Gagging or Choking: A Parent's Quick Guide

One of these is a normal reflex doing its job several times a week. The other is an emergency measured in seconds. They look nothing alike once you know what to look for.

Inside

• The full difference in one table: sound, face, breathing, behaviour, and what each asks of you
• Why noise is reassuring and silence is not
• Gagging: what to do, and the four things not to do
• Choking: what you are looking for, and why it is caught by eye rather than by ear
• Ten prevention rules, including the ones about round food and other caregivers

Please read this before buying

• This guide helps you recognize the difference. It is not a first-aid course and cannot replace one.
• Book an infant CPR and choking-response class before your baby starts solids. The Red Cross, the American Heart Association, most hospitals and many community centres run short sessions, and many are free.

Format

• 5-page PDF, A4, instant download
• Print-friendly, and readable on a phone one-handed at 3am
• Guidance checked against AAP, CDC, NIAID and Health Canada recommendations, with US and Canadian differences flagged where they differ

Educational material, not medical advice. Written for healthy, full-term babies. Always follow your pediatrician, family doctor, or dietitian, who know your baby.