Tuesday, 22 March 2011
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My Worst Fear: Choking
My worst fear happened yesterday afternoon. Joey bit of a piece of pineapple that was to big for her to swallow and she choked. She began kicking her feet, so I immediately grabbed her out of her high chair and started the Heimlich for babies.
Well it wasn't the proper way. I put her over my shoulder almost upside down and started hitting her on the back with an open hand. Her head was lower than her chest. She spit up the piece of pineapple after seconds but what felt like minutes. She than was perfectly fine and I started shaking. The panic of what just happened set in after she was ok, which is better than it setting in during.Why I placed her over my should I don't know for sure, but I guess I feel I have more control holding her over my shoulder and I knew that you need to use gravity to help get the food out and the blows to back help loosen the food.
Joey is wonderful and of course wanted more food, in true 7 month old style!
Just a thought...
I feel CPR and baby Heimlich should be added to Lamaze classes. I think it is a vital tool to have in ones repertoire and 95% (not a true statistic) of new parents take Lamaze class, making it a perfect setting to teach CPR and Heimlich.Here's how to do it properly if you don't know already.
Choking Rescue Procedure (Heimlich Maneuver) - Baby (Younger Than 1 Year)
If the baby can cough or make sounds, let him or her cough to try to get the object out. If you are worried about the baby's breathing, call911.
If a baby can't breathe, cough, or make sounds, then:
- Put the baby facedown on your forearm so the baby's head is lower than his or her chest.
- Support the baby's head in your palm, against your thigh. Don't cover the baby's mouth or twist his or her neck.
- Use the heel of one hand to give up to 5 back slaps between the baby's shoulder blades. See picture C.
- If the object does not pop out, support the baby's head and turn him or her faceup on your thigh. Keep the baby's head lower than his or her body.
- Place 2 or 3 fingers just below the nipple line on the baby's breastbone and give 5 quick chest thrusts (same position as chest compressions in CPR for a baby). See picture D.
- Keep giving 5 back slaps and 5 chest thrusts until the object comes out or the baby faints.
- If the baby faints, call 911(if you haven't called already). Then:
- Do not do any more back slaps or chest thrusts.
- Start CPR. Each time you open the airway, look for an object in the baby's mouth. If you see the object, take it out. But if you can't see the object, don't stick your finger down the baby's throat to feel for it.
- Keep doing CPR until the baby is breathing on his or her own or until help arrives.
Picture C
Picture D
Do you know CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver? Where/when did you learn it? What's your worst fear and what are you doing to prevent it or the consequences of your worst fear?
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About the Author
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- From: crochet_n_babyhats@xanga
- About Me: I married my best friend and a wonderful man on August 9, 2008. On August 5, 2010 we welcomed our beautiful baby girl Josephine Ann and in November 2011 we will welcome a new bundle of joy to our family. I am a SAHM who enjoys doing anything outdoors. I love taking pictures, and crocheting blankets and baby hats. I am a huge dog person and I am pro-rescuing animals. We rescued our German-short haired pointer Willa and she has quickly become Joey's best friend.
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Comments (6)
My two year old isn't very good at chewing her food before swallowing. She's always choking on things. I usually make her bend over so her face is almost touching the floor and smack her back. It usually only takes 2 or 3 smacks to get it out. Sometimes she can cough it up on her own, too.
I learned CPR, when my daughter was in the NICU. They strongly suggested we take the class. That's been over two years, so I don't feel as prepared now. I would maybe need a refresher course. That is still one of my biggest fears. One of many.
As a healthcare worker, I learned all forms of CPR and Heimlich maneuvers and had to retrain every other year. My husband is in the Coast Guard, so those classes are also required annually for him as well, for care of all ages. I stopped working almost 2 years ago and haven't retrained since; however, when my husband retrains, he brings it home and we actually semi-practice on the kids (the choking anyway) - the kids think it's funny, and we obviously don't hurt them. I think practicing makes all the difference. We are both non-panickers so I feel comfortable that we would be able to take care of most situations.
If not Lamaze classes (which I never took), I think they should go over this with new moms in the hospital. I never even thought about this until my kiddo started choking on something, and I realized that I had no clue what to do. I knew my _What to Expect_ book had a section in it on this, but my first instinct is not to go grab a book when my kid is sitting there not breathing. Thankfully she coughed the object right out after a few scary seconds, but you'd better believe I jumped online to figure out what to do next time. I guess I probably need a refresher now that my kiddo is two-years-old. In fact, now that you posted this, I think I might go print out some choking instructions to hang on my fridge right next to the table and make sure everyone of my babysitters knows it's there. Great reminders! Thank you!
When I was a nanny, the two year old that I was looking after began choking on a piece of peanut butter sandwich. I didn't think, just reacted- reached in his throat and pulled it out, which is what I would do to my dog, and not proper technique at all, but it worked. The poor thing vomited on me and cried for a while, and I was shaky myself, but in the end everything was alright. But, when I am pregnant, I will definitely learn infant CPR and Heimlich maneuver.
I'm not a mom but my little sister is just turning 3 in July. She is allergic to nuts, particularly peanuts, so I always worried about that especially when I'm around her, especially when she was younger. I will worry about it as long as it's there, which looks to be a lifetime commitment. I know they have certain allergy therapy where they can expose someone with allergies to small amounts of their allergy, but I don't know if my mom would do that for her. I also worry about her choking because she will run while eating or sometimes won't swallow her food for extended periods of time.