LET'S face it, every child enjoys tucking into sweet treats.
But an ex-paramedic named Nikki Jurcutz, a parent educator behind Tiny Hearts, has warned against giving kids under 14 certain sugary treats because they pose a serious choking hazard – including lollipops and Skittles.
In a clip shared to TikTok (@tinyheartseducation), she explains: "Sweets are the cause of nearly 30% of food related choking for children under 14.
"What makes sweets such a high risk choking food?
"Sweets that are round is the perfect shape for creating an effective plug for blocking a child's airway.
"When hard sweets are put in the mouth, they can become slippery and can "slip" into a child's airway if they aren't careful."
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Nikki captioned the post: "Lollipops are essentially hard candies on a stick.
"They are round and slippery, if they break off from the stick they could put your child at risk of choking."
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The video has since gone viral, racking up thousands of views and several comments.
"Honestly I was sucking on a sweet in work and sucked to hard….lucky it just about flew down my throat whole – lucky escape!" wrote one.
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A second penned; "Why do they make things aimed at kids choking hazards?"
A third commented: "I always chew on the skittle before I put it in my daughters mouth, so it’s less of a choking hazard."
The first aider has previously shared other foods that could pose serious choking hazards to children – including marshmallows.
She explained how the little sweet treats are sticky and harder for children under five to break down.
If a marshmallow gets stuck in a child’s airways, it is near impossible to remove it with back blows.
Nikki shared a visual of this in a TikTok video, showcasing how a stuck grape can be dislodged from the airway but a marshmallow can’t.
“When they’re wet, they become more sticky and more difficult to swallow,” she said.
“And can be more difficult to remove from the airway.
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“You can modify marshmallows to make them safer by cutting them into smaller pieces or swap out for mini marshmallows instead.
“Modifying foods is a great way to make foods safer for your little one.”
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