| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 1:13:39 PM | I did a thread search and couldn't find anything on this....
I found out last night that the daycare that I take my children to have been feeding the 1 to 2 year olds Sun Chips for a snack. They said they crush them up so they won't choke on them.
It was my understanding that crushed or not, chips are a choking hazard for children under the age of 5.
When I talked to the Center Director about this she said the menu had been approved by their nutritionist and she didn't have a problem with them giving Sun Chips.
Can someone give me some insight into this?
Thanks! | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 1:50:30 PM | Yes it is a choking hazard!
More importantly though, what happened to the fruit and veggie snacks? | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 1:58:13 PM | The Center Director doesn't know that nutritionist know about the nutritional value of meals and not the hazards? I doubt the nutritionist made any comment at all about whether it is approriate to give chips to toddlers.
I did a quick google (using "child chokes on chips") and the first page of links included 6 articles which specifically listed chips as a choking hazard in the first sentence. BTW the recommended age for allowing chips in the diet was indeed 5-y-o. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 1:59:29 PM | | Everything can be a choking hazard... no matter what's on the menu at the daycare, they could potentially choke on it. I would over think this too much, or if you have an issue with it, send along your own food. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 2:13:29 PM | Yes, hooked, everything CAN be a choking hazard, even a child's own spit...but that doesn't mean that we need to tempt the posibility of our children dying from something that should be pretty obvious.
A child could cut themselves with a piece of paper, but that doesn't mean I am going to give them a knife.
I am not trying to be sarcastic or rude, just stating my opinion. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 3:29:56 PM | | Just tell them you do not want your child having chips. It is probably not so much even the chips that are the hazard it is the way children eat, shoving handfuls into their mouths instead of a chip at a time like adults and older children. I would say it depends on the child but at a year or two, you are probably correct. They either respect your request or you find a new daycare which you might want to consider now anyway as the director has probably lied just to get you to leave it alone instead of taking your concerns seriously. Not someone I would trust with my child, in addition to the apparent lack of common sense and the potential for legal liability if something should happen to a child under her care. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 3:46:43 PM | | LMAO crushed Sun Chips as a choking hazard? Don't really think so... I'd be more concerned about the dietary issues of feeding a one year old chips. I also think if a parent thinks this is a choking hazard, the next 18 years are going to be brutal for you... a two year old could also choke on an apple, but I'd still give my child one. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 4:17:54 PM |
Yes, hooked, everything CAN be a choking hazard, even a child's own spit...but that doesn't mean that we need to tempt the posibility of our children dying from something that should be pretty obvious.
If you don't want to tempt the possibility of your child dying, especially from crushed chips, then I suggest inserting a feeding tube and letting them eat that way. Like I said before anything they eat can be a hazard, so anytime they put anything in thier mouths they are "tempting the possibility" of choking. Why put such a big focus on the chips?
Why not just wrap all the kids in bubble wrap too? | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 5:00:18 PM | Grapes are far more of a choking hazard than Sun chips are.
So much for the benefits of fruit snacks, eh? | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 7:09:42 PM | So many terrible things can happen...if you don't try to put things in perspective, you will find parenting VERY stressful.
Most daycare staff are also trained in CPR for infants and children...are you? IF something like a choking incident happened, does it not give you some peace of mind to know that they are trained to respond and could prevent the ultimate tragedy of death or severe brain damage? Could YOU?
I really don't think I would be overly concerned with crushed sunchips as a choking hazzard.
At my daughter's daycare, the staff sit with the children (ratio of 1-5), they limit the intake by only giving them a bit at a time....they monitor how they are eating very carefully. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 7:15:27 PM | I wouldn't be as concerned about the choking hazards of crushed chips as I would be about the nutritional value.
My son is almost 10 months old, only 2 months younger than some of these children that are apparently eating these "chips". He eats Rice Rusks and Cheerios which wouldn't be any larger than a crushed Sun Chip (I don't imagine?)
I agree with the others regarding the fruit. There are MANY snacks out there for children that would be of far more nutritional benefit than "chips". They're going to be vying for those things at teens, feeding it to them now just encourages the development of poor eating habits. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/6/2009 8:36:48 PM |
So many terrible things can happen...if you don't try to put things in perspective, you will find parenting VERY stressful.
I completely agree. Plus, my child didn't have teeth until she was a year and a half. She would have been limited to not very many foods if I worried about choking. She ate everything: steak, apples, all sorts of vegetables.
I also agree with the posters who indicate the lack of nutritional value is the real concern. Chips should be an occasional snack given by parents, not by a daycare. Seems like a strange choice to me--especially considering this sounds like an institution daycare rather than out of someone's home.
Nutt | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/7/2009 7:08:46 AM | I see everyone's point. I guess it is just a matter of opinion on this. I have seen lots of articles saying that chips should not be given. Even in high school health classes they are taught that chips should not be given to kids under the age of 5...but I guess that doesn't keep some people from doing it.
My son has his 1 year check up tomorrow. I think I will just ask my pediatrician what her opinion is and then go off of that.
So, since everyone is talking about nutritional value, etc. Can you guys give me some ideas for different snacks that the daycare could give that would be nutritional. The Director and I talked about trying to come up with some different ideas for snack time and I would love to hear some ideas.
Thanks for responding!!!! | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/7/2009 3:27:38 PM | | peeled and halved grapes, bananna slices, yougurt, a fresh berry mash, pedia sure .. the list is endless! | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/7/2009 3:51:56 PM | You better invest in a blender and get straws but not really long straws, they are a choking hazard. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/7/2009 3:55:37 PM | Carol, anything that's healthy can be used as a snack. Snack just means little bit rather than full meal. Cheerios are ok, bananas, apples or any type of fruit. Try googling nutritious snacks, I'll bet there will be lots.
Nutt | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/7/2009 4:47:30 PM | | I can't say whether it is or not, but if u don't feel comfortable with them feeding them sun chips let them know and ask that they offer them something else, something healthier. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/7/2009 5:46:38 PM | | come on OP,anything and everything can be a choking or potentially hazardous to a child under 5.but are you gonna be one those parents who puts a helmet and bubble wrap on their kid before they go outside.lol | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/7/2009 5:47:50 PM | Why on earth would a daycare feed chips to a toddler???? My kids used to get yogurt, graham crackers or sliced bananas at that age.
But basically if you can put it in your mouth you can choke on it no matter how old you are. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/7/2009 6:02:05 PM | If a child is eating a healthy well-balanced variety of foods, then their nutritional needs are being met. Teaching children to eat "treats" in moderation is also a good idea in my opinion but before my kids reached the age of two, I avoided almost all non-nutricious snacks. As my children got older, I introduced the "junk food" but in moderation.
Some children can deal, others can't. My son would take 4 days to finish a box of smarties...my son will still grab a handful of raw carrots to munch on or a piece of fruit, bypassing the cookies altogether. My daugher is another story altogether, she will eat em all up and want more in 5 minutes. So of course, I don't have "junk" in my house when my daughter is here (or it is hidden away) because if she sees it, it is all she wants to eat. Out of sight...out of mind.
If you google nutricious snacks for toddlers...you will find a lot of really good ideas. Maybe print some out and bring to the daycare. I guess I am lucky because my daughter's daycare follows the Canada Health Food Guide, they have a cook who prepares all the children's meals and they never get what I would consider 'junk' to eat. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/8/2009 8:41:44 AM | | Carol27, I would be much more concerned about other things that are potentially worse as a choking hazard ie: hot dogs, hard candy, etc. I don't think you should be worried about your child choking on a chip. I do speak from experience, not only am I a paramedic as my name implies but am also the mother of 2 children - 17 and 7. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/8/2009 11:18:33 AM | Yes, I did check to see about the hotdogs and the daycare does not feed the kids hard candy, neither do I.
I guess one of the reasons I am very leary of this is because my daughter, who is now 6, choked very badly on a chip once when she was little and it was an extremely scary incident.
Another reason is because my son is very small for his age. He is a year old and usually people think he is only about 7 months old. He is healthy, and is on target developmentally, but in size he is very small. He only has one tooth so he doesn't have much to chew with. | |
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| Is it a choking hazard or not?
Posted: 1/8/2009 4:47:06 PM | | I understand your fear of choking having gone through it already. My son choked on a piece of bacon in a blt sandwich that was not cooked to crisp. My daughter choked on a grape and an apple. The possibilities of choking are there almost every time they put something in their mouth. I might suggest that maybe you help your children learn to take small amounts at a time and to chew carefully. | |
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