Hi friends! Long time no talk! Let me fill you in on why I have not been as present on here. Typically, I write my posts during the babies naptimes and then after they go down for the night. Let’s just say sleep has been a tricky lately but for an incredibly adorable reason. The babies are official twin talkers! I will put them down for their two and a half hour nap and half way through I start to hear babbling on the monitor. Oliver is usually the little culprit! He will stand up facing Olivia and look down and scream in baby language until she wakes up. Then she stands facing him and they will talk for a solid 40 minutes. While this melts my momma heart it has also thrown off their entire schedule causing sleep to be a little rough- along with my work schedule!

Anyways, I have been wanting to write to you all about Olivia’s choking incident that happened two weeks ago and shed some light on what went down!

I never thought I would be in that situation. You know, the unbelievably scary one where you turn to see your child choking on their food. I am not just talking where they are kind of gagging and there is a lot of coughing and watery eyes involved. I’m talking about their eyes are swelling, while turning purple, mouth is open but not a single sound is coming out and they are looking at you with pure shock and desperation. Now, I will be the first to admit that I HATE reading blog posts like the one I am about to write to all of you. Seriously, everytime I read a post that shares a scary experience like this it leaves me feeling overly paranoid and frightened that the exact same situation will happen to me! But here is the thing, sometimes I do think being a little scared is good for us. It keeps us aware, educated, and conscious of particular situations.

Before Olivias choking incident occured, I stumbled opon a post on Instagram where a momma shared a very similar story. Her daughter was choking on a snack and she reacted very fast to clear her airway. When she shared her story it made me so paranoid that I watched CPR training for babies on YouTube for an hour straight to refresh my CPR training. The thought of this happening to me made me absolutely sick to my stomach but it also made me want to be prepared if that were case. I really believe that by this fellow mama sharing her scare, it made me react much faster in my own experience. That is exactly why I have decided to share with all of you because my heart aches at the thought of this happening to a mom and her not knowing what to do. It’s scary enough being in the situation knowing how to handle it. I can’t imagine not knowing what to do to help my babies so I hope this helps inform everyone and spread awareness!

This is what I followed when Olivia was choking!

Infants & Babies:

*If your child is under 1 year old

  • Turn your child facedown over your forearm or on your lap if you can’t manage the forearm position
  • Hold your childs jaw with one hand to support the head. Their head should be lower than the childs forearm.
  • Use the heel of your free hand to deliever five quick slaps between the shoulder blades.
  • If your child still can’t breathe this is when you should try chest thrusts. Hold your baby and turn them faceup, keeping their head lower than the chest. Place two of your fingers in the middle of his or her chest and give five thrusts. Repeat with back blows and chest thrusts until the objext is visible and you can remove it!

Click here to watch a video on how to clear a child’s airway!

Keep in mine there are many videos on YouTube so watch several and educate yourself! Or just sign yourself up and take the class. I found this one to make a lot of sense with a list of great pointers so thats why I decided to share it with you all!

Ways to prevent choking:

1.) Don’t introduce solids too early!

It’s recomended to introduce solids around 4-6 mounths (depending on the baby) but do not try foods that need to be chewed until at least 8 months! Make sure to ask your peditrician if you have any questions!

2.) Supervise meal time!

This is a big one because I am guilty of running to the bathroom real fast while they snack. It makes me sick to my stomach wondering what would have happened if I had done that when Olivia was choking. Uhg, makes me cringe. It’s crucial to make sure your baby is sitting upright in their highchair while eating and that all small objects are out of reach (from any counters or nearby tables). Choking can happen SO quickly. I experienced this first hand. I turned after looking at my babies, placed a coffee mug in the cabinet, turned back around and Olivia’s face was purple. THREE SECONDS. I will never try to multi-task during mealtime/snacktime ever again.

3.) Keep refrigerator magnets out of reach.

After this incident I removed all of them from our fridge. Babies/toddles (especially when starting to crawl) are fascintaed by these tiny objects. Let’s be real everything they get their hands typically ends up in their mouth. It’s not only a choking hazard but also very dangerous if consumed, period, Magnets can cause serious damage to the stomach or intestine by attracting eachother through the lining of the intestine. The magnets could cause a lack of blood flow in the lining causing a puncture. If your child were to consume a magnet/magnets seek medical help ASAP!

4.) Allow only age appropiate toys.

Before buying or opening any new toys, be sure to check the age range on them! It not only lets you know what toy is appropiate for your child but also lets you know there will not be any small parts that could be a potential choking hazard to your babe. Make sure to also check any older toys you might have! This a great idea to make sure there aren’t any loose peices that they could potentially put in their mouth and choke on.

5.) Make sure they have the right size binkies!!

I had no idea there were different size binkies until a year and a half ago. One of my friends babies choked on his pacifier because it ended up being too small. She was able to remove the binky before it caused any harm but it gave her a scare all the same! My babies use MAM binkies and the sizes are Newborn +, 0-6 months, 6+ months, 16 + months. Always make sure to check your babies binky sizes, be aware of when outgrow them and pitch them! Maybe to a seasoned momma this is common sense but to me it sure wasn’t. Being a new mama, you are just learning as you go and it can be easy to overlook these things! I totally see how it can happen.

6.) Make sure whoever is babysitting your child knows how to react in this situation! Make sure your partner knows how!

Typically it’s my mom or Matthew who watch the babies if I have something to go to. I told them about my scary experience and I made sure they refreshed on their Infant choking & first aid!

Let me be upfront and honest. I vividly remember during my CPR class thinking to myself ” I hope if someone is choking in front of me someone else will be there and will know what to do.” Has anyone else ever thought this way? I had all the information and was taught how to react but I did not have enough confidence in myself. I truly did not think I could do it.  This is a terrible mindset to have because what if it’s just you and that other person who is choking? You can’t just stare at them and say “sorry, I am not confident enough to attempt to help you” (talk about awkward!) Do not put yourself in this situation or mindset. YOU ARE SO VERY CAPABLE. Do your research, learn what you need to know, and of course pray it’s something you will never have to use. However, if you are in the situation where you are a person’s only hope, spring into action and follow the steps that you learned on how to clear the airway! You CAN do it! While it was undeniably gut wretching having to do this for the first time on my ten month-old baby girl, I learned a lot. Most importantly, she was completely fine and there was a happy ending to scary situation.

Again, I don’t want to make any momma overparanoid! I just want to bring awareness and offer any tips that I can. I am not a doctor or an expert in this field by any means. This is a blog written by a new momma who does not want any other mom to go through this situation without knowing what to do. I hope this was a beneficial read for all of you!

Happy Wednesday & Stay Lively!