Top 5 Toddler Food Choking Hazards

Obie Editorial Team

It’s pretty exciting when your toddler begins to eat solid food, but eating solid foods also comes with new trials like picky eating and unfortunately, choking hazards. Some foods that are easy for kids to chew and pick up with their hands are also choking hazards. To avoid choking, always cut your toddlers food into small pieces and monitor them closely while they’re eating.
  1. Hot Dogs
    Unfortunately, one of the most child-friendly foods is also the number one choking hazard. Hot dogs are squishy and fairly un-messy finger foods, perfect for toddlers who are just getting the hang of chewing things. However, you want to make sure you really cut them up well, because they can easily become lodged in your toddler’s throat. 
  2. Carrots
    Mushed carrots are one of the first foods babies learn to eat. When they get older, you may progress to streamed and even fresh baby carrots, but be careful. If the carrots aren’t cooked enough they may become stuck in your child’s throat and it becomes even easier when the carrots are fresh. For fresh carrots, wait until you child is old enough to properly chew them and knows not to swallow large chunks.
  3. Apples
    Most veggies are pureed and mashed for babies, but toddlers need to learn how to start chewing their food, which is why we give them finger foods. Apple slices may seem like the best finger foods because they’re healthy, sweet, and they’re not messy. However, they’re also pretty solid and if your toddler takes too big a bite, they can have trouble chewing and swallowing and they might choke.
  4. Peanut Butter
    An interesting food that toddlers can potentially choke on is peanut butter. However, it’s no surprise once you think about it. It’s sticky, thick, and could become lodged in your toddler’s throat if they swallow enough. To avoid choking, you should only spread peanut butter thinly over crackers or other easily chewable snacks. Along with peanut butter, nuts are also choking hazards and shouldn’t be given to young children at all. 
  5. Marshmallows
    These soft, sticky treats might seem like the perfect treat for toddlers, but they’re deceptive. They might be easy to chew, but because they’re so soft, toddlers often swallow them whole and end up choking. To avoid this, it’s better to not give young children marshmallows until they’re a bit older.


Source: Hutton, Lindsay . "Top 9 choking foods."FamilyEducation.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.