When Life hands you a LifeSaver...Don't Give it to a 3 yr old...

Today, I had a major mommy snafu.  Yes, today I screwed up a bit.  You see, I sometimes forget that Max is just 3 and I think he can do more than he really can.  And today, I let him suck on a LifeSaver.  Yes, I gave him one and he had to stand by me while it was in his mouth and not run around.  So far so good, right??  He wouldn't even put it in his mouth whole b/c he didn't want to.  We were at the bus stop, you see, waiting for the big kids to come home...they were supposed to be early b/c of early  but it was just taking soooooo long for the bus to come.

I went to put Max in the truck and get his snack so that he was ready when the bus actually got there.  We had to take DJ to gymnastics and so we were leaving from there.  Well, I didn't realize that he actually put the whole LifeSaver into his mouth and the next thing I know, he is grasping for breath.  His eyes were terrified and you could tell that he couldn't breathe.  I tried the whole scoop the food out method (which is totally wrong) and wound up scratching his throat and pushing the LifeSaver further down his throat.  Now, he was able to breathe at this point, but he was still terrified and started to purge everything in his stomach...blood from the cut I gave him, all the food and on to the wonderful mucousy crap at the bottom of his belly.  All while hysterically crying.  I was pretty much holding him around his belly and kinda shaking him to get the stuff out of his belly and also thinking that he could actually cough up the damn thing.  Well, he never did cough up the damn thing but he was able to take a drink.  Note to self- DO NOT GIVE APPLE CIDER as that drink...It made it burn more I think.  And so, he didn't want to drink it...thankfully, I had some water and he agreed to drink that.  He finally decided that he was okay too...and he released his death grip from around my neck to sit down so I could wipe him down.  Whew...that was totally scary and I never want to experience that again in my life!!

I don't eve think I thought about how scary it was until he did release me...I also didn't break until my neighbor came over, looked me in the eye, and asked if I was ok.  Thanks neighbor!!

But, just in case I do have to try and dislodge food again, I thought I'd look up the 'proper' way to do so... Also, in the event you are ever faced with this challenge, you will have the correct knowledge to move forward:
http://www.parents.com/baby/injuries/choking/what-to-do-when-your-child-is-choking/

The one thing I did wrong was try to remove the object.  It looks like I did everything else almost the right way... Lesson learned and a very thankful outcome!!  And, I will NEVER give him another Lifesaver again!!!

We still made it to gymnastics...just a little late.  These 3 had fun..  And we still made it to soccer in the rain in which ALL (but Franny of course) of my kiddies were soaking wet, muddy and dirty by the end.  We did not, however, make it to our Polish Dancing tonight.  I was wiped, it was late, we had to shower everyone, eat dinner and b/c of the rain hubby got home late.  Perhaps we'll make it next week??  Or should I say, perhaps hubby will make it there with them...ha ha ha




On another note- here are some pics of Franny getting into 'boxes' today (one of them she was 'stuck' in...lol)