Holiday Choking Hazards: Keeping Babies and Toddlers Safe This Festive Season
Ornaments, tinsel, button batteries, ribbon, and festive food — the holidays turn your home into a choking obstacle course for curious toddlers. Here is how to navigate it safely.
The biggest holiday choking hazards for young children are button batteries (a Health Canada emergency), glass ornaments, tinsel and ribbon, small toy parts, and festive foods like whole nuts, grapes, popcorn, and hard candy. If a child is choking and can still cough, encourage coughing. If the cough becomes ineffective: for a baby under 1, alternate 5 back blows and 5 chest thrusts (never abdominal thrusts); for a child over 1, give 5 back blows first, then alternate 5 back blows and 5 abdominal thrusts. If they become unresponsive, call 911 and start CPR. Suspected button-battery swallowing means the emergency room now — don’t wait for symptoms.
The holiday season fills homes with objects that are irresistible to toddlers and dangerous if swallowed — shiny ornaments, ribbon, tinsel, small toy parts, button batteries, and foods like grapes, hard candies, and nuts served at gatherings. Choking is a leading cause of injury and death in infants and young children, and the extra decorations, gifts, and unsupervised snack tables of December add hazards that are not usually within a toddler’s reach the rest of the year.
Choking risk in young children: Canadian Paediatric Society (Caring for Kids); Canadian Red Cross 2025.
The Top Holiday Choking Hazards
Decorations
- Glass ornaments — shiny, colourful, and the perfect size to fit in a toddler’s mouth. Use shatterproof ornaments on lower branches and keep glass ornaments out of reach
- Tinsel and ribbon — if swallowed, these can cause intestinal obstruction. Avoid tinsel entirely in homes with children under three
- Small decorative items — miniature figurines, potpourri pieces, artificial berries, and snow globe fluid (toxic if the globe breaks)
- String lights — small bulbs can be pulled off and swallowed. Secure lights so children cannot reach them
Button Batteries
Source: Health Canada consumer product safety (button/coin batteries); local poison centre.
Holiday Foods
- Nuts — whole nuts are a major choking hazard for young children (Canadian Paediatric Society advises against them under about age four)
- Grapes and cherry tomatoes — must be cut lengthwise (not across) into quarters for young children
- Hard candies and candy canes — can break into sharp pieces or lodge in the airway
- Popcorn — a holiday party staple that is a choking risk for young children
- Hot dogs and sausages — round, firm foods that closely match the size of a child’s airway. Always cut lengthwise, then into small pieces
- Cheese cubes and raw vegetables — cut into age-appropriate pieces for young children
Source: Canadian Paediatric Society, Caring for Kids — feeding and choking-hazard guidance.
Toys and Gift Packaging
- Follow age recommendations on toy packaging — they exist primarily because of choking-hazard testing (Health Canada regulates small parts for children’s toys)
- Remove all packaging materials (twist ties, plastic clips, Styrofoam pieces, silica gel packets) before giving toys to children
- Check battery compartments — ensure they are screwed shut (not just snapped), especially on toys with button batteries
- Older children’s toys (LEGO, small figurines, craft beads) should be kept away from younger siblings
Source: Health Canada — Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (toys and small parts).
Choking First Aid: What Every Parent Must Know
If a child is choking but can still cough, cry, or breathe, the airway is only partly blocked — encourage them to keep coughing, because a strong cough is the most effective way to clear the airway. Only step in with back blows and thrusts when the cough becomes ineffective (silent, weak, or they can’t breathe).
Source: Canadian Red Cross 2025; Heart & Stroke / ILCOR 2025; ERC 2025 First Aid (cough-first).
For Infants Under One Year
- Lay the baby face-down along your forearm, supporting the head and jaw. The head should be lower than the chest.
- Give up to 5 firm back blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand
- Turn the baby face-up on your forearm, head still lower than the chest. Give up to 5 chest thrusts using the heel of one hand on the lower half of the breastbone — never abdominal thrusts on an infant
- Alternate 5 back blows and 5 chest thrusts until the object is expelled or the baby becomes unresponsive
- If the baby becomes unresponsive, lay them on a firm surface, call 911, and begin infant CPR
Source: Canadian Red Cross / Heart & Stroke (ILCOR / AHA 2025) — infant FBAO: 5 back blows alternated with 5 chest thrusts (never abdominal). See our baby choking guide.
For Children Over One Year
- If the child can cough, encourage coughing first
- If the cough becomes ineffective, lean the child forward and give up to 5 back blows between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand
- If back blows do not clear the airway, stand or kneel behind the child, place your fist just above the navel (thumb side in), grasp it with your other hand, and give up to 5 abdominal thrusts inward and upward
- Alternate 5 back blows and 5 abdominal thrusts until the object is expelled or the child becomes unresponsive
- If the child becomes unresponsive, lay them down, call 911, and begin CPR
Source: ILCOR 2025 CoSTR (back blows first); Heart & Stroke / AHA 2025 BLS (5-and-5 cycles); ERC 2025 First Aid.
Holiday-Proofing Your Home
Quick holiday safety audit
- Move glass and breakable ornaments to upper branches of the tree
- Eliminate tinsel, or use it only in rooms children cannot access
- Secure all battery compartments on new and existing electronic items
- Store gift-wrapping supplies (ribbon, scissors, tape, small bows) out of reach
- Keep a bowl of safe snacks at toddler height; keep the adult snack table out of reach
- Inspect all new toys before giving them to children — remove packaging, check for small parts
- Brief visiting family members on your household choking rules
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the biggest choking hazards during the holidays?
The top holiday choking hazards include glass ornaments, tinsel and ribbon, button batteries (found in greeting cards, LED candles, and electronic toys), hard candies and candy canes, whole nuts, grapes (if not cut lengthwise into quarters), popcorn, and small toy parts from gifts. Button batteries are especially dangerous — Health Canada warns a swallowed button battery can cause severe internal burns within hours, so it is treated as an immediate emergency.
What should I do if my toddler swallows a button battery?
Call 911 or your poison centre and go to the emergency room immediately — do not wait for symptoms. A swallowed button battery is a medical emergency. Do not induce vomiting and do not give food or drink unless a poison centre or physician directs you to. Health Canada and Canadian poison centres treat button-battery ingestion as urgent because the battery can burn internal tissue quickly.
How do I help a baby who is choking?
For babies under one year, do not use abdominal thrusts. Per Canadian Red Cross / Heart & Stroke (ILCOR / AHA 2025) guidelines, alternate 5 back blows (baby face-down on your forearm, head lower than chest, heel of your hand between the shoulder blades) with 5 chest thrusts (baby face-up, heel of one hand on the lower half of the breastbone). Continue until the object is expelled or the baby becomes unresponsive. If unresponsive, call 911 and begin infant CPR.
How do I help a choking child over one year old?
If the child can cough, encourage coughing. If the cough becomes ineffective, give up to 5 back blows between the shoulder blades first, then up to 5 abdominal thrusts just above the navel, and alternate 5 back blows with 5 abdominal thrusts until the object clears or the child becomes unresponsive (per ILCOR / AHA / ERC 2025). Anyone who received abdominal thrusts should be checked by a doctor afterward for possible internal injury. If the child becomes unresponsive, call 911 and start CPR.
At what age can children eat nuts?
Whole nuts are a choking hazard for young children; the Canadian Paediatric Society advises against whole nuts and other hard, round foods for children under about four years. Ground nuts, smooth nut butters (spread thinly), and finely chopped nuts can typically be introduced from around six months as part of weaning, assuming no allergy concerns. Always supervise children while eating and ensure they are seated upright — never allow eating while running, playing, or lying down.
How do I make holiday food safe for toddlers?
Cut grapes and cherry tomatoes lengthwise into quarters. Cut hot dogs and sausages lengthwise, then into small pieces. Avoid whole nuts, popcorn, hard candies, and large chunks of raw vegetables for young children (Canadian Paediatric Society guidance is roughly under age four). Supervise all eating and ensure the child is seated upright at a table. Keep candy canes, which can break into sharp pieces, out of toddlers’ reach.
Sources & medical review
Reviewed by Milos Radojcic (Canadian Red Cross / Heart & Stroke / Lifesaving Society First Aid & CPR Instructor, 10+ yrs). Choking first-aid content aligned with the Canadian Red Cross (2025), the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the 2025 ILCOR / AHA / ERC consensus on foreign-body airway obstruction. Product- and food-safety guidance draws on Health Canada (consumer product safety; button batteries; toy small-parts rules) and the Canadian Paediatric Society (Caring for Kids). Last reviewed July 2026.