Mini Easter Eggs and Children

Mini Easter Eggs and Children Choking

Easter is just around the corner, and it’s surprising to see Easter eggs in stores since Boxing Day—yes, Boxing Day!

It’s a well-known fact that most children love chocolate, and to be fair, so do many adults.

Children especially love ‘mini Easter eggs.” Have you noticed this?

These small, spherical chocolates are approximately the same size as a child’s airway, which poses a potential choking hazard that can be fatal if not addressed quickly.

Although mini Easter egg packaging warns that they are not suitable for children under 4, many kids still choke on them each year, sometimes with deadly consequences.

This choking risk isn’t limited to mini Easter eggs; candies like Maltesers, M&Ms, and Smarties also present significant choking hazards.

Most choking deaths are food related

Most choking deaths result from food getting stuck in the airway, and it’s not just mini Easter eggs that cause this.

Foods like grapes should be sliced in half by an adult to minimise the risk of choking for small children.

Kindergartens and children’s nurseries strictly forbid these items in lunch boxes.

Small cherry tomatoes and even popcorn can likewise pose a choking hazard.

So what can parents do to try and minimise the risk of their child choking

Keep a close eye on your child whilst they are eating sweets
Most children love easter eggs, so get them the larger hollow eggs, but watch out for small packets of sweets inside the egg.
Cut sweets in half to lower the risk of choking.
Some children play food games to see how much food they can put in their mouths, which is a serious choking hazard.
Tossing food and catching it in their mouths, they usually see an adult doing it and are just itching to try it out. Again, this is a serious choke hazard.
Eating and chewing food whilst running around is another potential choking risk; it only takes the child to take a sudden breath for a piece of food or a sweet to get stuck in the airway.

How to respond to a child that is choking

When a child chokes, quick action is essential. For parents and guardians, this can be worrying, but acting swiftly can make a huge difference.

A child is between 1 and 12 years of age; those younger than 1 year are classified as infants and receive slightly different treatment.

Call 999 and tell them you have a child choking FIRST.

Then

Start with Back Blows

If the child is tall, stand behind the child, have the child lean forward, place 1 hand on the child’s chest, and use the other hand to ‘slap sharply’ between the shoulder blades.

After each back blow, check if the object has come out.

Perform up to 5 Back Blows if the child is still choking, then either you or someone else needs to call 999 and tell the operator you have a child who is choking and start abdominal thrusts.

Abdominal Thrusts

Stand or sit behind the child (depending on how tall the child is).

Put 1 hand into a fist just under the rib cage between the ribs and the tummy button; place the other hand over the top of the fist, and push into the abdominals and pull up (like a J movement) to try to dislodge the obstruction.

If the child is still choking, perform up to 5 Abdominal Thrusts, checking after each abdominal thrust to see if the obstruction has cleared.

If the child is still choking, you keep doing up to 5 Back Slaps and then up to 5 Abdominal Thrusts till either the obstruction has cleared or the Ambulance arrives.

Conclusion

Choking is a frightening experience for everyone involved, but taking swift action and calling for an ambulance can greatly increase the chances of survival for the person who is choking.

If a child is choking, a paramedic or hospital should evaluate them, as the object causing the obstruction may have damaged the soft tissues in the back of their throat.

I witnessed a young mother struggling with her child, who began choking on a muffin and a Lego brick in a coffee shop I was visiting.

We followed the guidelines provided in a helpful blog, and thankfully, the child was fine after a trip to the hospital for a check-up. Here is the link to the blog.

First aid is a vital life skill that we hope we never have to use, but the reality is that there’s a good chance you will need it at some point.

We offer regular open courses at our centre in Rugby, available to the public and businesses alike.

Disclaimer

Warwickshire First Aid Training provides this information for educational purposes only and does not replace professional medical advice.

We are not responsible or liable for any diagnosis or actions taken based on the information presented in this blog post.

We strongly recommend attending a first aid course to learn how to assist effectively in emergencies.