Stress Center Peer Support

Hi everyone,
My son had a recent episode of choking with an M&M and now has a severe fear of choking no matter what he is eating. He is also losing some baby teeth, which seems to make his appetite even worse. Any advice on how to get him to resolve this fear? Since I also suffer from anxiety, it really seems to upset me that I can't help him through this.

Poor little guy. Does he just verbalize his fear when he eats or has he gotten to the point of avoiding food altogether because of his fear? It's tough to attack anxiety in children this young, especially when they have a past experience that fuels the anxiety. Usually those of us with anxiety have irrational fears- his fear is totally rational and food probably reminds him of it. Inform him that taking small bites, chewing food properly, and not talking/laughing while eating highly reduces the chance of choking. Maybe you could sign him up for a first aid class that teaches the Heimlich Maneuver. Maybe learning what to do to help someone who is choking could be helpful in defeating his own fear. Whatever route you choose, it's good that you're addressing it now before it becomes too out of hand. Good luck to you and your son.

Hello, I haven't posted much on here, if at all, I can't remember, lol, so I hope you don't mind me responding!

Our youngest daughter, who was four at the time, got choked on a green bean once at the dinner table. Thank God, she was finally able to get it down, but it did scare her just like it did your son. She got to the point that her fear DID keep her from eating anything that wasn't just mush to begin with, like yogurt, or mashed potatoes.

I never said out loud, or asked her if she was afraid to swallow, I just told her that she could, that she just needed to chew her food really well before she tried to swallow. That still didn't seem to make a difference, so when it got to the point that I could hear her little belly growl from hunger after a couple days ( keep in mind, I was giving her things to eat like the ones I mentioned before, along with like canned chicken noodle soup, with the chicken picked out by her, lol), but she still refused to swallow, I took her to the doctor, so that they could reassure her.

I explained to the doctor what had happened, out of earshot of our daughter ( I didn't want to play into her fears), and her doctor completely understood, so she did the usualy routine checkup and said to her that she heard that she was having a hard time swallowing her food, not mentioning her fear of choking, so she told her that she would check her throat to make sure everything was working just fine. While she was looking at her throat, her docotr told her that everything looked great, and that she should have no problems eating what she wanted.

That's all it took...some reassurance from her doctor. As we were leaving the doctors, she said "Yayyy, momma, I can eat again!" That about broke my heart, lol. I asked her what she wanted to eat when we got in the car, and she said "Chicken Fried Chicken" which was her name for "Kentucky Fried Chicken", lol.

She hasn't had a problem since, thank God again!

Sorry for the loooong story, but I just wanted you to know I knew where you were coming from, so it may mean a trip to the doctors that'll make all the difference!

Hope he gets better with it soon!

Have a great day!

Thank you both so much for the excellent advice. I took my son to the doctor and she performed the same exam you spoke about and talked to him about his swallowing. It really seemed to help a lot. His mood has been great now! Such a relief. I am considering the first aid course as well. I really think it would help. Thanks again! Lucie

I have a fear of choking, which is what my worst fear is with my attacks! I wonder if, as a child, I choked. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM...

This just sounds too much like me. I know that my throat is fine, so the doctor can't convince me at my age. LOL

I'm sooo glad that it helped him to go to the doctor! It's so funny (not as in ha, ha, funny either, lol) how our minds can keep us from doing things, once we get a fear of something in us. Hopefully now he won't even think about it from now on!

I think taking a first-aid class would be a great idea too! I may have to look for one in my area to do also. It couldn't hurt, that's for sure!

Hope you have a great rest of the day!