking are overshadowed by other topics such as breastfeeding and safe sleeping practices or that the information is not easily applied,” they state. “Advice on modifying foods that pose a choking risk may be beneficial, especially where healthful foods (eg, raw vegetables) are involved, because parents may not want to limit these foods in their infant’s diet or in shared meals. Advice to avoid raw apple may be particularly important because previous BLW research indicated it was the food most commonly associated with choking.8 ”
So parents – you do need to be vigilant about the choking risks associated with different types of foods. Close supervision is the best thing you can do for your child when they are eating. Extra coaching and support about how to minimise choking would be fantastic for new parents, especially those wanting to go the Baby-Led Weaning route. But you can rest assured that baby-led weaning, when practiced safely, poses no greater risk of choking to your child than babies who are spoon-fed.
Read the full study here:
A Baby-Led Approach to Eating Solids and Risk of Choking. Louise J. Fangupo, Anne-Louise M. Heath, Sheila M. Williams, Liz W. Erickson Williams, Brittany J. Morison, Elizabeth A. Fleming, Barry J. Taylor, Benjamin J. Wheeler, Rachael W. Taylor
Hannah Schenker is a freelance writer, editor and regular contributor to The Natural Parent Magazine. She lives with a touch of magic in Golden Bay, New Zealand.
