• Do not give hard foods to children less than four years old. Small children frequently do not grind or chew their food well and attempt to swallow it whole. Food that is round, hard, small, thick and sticky, smooth or slippery should not be on a small child’s menu. Examples of these foods include: hot dogs and sausage (unless sliced lengthwise and then across), seeds, dried fruit, pretzels, nuts (especially peanuts), chips, marshmallows, spoonfuls of peanut butter, sunflower seeds, orange seeds, cherry pits, whole grapes, watermelon seeds, gum, hard candy (including caramels), popcorn, raw carrots, raw peas, and raw celery.

• Warn baby sitters and older siblings not to share dangerous hard and soft foods with small children.

• Teach youngsters to chew all food thoroughly before swallowing.

• Do not allow a child to fill their cheeks with food like a chipmunk.

• Clean up right away after parties. An especially dangerous time is the morning after get togethers, when a toddler may find dangerous foods on the floor. Be especially alert for pop tops from beverage cans.

• Never let a child chew or suck on pieces of rubber balloons. Rubber balloons are the leading cause of choking deaths from objects other than food. Most incidents occur when a child suddenly inhales a deflated balloon they are chewing on or are trying to blow up. Even teenagers have died of inhaling a deflated balloon.

• Do not give a young child a jewelry or toys with small, detachable parts. When parents do, in a few minutes they will find the missing part in the child’s mouth (unless the youngster has already swallowed it). Parents can check the safety of a child’s toy with a "no-choke tube"- an inexpensive device that will tell parents if an object is too small for their child.

• Check the youngster's environment daily for small objects they could choke on. Insist that older children protect their younger siblings by watching for small pieces from toys or games. Insist that older children keep their small toys away from smaller youngsters. Common household items that children choke on include marbles, pen caps, nails, tacks, screws and buttons.

• Dispose of small batteries immediately and safely.

• Avoid giving children coins or other small objects as a reward.

• Do not prop up a bottle for an infant to drink alone.

• Never let a child eat unattended

• Remind children not to run with food, gum, lollipops, or other material in their mouth.

A child who is choking is a medical emergency. Therefore, it is important that parents (and other caregivers) know exactly what do in an accidental choking. The first thing is to know what not to do. If the child is breathing, crying, coughing or speaking, do not give first aid immediately. Instead, carefully watch the youngster since the child’s own cough is sometimes the best remedy for choking. Stay close, but do not slap the child on their back, turn the youngster upside down, or reach into their mouth o grab the object. A well-meaning adult can change a partial blockage into a complete airway obstruction.

First aid should be started only when the child cannot cry or cough, breathe at all, or the airway is so blocked that there is only a weak cough or cry.

The first step is to make sure someone has called "911" for emergency medical services. If the choking victim is an infant, lay the child face-down on one forearm with the head lower than the baby’s chest. Give four rapid blows to the back between the baby’s shoulder blades with the heel of the other hand.

If the foreign body is not dislodged, turn the infant over and lay the child down, face up, on a firm surface. Place two or three fingers on the breast bone between the nipples, and give four quick chest thrusts by pushing down about one inch. Repeat back blows and chest thrusts until the object is coughed up and the infant begins to breathe on their own. Continue this routine, four back blows and four presses on the chest, until the object is dislodged or help arrives. Remember, never reach into the infant’s mouth to search for the object!

If the infant becomes unresponsive and does not begin to breathe right away, the adult needs to start cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) until the emergency medical team arrives.

If the choking victim is over the age of one year, place the child on their back and kneel at their feet. Place the base of the palm of one hand against the middle of the child’s abdomen just above the navel. With the other hand on top of the first, give quick inward and upward abdominal thrusts into the abdomen (the Heimlich maneuver) until the object is expelled. In a larger child, the Heimlich maneuver can be done from behind with the victim standing or sitting by placing the fist of one hand above the navel and preceding as above.

If the child is not breathing and has no pulse (check for about five to ten seconds), begin CPR until the child starts breathing and emergency personnel arrive.