When your child is in trouble...
Posted by Mary Rogul on Sun, Jun 06, 2010 @ 12:41 PM
Friday evening, we were just settling down from a long week. The kids were having their snack after dinner and that's when it happened.
I was cleaning up the living room after play time, my husband was at the computer and I saw Alex at the couch, out of the corner of my eye, bend forward awkwardly. I called his name and all I could hear was a choking sound. I patted his back hard twice and he lifted his head, getting no air and was clearly choking.
My husband Emerick knew how to perform the heimlich maneuver - I turned to him and said - "Do the heimlich on Alex, NOW"!
Emerick sprang up quickly, arms around Alex and by the third thrust had the orange slice up and out of his throat where it was caught.
Alex was frightened, but relieved and breathing perfectly. This was one of the scariest moments as a mom I've ever had.
So many things went through my mind the remainder of the evening. What if Emerick had not been there? What if Alex was at daycare and no one noticed him struggling for a moment. What if we, his parents, weren't there for those troubling 60 seconds?
As we all discussed what had happened, Alex was very interested and curious why dad was squeezing him so hard and why he couldn't breathe. We went through each moment with him to explain.
We told him to never put a piece of food as big as an orange slice in his mouth without asking us to cut it or biting off a small piece and chewing it before swallowing. Also, that he needs to be seated at the table or seated quietly while eating.
We talked about it several times in different scenarios and each time we mentioned it, I became upset. Things can be perfectly normal and in an instant, your chid is gasping for air. Fortunately, we were both there and acted calmly and quickly.
I know my kids are very young and there will of course be skinned knees and elbows, but I can never imagine going through that again. From that point forward, I swore to be extremely diligent with any food, toys or items that are just not reasonable to have around at their age.
Thank goodness all is well and we were able to respond quickly to a dangerous situation. We all love oranges but from now on we will be cutting those slices in half!