Mum defends herself over 'dangerous' lunch she gives one-year-old son

Would you give this lunch to your toddler? Mum forced to defend herself after sharing innocent snap of her son’s ‘dangerous’ lunchbox

  • A mum was slammed and forced to defend herself after sharing a lunch snap
  • The woman showed off her one-year-old son’s meal complete with tomatoes 
  • Many were quick to say the tomatoes are a choking hazard as they’re not cut up
  • Previously, parenting experts revealed how easily items can become hazards 

A mother has been slammed and forced to defend herself after sharing a photo of the ‘dangerous’ lunch she feeds her one-and-a-half-year-old son, complete with cut-up banana, full cherry tomatoes, mini scotch eggs, ham and sliced cucumber.

The Australian woman, called Mackenzie, shared the snap on Facebook, before she was met with close to one thousand comments criticising why she hadn’t sliced some of the fruit and veg. 

‘Please please please PLEASE cut the tomatoes and the other round things in half. If he swallowed one whole they could kill him,’ one mum wrote. 

A mother has been slammed and forced to defend herself after sharing a photo of the ‘dangerous’ lunch she feeds her one-and-a-half-year-old son, as the veg isn’t cut up (pictured)

Another said: ‘It’s a choking hazard to leave them open, you need to cut the fruit and veg up’. 

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Others pointed out that the portion sizes might not be suitable for such a young child.

‘How much ham does a child need?!’ one woman wrote.

While another said that ‘over half of the lunch is processed’, and that is not a good idea for anyone, let alone a child who is so young.

Mackenzie jumped in and defended herself, explaining that her son is able to bite and chew without choking.

‘I understand that it’s a choking hazard, but my son is able to bite them in half, thank you,’ she wrote.

Others leapt to Mackenzie’s defence, saying that the comments shared by other parents were ‘ridiculous’.

‘There is nothing wrong with that food for an 18-month-old. It’s healthy and has lots of colour. The mother should ignore any criticism,’ one woman posted.

Another added: ‘Can I just point out that we also need to teach our children to use cutlery, who’s to say things won’t get cut up at the table.

‘I don’t eat my steak whole, but it doesn’t mean I won’t cut it once it’s served.’ 

In December, the frightening danger of how easy it is for your toddler to choke on something was revealed in a shocking video (pictured)

In December, the frightening danger of how easy it is for your toddler to choke on something was revealed in a shocking video. 

The clip, uploaded to Instagram by the parenting organisation Tiny Hearts Education, reveals how quickly something a child between age 0 and 3 picks up can become a potential choking hazard. 

A mother from the Melbourne company said this is her ‘favourite parenting hack’ and how she ‘checks to see if food or small items may potentially be a choking hazard for my bubs’.


In the video, the woman can be seen dropping various things through a hole that she has created with her index finger and thumb. The foods she drops down include a cherry, popcorn, a grape, a $1 coin and other toys (pictured)

In the video, the woman can be seen dropping various things through a hole that she has created with her index finger and thumb. 

The foods she drops down include a cherry, popcorn, a grape, a $1 coin and other toys.

‘This is how I check to see if food or small items may potentially be a choking hazard for my bubs,’ she wrote.

‘The circle is approximately the size of a child’s airway aged 0-3. If anything can fit in this hole, then it’s a choking hazard.’

She ended the clip by saying that parents should keep these things out of reach of small children as much as possible.

The facts on choking and what to do revealed 

* Choking is what happens when something gets stuck in a person’s throat or windpipe, partially or totally blocking the flow of air to their lungs.

* In adults, choking usually occurs when a piece of food enters the windpipe instead of the food pipe. Babies and young children can choke on anything smaller than a D-size battery.

* Sometimes the windpipe is only partially blocked. If the person can still breathe, they will probably be able to push out the object by coughing forcefully. Be careful not to do anything that will push the blockage further into the windpipe, like banging on the person’s back while they are upright.

* If the object cuts off the airway completely and the person cannot breathe, it’s now a medical emergency. The brain can only survive for a few minutes without oxygen.

* The symptoms include clutching the throat, difficulty breathing and blue lips.

* With children and adults over one year and choking, you should try to keep the person calm. Ask them to cough to remove the object and if this doesn’t work, call triple zero (000). Bend the person forward and give them up to 5 sharp blows on the back between the shoulder blades with the heel of one hand. After each blow, check if the blockage has been cleared.

* If the blockage still hasn’t cleared after 5 blows, place one hand in the middle of the person’s back for support. Place the heel of the other hand on the lower half of the breastbone (in the central part of the chest). Press hard into the chest with a quick upward thrust, as if you’re trying to lift the person up. After each thrust, check if the blockage has been cleared. If the blockage has not cleared after 5 thrusts, continue alternating 5 back blows with 5 chest thrusts until medical help arrives.

Source: Health Direct

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