When is it safe for kids to eat things like chocolate chips and hard candy?

[Anonymous]

Wait, sprinkles? What’s wrong with sprinkles?

And it was probably my child you saw eating the ice cream sandwich. YUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Official recommendation:

Keep the following foods away from children younger than 4 years:
Hot dogs
Nuts and seeds
Chunks of meat or cheese
Whole grapes
Hard or sticky candy
Popcorn
Chunks of peanut butter
Chunks of raw vegetables
Chewing gum

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/injuries-emergencies/Pages/Choking-Prevention.aspx

This is an excellent reference. I would add whole cherry tomatoes and remind parents that unpeeled string cheese is a perfect cylindrical choking hazard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This. I cut grapes until mine were three, but that was admittedly probably overkill (DH gave them whole grapes earlier than that). They had chocolate chips and softer nuts occasionally pretty early on. Crunchier nuts like almonds were a bit later, probably after two.

We only just started candy with our newly-four-year-old and he's still hit or miss on it--he doesn't choke on it, so there's that, but he does sometimes accidentally swallow it whole.

Your DH should take some parenting courses or read a book or article.

Meh, I could maybe see this if you give your kids huge grapes, but the ones we get in our area are tiny, smaller than blueberries--cutting them is a little nuts to begin with because there's not much left at the end. Kids could easily chew them by two, even though I did keep cutting them for good measure.

Generally, I worry more about choking with foods that are (or can be bitten to be) large enough to actually get lodged in the throat, so more along the lines of hot dogs, grape tomatoes, etc. We cut those pretty religiously till close to four. But it would never have occurred to me to worry about sprinkles or chocolate chips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This. I cut grapes until mine were three, but that was admittedly probably overkill (DH gave them whole grapes earlier than that). They had chocolate chips and softer nuts occasionally pretty early on. Crunchier nuts like almonds were a bit later, probably after two.

We only just started candy with our newly-four-year-old and he's still hit or miss on it--he doesn't choke on it, so there's that, but he does sometimes accidentally swallow it whole.

Your DH should take some parenting courses or read a book or article.

Meh, I could maybe see this if you give your kids huge grapes, but the ones we get in our area are tiny, smaller than blueberries--cutting them is a little nuts to begin with because there's not much left at the end. Kids could easily chew them by two, even though I did keep cutting them for good measure.

Generally, I worry more about choking with foods that are (or can be bitten to be) large enough to actually get lodged in the throat, so more along the lines of hot dogs, grape tomatoes, etc. We cut those pretty religiously till close to four. But it would never have occurred to me to worry about sprinkles or chocolate chips.

A three year old choked to death in last year in front of his father and nanny. It was a normal sized grape. We are all still pretty freaked out about grapes here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This. I cut grapes until mine were three, but that was admittedly probably overkill (DH gave them whole grapes earlier than that). They had chocolate chips and softer nuts occasionally pretty early on. Crunchier nuts like almonds were a bit later, probably after two.

We only just started candy with our newly-four-year-old and he's still hit or miss on it--he doesn't choke on it, so there's that, but he does sometimes accidentally swallow it whole.

Your DH should take some parenting courses or read a book or article.

Meh, I could maybe see this if you give your kids huge grapes, but the ones we get in our area are tiny, smaller than blueberries--cutting them is a little nuts to begin with because there's not much left at the end. Kids could easily chew them by two, even though I did keep cutting them for good measure.

Generally, I worry more about choking with foods that are (or can be bitten to be) large enough to actually get lodged in the throat, so more along the lines of hot dogs, grape tomatoes, etc. We cut those pretty religiously till close to four. But it would never have occurred to me to worry about sprinkles or chocolate chips.

A three year old choked to death in last year in front of his father and nanny. It was a normal sized grape. We are all still pretty freaked out about grapes here.

PP here, and I would certainly cut normal sized grapes (if by "normal" you mean the table grapes you get in the supermarket). Those are big enough to choke on.

[Anonymous]

The sprinkles part is ridiculous. Let that kid have sprinkles! I am a pediatric RN and work in a large pediatric hospital I. A metropolitan area. You know how many times I’ve heard of a kid choking on a sprinkle? None. Not one.
Same with chocolate chips.

For the other things, I’d say follow the healthy children guidelines. They are pretty spot on.