How to Reduce a Baby's Risk of Choking on Household Objects

By eHow Health Editor

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

Empty toilet paper roll
Choke tube or small-parts tester

How to Reduce a Baby's Risk of Choking on Household Objects

Step 1:
Watch over your baby while she's eating, playing or crawling around.
Step 2:
Consider putting your baby into a playpen or child-restraining seat to reduce his risk of finding and choking on household objects.
Step 3:
Get into the habit of doing a room sweep a few times every day. Look for marbles, buttons, bottle caps, coins, safety or straight pins, lighters, balloons and anything else that might draw your baby's eye.
Step 4:
Keep dog and cat food up on a shelf or in a protected area where your pet can access it but your baby cannot.
Step 5:
Prepare an outside play area for your baby by removing any rocks, pebbles or dirt clumps.
Step 6:
Carry a blanket or collapsible playpen for an instant safety zone for your baby while she plays outside.
Step 7:
Stay with your baby while he plays in a sandbox, or keep him away from sandboxes altogether to reduce his risk of choking on handfuls of sand.
Step 8:
Hang houseplants from the ceiling or set them on high shelves to prevent baby's choking on leaves or dirt.
Step 9:
Buy a "choke tube," a small tube open on both ends that is approximately the size of a baby's airway, or use a toilet paper roll to check the size of toy parts.
Step 10:
Purchase baby gates and use them to keep your baby out of potentially dangerous areas.
Step 11:
Remind guests of the importance of keeping small objects out of your baby's hands.
Step 12:
Encourage older children to put away their toys when leaving a room and when finished playing.

Tips & Warnings

Create a space that is beyond baby's reach for your purse, wallet, keys and coins, and then make it a habit to put those items in that space consistently.
Put baby-proof locks on lower cabinets, toy chests and drawers to prevent your baby's accidentally getting into them and their contents.
Make an effort to think like a baby, even getting down onto the floor and seeing what catches your eye--then removing that object if it poses a hazard.
Even innocuous items such as coins, dog food and dice can cause your baby to choke.
Never leave an infant unattended.

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