Comments on: Warning: Eating Food May Cause Choking

By: Wren

Wren — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:00:15 +0000

With all due respect for concerned pediatricians everywhere, this is just silly. Hot dogs are certainly not the only food that can choke a child (or an adult, for that matter). Almost anything can, cylindrical, round or otherwise, if it’s too large to swallow properly and hasn’t been chewed. You’re right that most parents are careful about how they feed their little ones, cutting meat into appropriately small chunks, etc. So I think if a “warning” is necessary, then it should remind parents to watch their kids, encourage them to take smaller bites and chew everything well before attempting to swallow. Common sense, right? Goodness. Hot dogs. Another thing to panic over…

By: Joanna Sutter (Fitness & Spice)

Joanna Sutter (Fitness & Spice) — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 13:03:18 +0000

I am not a mom either but I’m a wicked-cool aunt! I’m also a wicked-cool marketer and am always on the hunt for bad marketing and messaging so I LOVE THIS ARTICLE!

By: Fit Chick in the City

Fit Chick in the City — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:21:13 +0000

Its amazing we made it into adulthood. =) How did you get your man to go to the grocery store for you guys? You are a lucky woman!

By: Stef

Stef — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 05:03:14 +0000

i LOVE lists of stupid warning labels. i forget the site that has a TON of them, so funny. um, i think generations of us have made it this far without choking on every cylindrical food, i’m pretty sure parents can manage cutting up food for their youngins

By: Andrea @ CanYouStayForDinner.com

Andrea @ CanYouStayForDinner.com — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:33:33 +0000

“And isn’t the same person who gives little tykes hard candies the one who’s not going to care about the Lego’s he’s eating between meals?” Precisely. Love you.
I think the more we frighten the children, the worse off we’ll be. Not everything will kill them. I even ate a dime when I was younger. Money hungry at such a young age…

By: charlotte

charlotte — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:05:18 +0000

Even though I religiously cut up my kids hot dogs and grapes, all the little buggers have still found ways to injure themselves. I think it’s a rite of childhood. You do your best as a parent yet still make sure your CPR certification is up to date:)

And my favorite warning ever was on my Seasonal Affective Disorder “Happy Light” (a big light box, basically). It said “Not for use on genitals. Ummm… was that really a problem??

By: Tracey

Tracey — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:22:45 +0000

Diane, thank you so much for sharing. As I mentioned, I’m not a parent so I don’t come at this with experience at all. That’s scary, and I hope you don’t think I’m making fun of choking. As I said, it’s really serious. I’m just not sure putting a label on all foods is going to do much.

By: Diane Fit to the Finish

Diane Fit to the Finish — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:53:42 +0000

I guess I don’t really see it as funny, as I had a one year old choke on a Cheerio and had to do the Heimlich manuever on her. I don’t know that warning labels will help, but raising awareness is always a good idea.

By the way, I never gave another child of mine Cheerios until they were about five!

By: David

David — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:18:33 +0000

Our daughter got her first real bloody nose this week after taking an inadvertant knee to the mush during a particularly wild play date. We gave her a few dabs of the kleenex to stop it and she ran right back to playing hard and jumping off the furniture. Kids are amazingly tough and will bounce back quickly if parents don’t overreact to the situation and act like they’re going to die after every scratch. Kids react to parents and will mirror their level of panic/calm. Our daughter burned her hand once grabbing a pan on the stovetop. She didn’t like it one bit but now when she sees the stovetop she says “Hot! Be careful!” Something bad can always be turned into a positive learning experience.

By: Ameena

Ameena — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:09:30 +0000

Seriously? This is so funny. I’m fairly certain we cannot babyproof the entire world, including the grocery store! Parents need to be responsible for their own kids. Considering that Maya never choked on anything (thank God) and I am not the most diligent parent, I think that anybody who pays even the slightest bit of attention to what their kids are eating should be fine. Common sense people!