A mum has sparked outrage after sharing a picture of the lunchbox she packed for her picky toddler at daycare, with hundreds criticising her for including popcorn, cut-up carrot and nuts.
The Australian woman, called Tamika, posted on Facebook, where she wrote: ‘This is lunch and snacks for my picky toddler (13 months old) at daycare tomorrow.
‘She will have protein for dinner,’ Tamika added.
A mum has sparked outrage after sharing a picture of the lunchbox she packed for her picky toddler at daycare, with hundreds criticising her for including popcorn and nuts (pictured)
The lunch and snack box included some popcorn, cut-up carrots and cucumber, dried bananas, raisins and nuts, along with a cheese strip.
It wasn’t long before dozens of other mums weighed in and said it was ‘dangerous’ to give such a young child popcorn and raw carrot, and she wouldn’t be allowed to bring nuts into daycare.
‘Popcorn isn’t recommended under five years of age, and it’s especially not recommended to a 13-month-old,’ one commenter posted.
Another added: ‘Popcorn, whole nuts and raw carrot really is the trifecta of very high risk choking foods for a young toddler’.
Previously, parenting organisation Tiny Hearts shared the foods including a cherry, popcorn, a grape, a coin and other toys that serve as choking hazards (pictured)
Some rushed to defend the woman and said ‘you should all be ashamed of yourself, leave the lunchbox alone’.
Others shared their own experiences with popcorn, and just how terrifying it can be for kids.
‘I watched my child choke on popcorn right in front of me (she was fully supervised),’ one mum wrote.
‘It’s the makeup of popcorn that’s the problem, not how the child chews. It is light and it’s carried into the airways very quickly. The added bits on the outside of popcorn aid with the choking, which is why adults can so easily choke on it too.’
She added: ‘Some kids might be fine with it, but others might die like my child almost did. Awareness is the key, because if I’d have known it wasn’t recommended for young children, she wouldn’t have been eating it’.
A mother also issued a grave warning to parents after her three-year-old nearly died from choking on popcorn (pictured: Cheree’s daughter Sophie in hospital)
This warning comes after a mother issued a warning to all parents after her three-year-old daughter ‘nearly died’ from eating popcorn.
Cheree Lawrence, 34, from Brisbane, said her little girl Sophie was rushed to the emergency room after she started ‘choking’ in front of the TV.
‘I didn’t think twice about give my three-year-old popcorn… She had eaten popcorn before; all my kids have grown up having popcorn in their lunchbox,’ she told FEMAIL.
‘I had no idea how dangerous it is for young children to aspirate on, or that children under five shouldn’t have popcorn at all.’
By the time the concerned mother and daughter got to the hospital, Cheree said Sophie’s wheeze was becoming ‘quite scary’.
‘She also had a high-pitched whistling sound when breathing,’ she said.
The mother said her daughter’s symptoms persisted for weeks but they were sent back home with steroids, antibiotics and Ventolin.
Five weeks later, Sophie was taken into emergency surgery, where the piece of popcorn that she had aspirated was removed.
‘The popcorn had caused some damage to her lung because it sat there for five long weeks and slowly started breaking down,’ Cheree said.
‘To this day, Sophie [who’s now five years old] still has asthma associated with the popcorn and is on two types of medication to assist her.’