So my older son who is 3.5 was eating popcorn in the living room in the afternoon and watching a little t.v. Then his baby brother woke up and things cranked up with dinner, dad getting home etc and I forgot about his bowl of popcorn in the living room. Later that night my hubby was in the living room on his laptop and I was getting dinner going and I look into my living room to see my 10 month old shoveling popcorn into his mouth. Thank God it was popcorn that had no seeds because I always give my son his popcorn in a separate bowl that I have thoroughly checked for seeds. I yelled and my husband dug out the popcorn, my poor baby gagged and cried but thankfully all is well. I gave him something to drink after to make sure that anything hiding out was washed down. But I am wondering, should I just nix popcorn until my baby is older? I tried to always have it only in the kitchen but it just seems to migrate to the living room. It is such a great food to munch in the afternoon while coloring, or even us while catching some tv at night. I would not even allow it in the house when my first was little, we just did without. But now that he knows about popcorn and loves it, I feel bad not letting him have it and it is healthy, but wow that could have been horrible, thank God everything is fine. So what would you do, nix the popcorn or just try to be a lot more careful with it? Thanks
Apparently I'm a bad mum, because I gave my 1yo popcorn all the time. He had teeth and would chew and gum it fine. Any unpopped kernals just passed on through. Never had any problem with it going in or coming out.
Keep the popcorn its a great snack, and the baby is fine. Just need to keep it out of reach. If the house is getting hectic with things going on just put it away. Maybe it just needs to be something he eats when your in the room so that the little one doesnt get it again.
I agree with everyone else but just wanted to say you sound like a wonderful mama:)
I would avoid it. Try the Pirate's Booty, it's a puffed corn type thing, but my kids like it. My daughter is 2 & I would not give her popcorn, my son didn't get it until 3 1/2 (& my husband took the seeds out!). Now he eats it okay, he's 4 1/2, but I won't let my daughter have it.
I let my first start eating it at about 2, but with my second we let her have it earlier, about 13 months I think. I would break the pieces up into smaller pieces and throw away the hard center. Now she is 17 months and eats it all just fine, never chocked or gagged once. I just make sure she always has a cup of water. The puffs are great, but they go through them so quickly and they aren't cheap if they are eating a contanier every other day.
Ten month old babies do not need to be eating popcorn. That should be reserved for kids at least 3.5 years old. Have your older guy eat at the dining room table or at the kitchen table. No way would I let a 10 month old baby eat popcorn. It only takes a second for him to aspirate the popcorn. You may...or may not...be able to get it out the next time. Err on the side of your little guy if there is a question. God Bless.
Yep, it's a chucking hazard. Infants and toddler's airway in throat is about the size of a popped popcorn.
I am glad I read this, I am pregnant with baby #4 and never once did I realize that popcorn was a choking hazard. I can say that I have always broken it up for my kids and got rid of the hard center until they were older but never did I worry too much about it. Thanks for the post. I will be more cautious with the next one. Yikes!
Popcorn is really dangerous for infants. Get him some gerber fruit puffs or something like that ( fruity booty, etc) and or eat popcorn when the baby isn't awake.
A word of caution. My oldest had a popcorn choking incident at age 5 1/2 during a kindergarten Halloween party. I wasn't there but she came home very frightened. My guess is with all of the excitement and chaos of the party, she was eating too fast. This particular teacher said she would never allow popcorn at a Halloween party again.
I would be extremely careful especially with the little one. If you decide to give it to the older child, only allow it under tightly controlled situations. Maybe just outside so if a stray piece hits the ground its likely forgotten and eaten quickly by wildlife. Or just allow it when the baby is asleep.
I suspect that you will be very careful going forward after this scare. Let it be fresh in your mind so that you don't let your guard down again.
Great question!
I don't even like giving my 4 year old popcorn, but we have a friend who has always loved to let him mooch and will hand pick single pieces out of his bowl for him, so now I sometimes let him have a few pieces standing next to me when I'm eating it. I mostly only eat it after the kids go to bed, but I also eat it almost every night. It is an awesome snack!
With a 2-year-old in my house, I rarely let my older child have any popcorn when his little brother is around. I am more inclined to let them snack on some Cheerios or something. I just tell them that yes, popcorn is yummy, but it is not safe for little people yet. I would not remove it from the house because it is still a good snack for you and a well-supervised older child, but I would not have it around the little one. You definitely did everything right, so just be thankful your baby's fine and try to be more careful with anything you might leave out. We never have a chance to let our guards down, do we?
I wouldn't let my daughter eat popcorn until she was about 4. It's a choking hazard. If you son loves it, give it to him while the baby is naping - then clean up really well. There are lots of choking hazards - hotdogs, peanuts. It's worth it to google 'food choking hazards children'
I gave hot dog, just cut up, grapes too. Just make sure baby gets popcorn fixed for him. take out seeds & break up popped kernals into smaller pieces. Worth the trouble!
Popcorn and MarshMellows were my two biggest fear factors for choking. I don't think my twins even had a single marshmellow or anything that appeared like it until they were maybe 5!!! Seriously I read an article once where a 2 year old ate a marshmellow and it got lodged in his throat and because they get gooey -there was nothing they could do for that poor baby! It died. Horrible! It makes me want to cry everytime I recall the story. Popcorn was another one for me but I'm quite sure my kids had it before the age of 5. Probably as soon as they had teeth. My mom is a popcorn freak-pops her a bag EVERY single night so I am quite sure my children were given some but I never ever did because I was so afraid of them choking. Personally if your one son enjoys it then let him enjoy it but just be more cautious around the little one. You can't deprive him of it either so give him small tidbit sizes with plenty to drink and don't leave him unattended while he eats it. I have even heard of babies choking on their own socks! They learn to pull them off and of course the first place they always put everything is in their mouth. You can't worry about every single story you read or hear about I think supervision is the key-you gotta let your kids be kids at some point and not be such a worry wart but Marshmellows and Popcorn were my two biggest no no's until a certain age. Even at the age of 8 marshmellows scare me to death-lol! I watch them like a hawk when they eat them or any kind of candy that resembles a marshmellow filling or whatever.
They sell hull-less popcorn in the chip aisle at the store. If you'd still like to have your 3 year old enjoy it, then I'd go with that! Good mama!!
