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Infant CPR Techniques

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, also known as CPR, is an important skill for anyone to learn. In particular, anyone caring for an infant should be able to perform infant CPR, which is best learned in a child/infant CPR class. CPR is a combination of rescue breathing and chest compression and can save your baby's life or prevent brain damage while you wait for emergency personnel to arrive.

  1. Calling 911

    • If you have someone else with you, ask him to call 911 for an ambulance while you begin CPR. If you are alone, call out loudly for help while you are evaluating the baby, but do not leave him to call 911. After you have been doing CPR for 2 minutes, use your phone to call 911, and follow the instructions of emergency personnel from that point on.

    Checking for Breathing

    • It is critical to find out if the infant is moving or breathing before beginning to perform CPR. If you start chest compressions on an infant who does not need CPR, you can stop her heart. Tilt her head by gently lifting her chin with one hand and pushing down on her forehead with the other hand. Watch closely for any sign of breathing or movement, and feel for any breath by putting your face close to hers.

    Rescue Breathing

    • Rescue breathing provides oxygen to the lungs when the infant is unable to breathe on his own. To begin rescue breathing for an infant without a spinal injury, maintain the tilt of his head, and cover his mouth and nose with your mouth. Breathe into his mouth and nose twice, just enough to make his chest rise. Do two rescue breaths between each cycle of 30 chest compressions.

    Chest Compressions

    • When doing chest compressions on an infant, it is important to use the proper amount of force and to compress the chest in the correct position due to the delicacy of an infant's bones. The correct position is in the center of her breastbone, just below the nipples. Do not compress her chest at the end of the breastbone. Compression should be done in a series of 30 compressions and should be done quickly. There should be no pauses, but her chest should rise all the way back up between each compression. To get a feel for the correct way to accomplish chest compression, practice on a CPR doll, which is provided at child/infant CPR classes.

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