How to Prepare Common Choking Foods for Babies and Toddlers

Introducing solids to your baby is usually an exciting time, but it also comes with the responsibility of ensuring their safety as they explore new textures and flavours. One of the biggest concerns for parents is the risk of choking. If not prepared correctly, certain foods can be a choking hazard. I’ve talked about the difference between gagging and choking before, but this blog is looking more at how to prepare common choking foods for babies and toddlers.

In this blog, we look at the most common choking foods and share expert tips on how to safely prepare them for your little one at different stages of development, (6 months to 5 years). So you can give your baby or toddler the chance to enjoy a wide variety of foods without the fear of choking.

What is choking?

Choking is when there is an obstruction of the airway and they have difficulty breathing. Signs can include; 

• Difficulty breathing
• Skin colour changes such as blue to purple
• Not able to cry
• Look of fear
• High pitched sounds

Choking is life threatening and if you suspect choking you must start infant first aid and call 999. Choking is very different to gagging. Gagging is very common and will happen whilst your baby gets used to different foods in the mouth. Whilst it is perfectly normal to worry about both you can find out more about gagging vs choking. So you know what to look out for and what to do. 

Foods that pose a choking risk & why?

There are quite a few foods that can be a choking risk to babies and toddlers. Some can be made safe for babies to eat by preparing them in an age appropriate way and others must be avoided entirely until they are older, at least 5 years. 

Here is a list of common choking foods for babies and toddlers;

• Some vegetables  – hard raw vegetables such as carrots, cucumber, celery, olives. 
• Beans – such as whole butter beans, chickpeas, kidney beans and large beans
• Some fruits – hard/uncooked fruits like apples, pears or those of a choking risk size such as grapes, blueberries, dates, cherries, berries, cherry tomatoes small round strawberries. Also fruits with hard pips and stones in them such as apricots, which will need to be removed. 
• Meat – sausages and hot dogs. Hard/tough pieces of meat and meat with bones
• Fish – fish with hard bones
• Cheese – chunks of cheese
• Nuts & seeds – such as whole nuts and large chopped pieces
• Bread – pieces of bread that are soft such as untoasted bread, crackers and breadsticks.
• Raisins and other dried fruits – whole ones are too large and sticky for babies. They can be soaked and cut into very small pieces. 

What foods should I not give my baby?

The following foods you should NOT give to your baby or toddler at all because they are either too hard or sticky and can cause a blockage in their airway.

• Popcorn – is too large for babies to swallow and can be dry and swell up in the mouth
• Chewing gum and marshmallows – will be hard for young children to cope with and the stickiness and shape make them a choking hazard
• Jelly cubes – raw jelly cubes are too large and sticky for babies
• Boiled sweets – do not give any kind of boiled sweets or cough sweets to babies as they are too hard, gooey or sticky.
• Ice cubes – as these are too hard and large and can break off or shrink in size in babies mouth at any point 
• Mini chocolate eggs – these are the right size and shape for lodging in the airways

Practical ways to reduce the choking risk

Only start solids when they are ready – they need to be ready to take solids and the three things to look for are: 

1. They can stay in a sitting position and hold their head steady.
2. They can co-ordinate their eyes, hands and mouth so they can look at the food, pick it up and put it in their mouth, all by themselves.
3. The baby can swallow food. Babies who are not ready will push their food back out with their tongue, so they get more round their face than they do in their mouths.

You can find out more about when to start your baby on solid food here.

2.) Ensure they are sitting correctly in a highchair – with good support and in an upright position so that they can safely swallow food. Never feed a baby lying down or running around – check out advice on what to do if your baby won’t stay in the highchair here. 

3.) Always sit with them when they are eating – even for short periods of time.

4.) Role model, by taking small bites and showing them how to chew foods thoroughly.

5.) Avoid serving slippery or tough foods without making them safe to eat first. Such as using tender meat strips instead of tough cuts, or cutting slippery foods with a serrated knife

6.) Serving foods in the most age appropriate way to make sure they are less risk to your baby. You can find out how further on. 

7.) Follow your babies lead – by giving them appropriate foods and letting them practise eating (see below on how to do that)

8.) Never let them eat while running around, leaning backwards (even in a bumbo style chair) or lying down.

9.) Know the signs of choking to look out for.

How do I prepare choking risk foods for different stages of weaning?

The images below show how you can prepare choking risk foods for different stages to ensure they are less of a risk to your baby.

6-8 months: Introduction to solids

At this age, babies are just starting to explore solid foods, so textures need to be soft enough to mash or break up easily. If using finger foods ensure foods are cooked, very soft and in finger shape strips (adult finger shaped). See my blog on First Finger Foods for baby for more.

9-12 months

At this age babies will begin to develop better chewing skills as long as they’ve had plenty of experience with eating a range of foods and textures. At this stage they should also be practicing plenty with their “pincer grip”. You can therefore start to offer smaller, manageable pieces of soft foods that they can pick up between their thumb and fingers. Such as bite size pieces, shreds or very thin slices. 

12-24 months

By this age they should be mastering independent eating. They can be offered in different sizes including: soft, small bite sized pieces, larger soft pieces to practice biting and chewing and thinly shredded for foods like meat. 

2-5 Years

They are increasing their independence with eating at this age. They will typically be able to manage larger pieces of food that are harder in texture but still ensure you are cutting small round foods like grapes into quarters. 

How to prepare top choking foods in safe sizes, shapes and texture by age

We’re now going to look at some of the top choking risk foods in the UK and explain the best ways to serve them for baby/toddler’s different ages and stages. Remember that all babies will move through the weaning process at different paces, it’s best to let your little one lead, but always err on the side of caution if you’re unsure and over cook, mash, squash or grate where you think needed. 

As long as your baby is getting plenty of textures in their food, they can still learn to eat and it’s good to be vigilant with choking risk foods.

How to safely serve carrots by age

• 6 – 8 months – Cook until very soft and mash or cut into long squishable finger length strips.
• 9 – 12 months – Cook until very soft and cut into long finger length strips or small pieces they can pick up. Try grated shreds of carrot for slightly older babies. 
• 12 – 24 months – Cook until soft and cut into long finger length strips or small pieces they can pick up. 
• 2 – 5 years – Raw and cut into thin length strips or grated.

How to safely serve tomatoes by age

• 6 – 8 months – Serve peeled and well mashed or pureed, as raw tomatoes may be difficult for them to grasp. Or serve large tomatoes in big wedges with the skin removed.
• 9 – 12 months – Consider peeling and finely chopped pieces or into quarters. 
• 12-24 months – Serve in slices, wedges, chopped into small pieces or diced.
• 2-5 years – Raw – diced or quartered

How to safely serve olives by age

• 6 – 8 months – Very finely chop or mash them and mix into other dishes.
• 9 – 12 months – Chop into quarters.
• 12-24 months – Chop into quarters.
• 2-5 years – Chop into quarters or slices

How to safely serve apples by age 

• 6 – 8 months – Serve pureed or mashed, or steam and cut them into long finger strips without the skin.
• 9 – 12 months – Serve cooked and cut them into long finger strips without the skin. Or cut into thin slices or offer small well cooked pieces. 
• 12-24 months –  Serve cooked or very thinly sliced. 
• 2-5 years – Serve raw and cut them into thin slices or thin wedges.

How to safely serve blueberries by age

• 6 – 8 months – Squash or mash them into other dishes e.g. porridge.
• 9 – 12 months – Cut them into quarters or mash.
• 12-24 months – Cut them into quarters or just give them a little squash between your finger and thumb.
• 2-5 years – If soft and small offer whole otherwise squash slightly with your fingers or a fork.

How to safely serve grapes by age

• 6 – 8 months – Squash or mash them and mix them into other foods. 
• 9 – 12 months – Quarter them lengthways or cut lengthways into tiny slices. 
• 12-24 months – Quarter them lengthways or cut lengthways into tiny slices. 
• 2-5 years – Quarter them lengthways or cut into slices. 

How to safely serve dates or other dried fruits by age

• 6 – 8 months – Remove the pits, then mash the dates or finely chop and add to foods – soaking first also helps them be extra soft.
• 9 – 12 months – Remove the pits, and finely chop –  add to other foods to serve.
• 12-24 months – Remove the pits, and finely chop.
• 2-5 years – Remove the pits, and chop well.

How to safely serve beans by age

• 6 – 8 months – Cook until soft, mash them and mix them into foods.
• 9 – 12 months –  Cook until soft and cut into small pieces or simply give a bit of a mash with the back of a fork.
• 12-24 months – Cook until soft and cut into pieces or just give them a mash with the back or the fork.
• 2-5 years – Chop large beans a little, if needed or cook until very soft. 

How to safely serve cheese by age

• 6 – 8 months – Finely grate into other foods like mashed potato or melt into sauces.
• 9 – 12 months – Serve grated or in dishes.
• 12-24 months – Serve grated or thin strips.
• 2-5 years – Serve grated or small cubes.

How to safely serve nuts by age

• 6 – 8 months – Ground or milled nuts can be sprinkled in cereals etc, thin spreads of nut butter are ok or mixed into other foods like purees. 
• 9 – 12 months – Ground or milled nuts can be sprinkled in cereals etc.
• 12-24 months – Milled or very finely chopped or nut butters.
• 2-5 years – Milled or well chopped pieces.

How to safely serve seeds by age

• 6 – 8 months – Ground or milled seeds can also be sprinkled into foods or used in baking. 
• 9 – 12 months – Ground or milled seeds can also be sprinkled into pancakes, cereals.
• 12-24 months – Milled or very finely chopped.
• 2-5 years – Milled or well chopped pieces.

Choking is always a serious concern for parents. So it is important to know which foods are NOT to be given at all and the ones which can be given, but prepared appropriately for their age. I hope this information is really helpful and reassuring to know exactly how you can prepare foods, so you can be more confident feeding your little one.