Choking is most common among children younger than 4 years of age, with the peak occurring in the first year. Round, firm food products (e.g., pieces of hot dog, candy, nuts, raw vegetable, grapes) are the most common airway-blocking agents in early childhood. Also choked on are small objects like round or pliable toys (e.g., small balls, uninflated balloons), pop tops, safety pins, and coins. Older children and adults usually choke on meat.

Suffocation can occur when the child is trapped in an airtight space or when the child's airway is constricted from the outside, as in hanging. Crib strangulation occurs when the baby's small body slips between the bars and the head, too large to follow, is trapped. Slat spacing for cribs should be 2 3/8 inches or less to prevent this. Old cribs must be checked. 

Children are also suffocated inadvertently in drapery, toy or clothing cords, when lids fall on them as they peer inside a toy chest; when they are trapped between the frame and mattress of a bed or in the folds of a mesh play pen; when their nose and mouth are covered in a pillow, bean bag, or waterbed; when, unattended, they slip out of a high chair; inside plastic bags.

Prevention

• You need to learn what to do if your child chokes.
• You need to avoid food and nonfood objects on which children are likely to choke.
• Avoid cords in children's environments in which they may hang.
• Purchase age appropriate toys so that toys for young children do not have small parts.
• Ensure a safe sleeping environment for infants (e.g., crib slat space no more than 2-3/8 inches, no soft enveloping surfaces).
• Avoiding entrapment hazards (old refrigerators, plastic bags, grain bins, etc.).