by Michelle Stein posted in Parenting

You might have come across this post recently shared by the Breastfeeding Mama Talk Facebook page. In it, a mother described the harrowing experience of her infant son turning blue after choking on breast milk.
"Scariest day of my life by far," Rebecca Taylor wrote. "Did you know that babies could choke on breastmilk" Like seriously can't catch their breath, call an ambulance trip to the emergency room choke" Well I definitely did not. Thankfully he's okay now, but for a brief while he wasn't & I've never felt more panicked or lost in my entire life. Watching my teeny tiny new baby get hooked up to an oxygen mask with all sorts of tubes & codes being called out is one if the worst things a parent could ever witness." "Apparently this 'freak' accident can actually happen to babies & it's more common than I thought," the mom of two continued. "Especially when you have an over active let down & produce too much milk (something some people wish for)."
Everything turned out OK for this baby and his mama, thankfully. Still, as a mom who has breastfed three children for more than a year each without incident, I wondered: How common is it for babies to choke on breast milk, anyway" I spoke with Julie Hawksley, a board certified lactation consultant, for some answers.
"I have seen babies gulp, cough, choke and sputter during breastfeeding when the mother has a forc...