A hair clip nearly killed my tot — now I'm warning other parents

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A parent’s worst nightmare nearly came true when a toddler choked on a tiny butterfly clip her mother had fastened in her hair.

Amelia, 2, was watching TV when her father noticed she was silently crying and clutching her throat, a letter posted by Tiny Hearts Education read.

“He immediately started back blows, but whatever was in her throat wasn’t dislodging,” continued the horrified mom, who was not identified in the Instagram post Monday. “She was now changing color and was very distressed.”

Two back blows later, the tiny clip came flying out of her airway.

“My two-year-old daughter had choked on a hair clip — something we had used a thousand times,” the mom wrote, concluding her letter with gratitude for Tiny Hearts, which is committed to teaching parents how to avoid potential hazards for young children.

Fellow parents applauded the mom for sharing her story and spreading awareness of the near-fatal incident.

“So incredibly important to know what to do if choking occurs,” one user wrote. “It can happen with absolutely anything and with everyday things in our house that we might not think are a hazard.”

“I stupidly bought these clips for my toddler thinking how cute they’d look in her hair, I’m normally pretty cautious about little things about her because she puts everything in her mouth, but I didn’t even think about it this time until she ripped it out and put it straight in her mouth!” commented another parent.

She added: “Thankfully she’s older enough to spit [out] when she’s asked, but it was a scary moment hoping she wouldn’t accidentally swallow it.”

Tiny Hearts, based in Melbourne, Australia, was co-founded by ex-paramedic Nikki Jurcutz and her sister, Rach Waia.

A former medical responder, Jurcutz now educates parents on infant first aid.

Earlier this month, she informed her followers about the dangers of giving young children marshmallows, which can become easily lodged in a toddler’s throat due to their gummy nature.

“When [marshmallows] are wet, they become sticky and more difficult to swallow and be more difficult to clear from the airway,” she said in an Instagram video.

According to the New York State Department of Health, choking is the fourth leading cause of unintentional death in kids under 5, who are at a greater risk for choking.

A post shared by Tiny Hearts (@tinyheartseducation)

In fact, every five days, at least one American child dies from choking on food, hence the push for more parents to learn how to prevent and treat a choking toddler.

“Amelia is just one of the many lives that have been saved because her parents knew first aid,” Jurcutz wrote in the Instagram caption. “First aid is a skill you don’t realize how much you need, until you really need it.”