I haven’t really talked about this much on here before as I like to try and keep things positive when it comes to weaning.  Choking is something I often receive messages about on my social media.  It’s, understandably, one of the main concerns parents have when they first start weaning their little ones.

I started off really confident when I weaned Harry.  He loved food and was a natural, enjoying feeding himself from the start. He was a hungry baby, shovelling his food into his mouth as fast as he could.  One day, when Harry was 7 months old, he was eating a tortilla pizza, something he’d eaten lots of times before.  I’d seen him gag before and always been really calm about it, it’s a baby’s way of figuring out how to move food around their mouth and although it sounds scary, is perfectly normal.

On this day though he hadn’t gagged at all.  He was happily shovelling his food into his mouth when all of a sudden he stopped.  He went silent and his eyes filled with panic.  I whipped him out of the high chair as quickly as I could, lay him over my lap and started back blows.  The food wouldn’t come out and blue patches started appearing on his face.  I was terrified.  We live next door to a hospital and I remember thinking that I needed to just run out the door with him, get to the hospital and scream for help.  It was hard to stay calm but I continued with a few more back blows and thankfully, after what felt like an eternity (but was probably less than a minute) the food flew out of his mouth.

Once the food was out Harry’s colour went back to normal and he was soon smiling and reaching out for more food.  I on the other hand was in bits.  I felt like I’d come so close to losing my little boy, my world.  We were home alone at the time and I cried, no I ugly sobbed while poor Harry patted my arm, looking at me concerned.

He was fine but seeing my son like that had left a lasting impression on me.

We decided to go out for a walk with some friends which helped to take my mind off what had happened.  I was dreading his next meal time and had become really demotivated about weaning.  When we got home I created the Friendly First Foods Facebook group.  I needed something to keep me positive about weaning, to give me that enthusiasm back.   I’d always enjoyed sharing my recipe ideas on Facebook so thought a group would be a nice way to do that.  Little did I know that it would turn into my blog and become such a huge, positive part of our lives.

The day Harry choked was scary, terrifying in fact but I’m so lucky I knew what to do to help him.  The best piece of advice I could give anyone is to learn some basic first aid training.  Whether you go on a course for parents, watch videos online or read a book about it, educate yourself, feel prepared and put yourself in the best possible position to enjoy weaning with your little one!  Choking doesn’t happen often, Megan has never choked, but it’s always best to be educated just in case.

Recently we received this book, Sit, Chop, Chew.  It’s aimed at children to help them learn about eating safely to avoid choking and also contains some fab tips for parents.  There’s a giveaway on my Instagram and Facebook pages at the moment to win a copy if you want one for yourself!

Have you ever experienced a child choking?  What did you do?

I’d love you to share your experiences in the comments xxx

***This is  not a sponsored post. I was gifted the book but not asked to write this post.  I just wanted to share.***