How to Prevent Choking In Newborn Babies

Last reviewed: November 6, 2026 · Updated to match current American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidance.

Quick answer: For newborns, preventing choking mostly means feeding safely and sleeping safely: hold your baby during every feed, never prop a bottle or put your baby to bed with one, use a slow-flow nipple, and give only breast milk or formula. Place your baby on their back to sleep. Healthy babies don’t choke more on their back, because they naturally cough up or swallow fluid. Keep small objects, coins, button batteries and magnets out of reach. Once your baby starts solids, around 6 months, offer soft, mashed or finely cut foods, always with your baby sitting upright and supervised. Taking an infant CPR and first aid class is one of the best things you can do.

Babies explore with their mouths, and their airways are small. Here’s how to lower the risk of choking at each stage, and what to do if it happens.

Safe Feeding for Newborns

Hold Your Baby for Every Feed

Feed your baby in a fairly upright position, and never prop a bottle or leave your baby alone with one. Propping can cause choking and overfeeding.

Control the Flow

A nipple flow that’s too fast can make babies gulp, cough and sputter. Use a slow-flow nipple, and try paced bottle feeding, which lets your baby set the pace. If you have a very fast let-down when breastfeeding, try feeding in a laid-back position.

Only Breast Milk or Formula

Babies under 6 months should have only breast milk or formula. Never pour liquid into a baby’s mouth or give water, juice or cereal in a bottle.

No Bottles in Bed

Don’t put your baby to bed with a bottle. It raises the risk of choking, ear infections and tooth decay.

Burp and Hold Upright After Feeds

Burping and holding your baby upright for a while after feeds can reduce spit-up. See our guide on how long to keep your baby upright after feeding.

Safe Sleep Lowers Choking and Suffocation Risks

The AAP recommends placing your baby on their back for every sleep, on a firm, flat surface with only a fitted sheet. Keep pillows, blankets, bumpers and soft toys out of the crib. These are suffocation risks, not choking risks, but they’re just as important. Don’t let your baby sleep in a car seat, swing or bouncer, where their head can slump forward.

Keep Small Objects Out of Reach

• Anything that fits through a toilet paper tube is small enough to choke on.
• Keep coins, beads, buttons, balloons, small toy parts, pen caps and jewelry away from babies.
• Button batteries and magnets are especially dangerous if swallowed. Store them securely and get emergency care right away if you think your child swallowed one.
• Check toy labels for age ratings, and check older siblings’ toys and floors regularly.

When Your Baby Starts Solids (Around 6 Months)

• Sit upright and supervise: always feed your baby sitting up in a high chair, and stay with them. Never let them eat while lying down, crawling, walking or in the car.
• Make food soft and small: start with smooth purees or soft, mashable foods. Cook hard vegetables like carrots until soft, and grate or cook hard fruits like apples.
• Cut round foods: quarter grapes and cherry tomatoes lengthwise, and cut hot dogs into thin strips.
• Avoid high-risk foods until at least age 4: whole nuts, popcorn, hard candy, gum, marshmallows, chunks of raw vegetables, and spoonfuls of thick nut butter. Offer nut butter thinly spread or mixed into food instead.
• Don’t rush: offer small amounts and let your baby eat at their own pace.

Know the Signs of Choking

Gagging is normal as babies learn to eat. They may cough, make noise and turn red, and it usually passes on its own. Choking is when the airway is blocked. A baby who is choking may be silent or unable to cry or cough, struggle to breathe, make high-pitched sounds, or turn blue.

What to Do If Your Baby Is Choking

If your baby is coughing hard or crying, let them keep coughing and watch closely. If your baby can’t breathe, cry or cough:

1. Call emergency services, or have someone else call.
2. For babies under 1 year, give up to 5 back blows: hold your baby face-down along your forearm, head lower than chest, supporting the jaw, and give firm blows between the shoulder blades.
3. If that doesn’t work, turn your baby face-up and give up to 5 chest thrusts with two fingers in the center of the chest, just below the nipple line.
4. Repeat until the object comes out or your baby becomes unresponsive. If they become unresponsive, start infant CPR.

Don’t put your fingers in your baby’s mouth to search for an object you can’t see. An infant CPR and first aid class is the best way to learn these steps.

The Bottom Line

For newborns, hold your baby for every feed, never prop a bottle, and always place them on their back to sleep. Keep small objects, button batteries and magnets out of reach. When solids begin, serve soft, small pieces with your baby sitting upright and supervised, and avoid high-risk foods. Learn infant CPR so you’re ready if it ever happens.

This article is for general information and isn’t a substitute for medical advice or first aid training. In an emergency, call emergency services right away.