Woman warns parents about ‘lesser-known’ choking hazard
A woman has revealed a “lesser-known” choking hazard that all parents should be aware of.
Taking to TikTok, Nikki Jurcutz, CEO of Tiny Hearts Education and a life support paramedic, said that one choking hazard many parents don’t consider often appears after a child’s birthday party.
Jurcutz, a mother of two, warned other parents about leftover balloon rubber which could be lying around the house.
“I hosted a birthday party recently and I was cleaning up and found this part of a balloon… these are massive choking hazards and you need to be super careful around balloons,” she said in the video which has been viewed 10,400 times.
“As you can imagine trying to do back blows to get this up when it’s stuck would be near impossible. So be super vigilant,” she added.
@tinyheartseducation Please check your house for these after a party. Leftover baloon bits are MASSIVE choking hazards and can easily be missed. #balloons #chokinghazard #choking #parentingtips #childsafety #toddlertips
♬ original sound - Tiny Hearts
Parents were quick to praise Jurcutz for pointing out the hazard, with one person writing: “The things I’ve never thought about.”
In a separate video titled “choking prevention” which has been viewed over 17,500 times, Jurcutz also shared some tips for parents for what to do if they ever do find that their child is choking.
Focusing on introducing babies to solid foods, Jurcutz said that safely modifying foods for babies is “one of the most important skills” parents can learn to reduce the risk of choking.
@tinyheartseducation The best thing to learn before starting solids is how to modify hugh risk foods to make them safe 🍎 Here is how I inteoduced apple #startingsolids #chokinghazard #babyfirstaid
♬ original sound - Tiny Hearts
Jurcutz said for her children she started with spoon feeding and then moved to finger foods when they were eight to nine months old.
She said she started with a pureed apple at six months, before moving to grated apple at seven months and thin slices the baby can hold at nine months. She didn’t move to giving her child apple quarters until they were two years old.
