Until children are at least 5 years old (and able to chew and swallow most foods without choking), grapes, cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and large blueberries should be cut into small pieces.
Please see Family Stories for a father’s account (and advice), ten years after his two-year old son nearly choked to death on a grape.
Both grapes and blueberries were recently cited as choking hazards, in a recent UK new story.
Below may be the first English-language written account of someone choking to death:
“Of things that endanger stopping of the breath in swallowing, some are Sharp, and some Blunt… I have heard of a Child in Woodstreet strangled with a Grape.”
– Stephen Bradwell (1633, London)
The presence of older siblings in the household increases the risk for choking, possibly because toys and other objects with small parts are more likely to be present and caregiving activities, such as feeding, to be undertaken by older siblings.[Ref:44]
