How to prevent children's suffocation, choking, strangulation

Choking due to swallowing a foreign object most often occurs between the first and fifth year of life. Intensive exploration of the environment, when children can put a smaller object (toy parts, buttons, etc.) in their mouths, or carelessness when eating, solid food (nuts) or insufficiently chopped soft food (grapes, hot dogs, sausages, etc.) are common causes of suffocation.

 Protect your child from suffocation:

  • Always keep children under supervision while eating or playing.
  • Do not give children under the age of four any food that could lead to suffocation. Small and hard pieces of food, such as nuts, popcorn and candy, are especially dangerous.
  • Children should be taught to eat at the table and not be allowed to run or play while eating.
  • Balls and other toys for young children should be larger than a table tennis ball.
  • Do not allow young children to play with small toys or their parts, as they can cause suffocation.
  • Teach older children to keep toys that contain small parts out of the reach of younger siblings.
  • Keep all plastic wraps or bags out of the reach of children, and especially away from where they sleep.
  • Throw any broken toys in the trash and make sure there are no small objects such as buttons, beads, coins, pins or pebbles on the floor or low surfaces. 
  • Remove drawstrings from the hoods or necks of all children's clothing.
  • Teach children to take off their bicycle helmets or decorative necklaces from the neck before using the equipment on children's playgrounds.
  • Do not keep soft objects and plush toys in the crib or cot, especially those with ribbons or small parts, as well as stuffed toys.
  • Put the child to sleep on his/her back and to play on his/her tummy.
  • Shorten the pull cords on blinds and curtains so that they are out of the reach of young children and keep the crib away from window curtains. Do not use canopies, curtains or hanging decorations for cribs and put the child to sleep on his/her back.  
  • The crib should be in good working order. Children should sleep in their own beds.
  • Do not let animals, especially cats, into the bedrooms of babies and young children.