The mother of a nine-month-old baby boy who died after choking at his nursery tried to warn staff he was unable to eat solid foods following concerns his meals were not being pureed, an inquest has heard.
Oliver Steeper died in hospital in September 2021 six days after he choked on food at the Jelly Beans Day Nursery in Ashford, Kent.
He only had two front teeth so had been eating pureed meals at home.
His parents were assured by nursery workers that solids could be blended before being fed to him and had “assumed” this would be done because he was “nowhere near being able to chew” properly, the jury inquest heard.
However, Oliver’s parents – Zoe and Lewis Steeper – became concerned when they found “chunks” of pineapple in his vomit one day.
Mrs Steeper told the inquest at Oakwood House in Maidstone she had intended to remind nursery staff that solid foods were not suitable for him.
She had considered emailing the nursery immediately, but she did not want to “rock the boat” or make staff feel she was “being pushy”, jurors were told.
“He had been given fruit salad at nursery, it was clear it wasn’t pureed,” she told the hearing.
“I said I was going to speak to the nursery the following week.”
Describing the moment she tried to raise the issue with staff in person while dropping Oliver off the following week, she said: “I felt rushed because I was dropping him off late.
“The lady I gave him to seemed rushed. Another child was holding her leg.”
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The inquest heard later that morning she received a call from the nursery to say her son had been “involved in an accident and had choked on his lunch”.
She told the jurors when she got to the nursery she saw a paramedic running with her son in his arms while doing chest compressions.
Oliver was rushed to hospital, but brain scans revealed he was not going to survive, and he died six days later.
Kent Police investigated what happened but no further action was taken.
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Mr and Mrs Steeper had chosen to send their son to the nursery for two half-days a week because it was only 20 minutes from their home, and it “felt like a family-run nursery”, jurors heard.
The inquest is expected to last for two weeks.
