Dummy Safety: Distressing Footage of Baby Choking on Dummy

Trigger Warning: This article contains images and footage that may be confronting.

Watching your little one struggle is horrendous. An Australian mother was unaware just how much her baby was struggling after he choked on a dummy but her CuboAi baby monitor captured the very distressing footage, prompting an important message about dummy safety.

As you will see in the video (if you choose to watch it), the little boy is in his cot, struggling to breathe as he attempts to spit up the dummy that was lodged in his mouth. The confronting clip documents the 7-month-old spitting up several times before coughing out the dummy and letting out a loud cry.

Dummy Safety - Baby Choking on Dummy — Source: Instagram

Confronting footage acts as an eye-opener for parents

To realise this has happened to your baby would be absolutely heartbreaking. Luckily the infant is okay now but this is not something any parent should have to go through.

This is why the Australian mum decided to pass the video along to Nikki Jurcutz, the founder of Tiny Hearts Education – to warn other parents about the dangers of dummies that are not up to safety standards.

Nikki then shared the footage alongside an important message on her Instagram page.

I had never considered that this was even a possibility before. I was holding my breath watching this video sent in by this little one’s mum. It’s so hard to watch even though he is ok.

I wasn’t going to share it but then I showed my husband and we began talking about what we would do to ensure our baby, who has a dummy, is safe. It triggered us to be more aware so I’m sharing in the hope it does the same for you.

I spent today looking into dummy safety and the potential safety concerns they present. There are safety requirements dummies must meet. I’ve gone through all of the ones we have after seeing this to ensure Bambi is safe. This baby is only 7 months and the dummy fit inside his mouth 💔 Thanks to his mum who wanted us to share so this doesn’t happen to you.”

A few things to remember before watching this video:

1. It is hard to watch. It goes on for longer than most of us are comfortable with. But Bub is okay and the mother has informed Tiny Hearts Education that he no longer uses a dummy.

2. We don’t know the situation and how the parents didn’t hear Bub before he let out a cry. Yes, we can all say we would have heard him and run in within seconds but we were not there. So please refrain from making comments about this. The mother is sharing this to help other parents, not to be shamed.

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Important dummy safety rules

Many parents, after watching this video, will be rethinking a dummy in general. And, although the footage is really hard to watch, it does open a conversation about dummy safety. Nikki put together some great graphics about dummy safety and safety standards:

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), all dummies sold in Australia must meet mandatory safety requirements. The shield size is an important one as the shield must be big enough to not fit entirely into the baby’s mouth. The dummy that the infant was using in the video fit into his mouth.

Another important one is the holes in the shield which allow air to pass through if a child accidentally swallows it. You can read the full dummy safety requirements at Tiny Hearts Education.