How can a pea be a choking hazard?

[deborah_r]

I saw in Super Baby Food that she says whole peas are a choking hazard. Anyone think this is just poppycock? (Now *there* is a choking hazard: poppycock!) it seems to me they are small enough and soft enough to just go down if the baby doesn't chew them.

I am willing to accept I am wrong and she is right, but would like to hear what other people think. She just seems kind of cautious on some things, and not cautious enough on others...

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I think the problem is that they are small enough and round enough that they can be aspirated into the lungs.

I always smash canned peas so they are not round before I give them to her. I don't feed frozen peas or fresh peas at all because they are more firm.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[jd11365]

Personally, I think they are fine...but I'm no expert and don't want to tell you what to do. Kayla is a great masher of food...and I'm rarely nervous anymore of her choking because she loves to chew...of course I don't feed her large round objects either. I do however give her large chunks of food that are much larger than a pea, so I don't know how a pea could do much harm. I guess since they technically could choke she might not want to support the idea and risk a lawsuit or something...

Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
5-1-03

[etwahl]

at what age are they deemed safe whole? because i have always given peas whole and still do. should i change this?

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[bluej]

Using Jamie's words....Ryden is a great masher of food as well. The boy loves to chew. Sometimes he even spits out his food to examine it, plop it back in and chew some more. So I give him whole peas. And yes, most of his food chunks are much larger than pea size. You know Kai best and know whether he can handle peas whole or not. I'm guessing since you think it's 'poppycock' (LOL!), Kai is handling whole peas just fine!

[deborah_r]

she says not until they are 3 years old...

[mharling]

When Lane first started eating peas, I would squish them between my thumb and forefinger. So, technically, he still got them whole, but there were smushed a little bit. I have been giving them to him whole/not smushed for a while now. I agree that it all boils down to your comfort level.

Mary
Lane 4/6/03

[mharling]

3?????? That definitely sounds like poppycock to me.

Mary
Lane 4/6/03

[lynettefrancois]

When I was a kid I got a piece of hard candy stuck in my throat while riding in the car and it would NOT go down (it felt like it was cutting me, but I had no drink to help swallow it until we could stop the car). Bad experience! As an adult, I've choked on a peppercorn before just because it was hard and hit a very soft spot in the back of my throat... and it's at least 1/4 the size of a pea! I choked for 5 or 10 minutes on that, despite 2 glasses of water. I think it has more to do with the relatively stiff outside, kind of like grapes. Also, my mom choked once on a Junior mint (again, a round hard thing), and she and I both agree that if I hadn't been there to pound on her, she would have suffocated! That is about the same size comparatively as a pea to a baby, I think. I'm no expert at all but I wouldn't risk it personally... it only takes a few seconds to smash peas with a fork! Although, I guess it depends how tough the outsides are. Tough peas? :)

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

but I don't think it is as much bout the size of it as it is about the texture or what...for some reason you do hear about peas going in the lungs...I remember a few cases from the hospital and when I eat them I always think about that.

Now Tristan eats many things larger than a pea, and I don't worry aobut much, but for some reason peas and corn do bring up that "feeling" in me of aspiration.

I squish peas...why I don't really know...why they make me feel this way I don't really know but I look forward to someone telling us why, I bet someone here will know...

I always thought it was just me, or maybe as a child this happeend to me, but Steve and I had this conversation tonight when he tried to give Tristan corn...I won't let him...

Again we give many bigger items it's jsut a feeling about peas and corn with me for some reason...so this interest me a lot now in this thread....
Neve
http://home.nc.rr.com/ourbabytristan
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[deborah_r]

Maybe it is about the skins. She does say to use the canned peas instead of frozen because the frozen peas have the tougher skins. Normally frozen veggies are recommended over canned, nutritionally, so the tough skins makes sense.



Well, while we are talking about it, here are the other choking hazards she mentions...since I'm copying almost word for word, let me specify this is from "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron, page 40.

popcorn
marshmallows
grapes
ice cubes
celery sticks
cherries
blueberries
all berries
olives
raisins
any dried fruit
pretzel pieces
meat chunks
pieces of bacon
gristle from meat
hard candy
chewy candy
gum
jelly beans
all candy
sliced hot dog "coins" and any other windpipe-sized foods
hard, underripe fruit pieces
peels of veggies and fruits
strings from veggies such as celery, sweet potatoes, and winter squash
watermelon seeds & other seeds from veggies and fruits
leafy vegetables
whole corn kernels (cooked or uncooked)
raw carrot, celery, mushroom & other hard vegetable pieces
apple pieces and other hard fruit pieces
too-thin carrot sticks (pieces can break off)
peanut butter (unthinned or chunky style)
any nut butter (unthinned or chunky style)
caramel candy and other thick, sticky foods
whole or partially chopped nuts and seeds
nuts hidden in candy bars
potato chips, corn chips, and other chips
lollipops that may come off the stick
wrappers from candy

[lisams]

3?!!!! Well, DD has been eating cooked peas since about 12 months, and here's her eating them straight from the garden at 15 months (just a chance to share a pic. of her!!) edited to add that she has 14 teeth, so I'm sure those molars play a big part in her being able to mush them up!

Lisa

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/3701.jpg

[mharling]

What a sweet picture!!

Mary
Lane 4/6/03

[jd11365]

Did I say "Masher of Food"? Sounds like she should be in some Hercules movie. Kayla, Masher of Food and Master of the Universe! ;)


Jamie
Mommy to Kayla
5-1-03

[etwahl]

JEEZ!!! nothing seems safe. i've been giving her whole blueberries forever now. she loves them. she's never had a problem with choking but that's not to say she won't someday have something get stuck. we do use canned peas (le seur, they're yummy, and i hate canned peas) because i tried frozen once and they just didn't have the right texture.

but we also give berries (blackberries cut in half or quarters), grapes cut in halves (or quarters if they're really large).

but i mean really they can choke on anything right? if it goes down the wrong way. but the suggestion to mash peas until 3...that just sounds bizarre to me.

another problem, lauren only finger feeds. finger feeding herself peas that are mushed don't sound so easy!

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[sntm]

cut grapes and berries should be okay.

i think the reasoning is as someone suggested the "firmness" of the food. any food can be aspirated, but a firm food that is not smushy can block the larynx and prevent any air from getting to the lungs, while a smushy food can be inhaled past the larynx and just lodge somewhere further on in the lung (risk for other things like infection but won't cause sudden asphyxiation). same for sticky foods like PB.

does that make sense?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[stillplayswithbarbies]

the fresh blueberries we get are as large as a small grape, so I cut them in quarters.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[etwahl]

if something ever did happen, i need to get out a first aid book and prepare, but what's the best way to dislodge something if a child is choking?

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[amp]

Can't speak for anyone else, but we've been feeding Jake peas just fine for a couple of months now, mostly the frozen cooked variety, and he has no problem with them.

[sntm]

do a search for heimlich maneuver and see if they have directions for a toddler. if not, let me know and i can probably scan some in and send it.

the way it works is by putting a lot of pressure under the diaphragm so the increased pressure in the chest blows the food out of the larynx like a cork popping out of a champagne bottle. we do this naturally by coughing but if you can't get enough air behind the food, you can't cough it out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[suribear]

DS gagged on a pea the other day. Now I squash them before feeding them to him.

Kris

[lmariana]

That's SO cute! I love your garden!

Mariana
Mother of Gabriel, 08/14/2003

[lisams]

Thanks Mary and Mariana :)

Lisa

[lag555]

I always thought the issue was that if a round object gets lodged in the throat, there isn't any room for air to pass around it. So even if you ordinarily feed your child larger objects, if it is irregular shaped and gets caught in the throat, it will allow air to pass around it and the child will still be able to breathe. (Meaning, it won't block the entire airway.) It is like stuffing a rubber ball into the drain as opposed to an action figure. One will allow some water to pass through and one will block everything completely. That's why grapes and frankfurters are so dangerous.

I also think the problem is compounded when it is a hard, round object. That's why nuts and popcorn are considered choking hazards -- they aren't likely to get chewed and they have round/oblong shapes.