Sad to say, natural selection has bared its fangs. Don't know how to eat, or what to feed your young? Klunk.

Whatever are they going to do about that rabid and prolific killer, water?

Labels just aren't the solution.

I have given my kiddos popcorn as soon as the have back teeth. Its this simple thing called chewing.

I personally think it may have something to do with the severely low breast feeding numbers. I have taken care of many bottle fed babies who do not chew. They bite off something and try to swallow it whole or only chew it a few times. They also don't pause between bites for breath and instead pause mid suck for a breath. This might be fine when you have a bottle but when you have food in your mouth the food is going to go with the airflow.

If you watch a baby who is nursing you will notice the whole mouth is moving in a chewing pattern. Bottle fed babies use their tongue and lips.. My personal theory is that nursing is the way we evolved to learn to chew.. both as human evolving to what we are now and as babies evolving into toddlers.

That poor family! But to sue the popcorn company? Did the little girl ever eat popcorn before? Had it ever been a problem with her? Sometimes accidents happen, and sometimes they aren't actually somebody's fault. Maybe warning labels should be affixed to all solid food.

By the way, JosephineMO7, you may be right or wrong, but your hypothesis sounds like it might be testable. On the other hand, I can't imagine a study coming out without a predetermined outcome in mind.

Tragic. Truly tragic. My sympathy to the parents. Butt...

Bad things happen. Someone will die from being struck by lightning. Someone else by falling down the stairs in a house they've lived in for 20 years.

If a bad thing happens, why does it have to be somebody's fault?

If we could make a perfectly safe world, who would want to live in it?

He should have read "What to Expect the First Year". Or any book on feeding babies. They cover this.

My heart breaks for that father but I don't think we need to put warning labels on popcorn. I am not blaming the father because things happen no matter how much child proofing you do, but I cannot believe in this day and age that there are any parents who don't realize that there are certain foods to watch out for. Popcorn and whole grapes are two of the biggies just because of the ease in which they can get lodged. I wonder if this was a case where the father was aware but thought like many of us that it wouldn't happen to them and when it did he felt a tremendous guilt and claimed ignorance to it. I don't mean it in a harsh way. The guy would feel guilty whether he knew or not but this isn't the fault of any popcorn maker and these parents are misplacing their grief and anger.

Labeling and bubble-wrapping everything in the world is not going to solve this problem.

You had the kid, do a little research on what you should/should not feed it if you don't honestly know. I bet he put more research into what car he was going to buy than how to raise his kid. It's unfortunate this happened, but frankly if you cover a box with a bazillion labels, eventually no one's going to read them anyway (if they do now) and they'll find some other excuse as to why it's not their fault. Just sayin'.

RPM. I can't imagine how they would get the info out of the parents. Or would they feed them stuff and see if they choke? But yeah I have been in the play group thing and mentioned both breastfeeding and circumcision. Nearly got my head chewed off. There is noway there could be an unbiased study..

I'm currently reading Super Baby Food for guidance as I start my son on solids. There's a page-long list of foods that are known choking hazards that should not be given to kids under three. Popcorn is first on the list. The information is out there, but so many people do not educate themselves. In my experience, much of it is family-related: the whole "my parents gave it to me and I turned out fine" mentality. My in-laws were horrifically uneducated, as were their families, and fed my husband all sorts of ridiculous things (frozen orange juice concentrate at two months, ice cream at three months, just name a couple). He has digestive problems to this day, and I'm amazed he didn't end up with more serious issues. And I'm getting all sorts of shit from the MIL about doing too much research about my kid's food. But at least I'm doing the research and not relying on labels and advertisements and hillbilly hearsay.

I can't imagine what those parents are going through. I can only hope they'll learn from it and do some reading to keep their other kids safe.

All the labels in the world aren't going to stop everyone from dying of something, sometime. You go through life, you do your best, and you're still dead.

I'm sorry and saddened that this happened, but I don't think warning labels are the answer. Besides, they'll be in Spanish first because we don't want to offend anyone...

I feel for that family. It's a tragic accident. But a label? Really? Popcorn gets caught in MY throat. How can you NOT know that it can get stuck in a childs? ANYTHING can get caught in a childs throat if you think about it. But in this case, there really was no way to know, and even if it was labeled, who's to say that would have made a difference. Labels are not going to protect a baby. It's a combination of parental instincts, emergency training, common sense, and pure luck.

Besides, that would mean that parents would actualy have to READ them. And I am willing to bet that there are still parents who will claim ignorance from it because "the letters were too small" or "How do you know I can read?" or "it isn't in whatever language I speak." or whatever cop out excuse. They can't just claim it was a tragic accident. They have to blame someone...
Sad.

>>I have taken care of many bottle fed babies who do not chew. They bite off something and try to swallow it whole or only chew it a few times. They also don't pause between bites for breath and instead pause mid suck for a breath. --Josephine

Wow! I never heard such a theory before. And, my mother breast fed. Not sure if it is true, but it sure makes sense. Thanks for sharing that idea.

Again, not knowing pediatric Heimlich causes a choking death in a toddler.

I don't have children and I'm familiar with the technique. Why would a parent NOT know this? Another case of gross negligence and reckless disregard for human life.

It's called commen sense. Popcorn has little kernals, and sharp edges...as anyone who has gotten popcorn stuck in their teeth can tell you. Knowing that, who feeds it to a toddler? DUH.

If you're such a moron that you can't figure out what is reasonable to feed and child, and what isn't, you should be sterilized.

I think about my great grandmother, raising kids on a farm with no outlet covers, cabinet locks, or warning labels on packages. And my grandfather and his siblings all grew up into healthy, happy adults.

That is truly awful, and I feel terrible for the parents.

How I dealt with the eating solid foods/choking thing (and I know people are going to think this is gross): I chewed her food for her.

Seriously. Not soft stuff, but things like hot dogs, cheese, and stringy vegetables. I would chew them first and then spit them out onto a plate. My mom did the same thing for me, we never got jarred baby food (was incredibly expensive where I grew up because it was imported). If I couldn't soften it with a few good chews, I didn't let her eat it.

I too feel for the parents, but it is not the popcorn companies' fault. Anything can get caught in a child's throat. I think adding a label is going too far. People need to use some of their own common sense.