Hug your children and count your blessings

My wife and I learned a very important leason tonight.
My youngest son is 2 years old and we never let him have hard candy at home for fear of choking. There is a man in our church who always has a pocket full of hard candy for the children and for the last several weeks we have being allowing our 2 year old to get a piece on Sunday morning. My wife and I both did not feel comfortable about letting our son eat it because of the choking hazard. But to be honest I did not want to hurt the gentlemans feelings and thought if we watched our son then he would be okay.
Well tonight at the Christmas play our son got his hard candy and 5 minutes later was choking on it. I mean he was really choking to the point that he threw up twice and was turning blue. I admit that I froze not knowing what to do. I was trying to hit him on the back but was really no help at all. I always thought that I had read enough to know what to do in this situation but I did not. Lucky a woman grabbed him up and performed the heamlich on him and the candy came flying out.
I have to say that it scared me to death and showed me that I need some first aid training. I totally punked out and I am very ashamed of the fact that I could have caused my son to die.
He is doing just fine now and I thank God that that lady was there.
Hug your kids and always trust your intuintion even it it means hurting someones feelings.

Life, I know the feeling. It's hard not to feel guilty for not being able to react. Our first son choked on some candy once when he was a baby (about 2yrs-old as well). Both my wife and I know first aid and CPR but we both froze and could not react immediately. We simply froze. By the time our baby was blue, I finally "unfroze" and was able to clear his airway. Being prepared and setting limits/protecting your kids in their interaction with others are good things. Even with training, it's hard to react when it's one of "yours" who needs help.

Daily hugs are mandatory at home. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Glad to know all is well now; blessings to you all.

Thanks greenLED. It sure is a bad feeling that I never want to experience again. Poor little guy must have felt that he dodged a bullet because he spent most of the rest of the night sitting with the Preacher /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif glad he's OK! Many blessings for Christmas and the New Year!

Same thing happend to my "first born" (he's 18 now!) when he was about 2. A green seedless grape was the culprit (yes we felt soooo stupid for letting him have it).

I immediately performed the Heimlich and the grape shot out like a bullet from a gun. Thank God for that!!

Saw a co-worker choke on a piece of steak at a training luncheon and another co-worker performed the Heimlich on him successfully! Thank God again!

I myself choked on some vegetables, no one around - while "freaking" (strange feeling --> no air in or no air out), I had been taught to put my fist where one would put it on another and "threw" myself over the edge of a trashcan...I'm typing, so I'm here! Thank God again!!

I encourage everyone who hasn't had any CPR/Basic First Aid training to get it. Do it so you won't have to look back on a situation that didn't turn out in a positive way! I'm going to get my sons signed up for some as well!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grouphug.gif I'm very happy that your son is fine

LifeNRA,
I came down with scarlet fever when I was four years old. My first memory since coming to being was Mom and Dad hopelessly hovering above me with alarmed and desperate eyes, and I later realized that that was when this happened to me.
This revalation was more than enough to understand the love of my parents. Your son may be too young to remember, but there is no need to feel ashamed, and I am sure the gentleman who offered the candy did it out of pure kindness. Just get the first aid training, never know when you'll need it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Wow, glad your son is OK.

Extra hugs and a big prayer of thanks.

Take at least a basic CPR/first-aid course. Hopefully you won't need it.

Had a similar experience - my son was a hoarder at 18 months (would get a mouth full of food and walk around with it). He'd been holding a mouth full of apple (and skin) and decided to try to swallow it all at once. I saw him just the moment he got it stuck - the surprised, scared eyes and no sound coming out of him. Seemed to run in slow motion - I grabbed him and it was the second or third time I tried the Heimlich that it worked...seemed like it took a very long time to work, but it was all over before my wife even noticed there was a problem.
And that's from remembering the Heimlich from middle school health class (and a refresher in baby CPR class).
Dave

P.S. - VERY glad it worked out OK for you. If there is a next time, you'll know exactly what to look for and exactly what to do.

Take a CPR class from the American Heart Association, they teach you the heimlich and CPR for if you get there and they are already passed out. I took one last month.

Talk about receiving an ultimate Christmas Blessing - another chance. Whew!

There are times when I wonder what it's like to have kids.

chiphead