Warning: This is kind of gross. When your babies gag on solids (mine did/do quite a bit on finger-foods), do you try to fish the food out with a finger sweep? I have been after a couple of gags but worry that I'm going to push the food down instead of out & really do some harm. So do you let them gag it up/out/throw up? :bad:
At first I did, but I stopped. Now they work it out very fast. A nurse friend of mine was over and gave me a description of a gag versus choking. Basically she said gagging is not choking...that if they were choking they would not be reacting with a gag instinct, but they wouldn't be able to make much noise at all. So far so good and now they don't gag near as much. It was a learning stage like everything else - I guess learning how much to have in their mouth before putting more in - HA. Let me tell you though, in the beginning I did my fair share of finger sweeping and I am still always on guard for a choke potential. Now if I am uncomfortable I have a straw cup of water ready and ask them to take a drink.
i think it depends on the food. if it was something mushy that can't block an airway (chunky purees, for example) i would just stay close and monitor. if the gagging didn't resolve itself immediately i would scoop him up, tip him over on my head with his head pointing down and give him a couple of firm pats on the back. i think i only resorted to finger sweeping once or twice.
According to my husband (who is a firefighter), you should never try to fish anything out when they are gagging because you could push the food further down & block their airway. If they are gagging/coughing then they aren't choking (little or no sound would be coming out since no air would be going in) & you should just watch them to make sure they clear whatever it is themselves without it progressing to choking. If they are actually choking, you would follow this procedure which still doesn't usually involve finger sweeping their mouth unless you can actually see something in there.
good link, tina! :good: i was trying to figure out how to describe the tipped over back pat but the image in your link says it all. our hospital makes everyone with NICU time complete an infant CPR course before discharge. not sure if that's standard across all hospitals. we keep an infant CPR quick reference guide on the fridge because you just never know.
I highly recommend that anyone with young children take an infant CPR course. You just never know when you are going to need that knowledge!
I thought I was doing the wrong thing! I remember watching a video when they were newborns on infant CPR. Hmm, learning retention when you've had 3 hours of sleep a night for about a month isn't so great! Thank you, ladies!
Yep i also let them choke it back up, usually they get it back up and chew on it some more before swallowing now! Ewwwwww! :lol:
