Choking risk: Be extra careful until age 4

For your baby’s safety, keep a close eye on them at all times during a meal.

Copyright: Pascale Turcotte
To prevent choking, be sure to take certain precautions when preparing food.

Certain foods can become stuck in your child’s throat or block their airway. Many children choke on food each year.

Foods that are hard, small and round, smooth and sticky present the greatest risk.

Certain foods require careful preparation. To prevent the risk of choking, be sure to

  • Remove bones from meat and fish
  • Remove cores and pits from fruit
  • Cut grapes into quarters
  • Grate raw hard vegetables and fruits like carrots, turnips, and apples

Toward age 2, you can start giving your child whole apples (peeled) and whole small fruit, except for grapes, which you should continue cutting into quarters.

Certain foods present a choking risk for your child up until the age of 4: peanuts, nuts, seeds, hard candy, cough drops, popcorn, chewing gum, whole grapes, raisins, sliced sausage, raw carrots or celery, food on toothpicks or skewers, ice cubes, etc.

Rules to prevent choking

Copyright: Florence Dion-Morin
Belt your child into the high chair so they can’t slide out or climb over the backrest or the tray. This also helps them maintain good posture while eating.
  • Make sure your child is always supervised when eating.
  • Sit your child in a high chair.
  • Don’t let your child walk or run with food in their mouth.
  • Avoid feeding your child in the car.
  • Keep dangerous foods out of reach.

Ask older children to follow these rules.

A first aid course will teach you what to do if your child is choking.

You can also read:

Last updated:
17 February 2026

Themes