The key difference between gag and choke is that gag is a natural mechanism in the body that brings food to the front of the mouth so that a baby can chew food particles better, while choke is a medical emergency situation where a baby’s airway becomes blocked due to offending obstacles such as food particles.
Normally, introducing solid foods to babies and starting to wean is a big milestone for parents. Sometimes, this process of slowly moving away from milk feed to trying new different tasty foods can be exciting and daunting. As babies learn to chew, swallow, and experience new food textures, they may gag or, in rare cases, may choke.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Gag
3. What is Choke
4. Similarities – Gag and Choke
5. Gag vs Choke in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Gag vs Choke
What is Gag?
A gag is a natural mechanism in the body that brings food to the front of the mouth so that a baby can chew it better. Gagging is a baby’s inbuilt protective mechanism against choking. Babies normally have highly sensitive gag reflexes that are triggered very close to the front of the tongue, especially at the start of weaning. This means that babies often gag when they first start on solid foods and for the first few weeks of weaning. During gagging, babies simply push food out of their mouth with their tongue, or they may retch or look like they are about to be sick. However, babies are rarely distressed by this and will often simply continue eating straight after gagging.
Gagging takes place because the baby needs to develop and mature the oral motor movement with time as they learn to eat. Moreover, gaging will also stop food from going down the wrong pathway. Therefore, parents should not be put off if their babies gag during the early stages of weaning. Through gagging, babies are simply learning to train their oral muscles to work in a new and different way and move food from the front of their mouth to the back in order to swallow.
What is Choke?
Choke or choking is a medical emergency situation where a baby’s airway becomes blocked due to offending obstacles such as food particles. Babies and young children often are at a higher risk for choking because they have less practice eating, don’t have molars to grind up their food, have small airways, and are likely to put things in their mouths. The signs of choking may include baby making high-pitched noises, becoming too weak to cough, looking blue or discolored, and may appearing distressed or panicky.
Choking is a medical emergency situation as babies will need immediate help. In this situation, parents should start first aid and immediately seek help from licensed medical professionals.
What are the Similarities Between Gag and Choke?
- Gagging and choking are two things parents observe when their babies start to eat solid foods.
- Both gagging and choking can occur in the first week or during the early stages of the weaning process.
- Both phenomena are interconnected.
- They can be easily overcome by supportive therapies.
What is the Difference Between Gag and Choke?
Gag is a natural mechanism in the body that brings food to the front of the mouth so that a baby can chew food particles better while choking is a medical emergency situation where a baby’s airway becomes blocked due to offending obstacles such as food particles. Thus, this is the key difference between gag and choke. Furthermore, gagging is a common mechanism in babies, while choking is a rare emergency situation that occurs in babies.
The below infographic presents the differences between gag and choke in tabular form for side by side comparison.
Summary – Gag vs Choke
Gaging and choking are two things that parents observe when their babies start to eat solid food during the early stages of the weaning process. Gag is a natural mechanism in the body and brings food to the front of the mouth so that the baby can chew food particles better, while choke is a medical emergency situation where the baby’s airway becomes blocked due to offending obstacles such as food particles. So, this is the key difference between gag and choke.
Reference:
1. “Is My Baby Gagging or Choking?” Healthy Parenting Winnipeg.
2. “Gagging vs. Choking during Baby Led Weaning: How to Tell the Difference.” ReadySetFood.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Baby-eating-firsts-food-child” (CC0) via Pixabay
2. “Prevent Choking” By US CPSC (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr