Last Updated on November 17, 2023 by CPR Training

Why It’s Important for Parents to Know Infant CPR

Would you know what to do if your baby stopped breathing? If you don’t feel prepared to respond to a medical emergency involving your infant, don’t hesitate to learn CPR. This procedure consists of chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Hopefully, you’ll never be in the position of having to perform CPR on your baby, but it could happen. Undergoing infant CPR training will ensure you’re prepared in an unfortunate emergency. Administering CPR could save your baby’s life if his heart stops beating or he isn’t breathing adequately.

An infant is a child less than one year old. In an infant CPR class, you’ll learn the step-by-step processes required to assess an infant and perform CPR. While taking a CPR class before your baby is born is ideal, it’s better late than never. Every parent should know how and when to perform CPR because administering CPR improperly can be harmful to your child.

Causes of CPR Being Administered on Infants

Infants usually don’t need CPR for the same reasons that adults do. Adults typically require CPR because of a sudden cardiac arrest emergency resulting from a heart attack, while children and infants tend to require resuscitation because of a respiratory issue that leads to cardiac arrest. Reasons why a baby’s heartbeat and breathing may stop include the following:

• Suffocation
• Choking
• Severe asthma
• Poisoning
• Near drowning
• Smoke inhalation
• Head trauma
• Electrical shock
• Obstructive apnea
• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

CPR restores blood flow to the brain, heart, and other vital organs. Without oxygen-rich blood flowing to vital organs, permanent brain damage could occur after just four minutes and death could occur in four to six minutes. CPR also restores breathing until advanced life support can be given.

CPR is the most successful when it is performed as soon as possible. You should only perform CPR when there are no signs of life or an infant is unconscious, unresponsive, or not breathing normally.

What You Learn in an Infant CPR Class

The best way to learn infant CPR is in a class taught by a certified instructor. It’s better to attend a class than to try and learn infant CPR from a book or website, though such materials can help you get acquainted with CPR before your class or refresh your memory after you undergo training.

In an infant CPR class, you will learn how to prevent, recognize, and respond to cardiac and breathing emergencies. You’ll learn to perform CPR and possibly how to use an AED. Your instructor will likely use an infant-sized dummy to demonstrate how to perform CPR, guiding you to ensure that you learn the proper techniques. You may also learn about childproofing measures and accident prevention since most children require CPR because of a preventable accident.

CPR for infants is slightly different than CPR for adults. Instead of using the palm of your hand to do chest compressions, you use your fingers. The CPR techniques for infants and older children are also different, so it’s essential to learn both.

Host a CPR Party in Your Home

You’ve probably heard of Tupperware and jewelry parties, but how about CPR parties? At EMC, we offer infant CPR parties for parents and their friends, relatives, babysitters, and anyone else who wants to join. EMC’s experienced instructors will come to your home or other private venue to teach you how to perform CPR, providing you with personalized attention at every step. We offer a variety of non-certification and certification courses nationwide. Infant CPR parties are provided exclusively in New York City Metro, including New Jersey and Connecticut.

Learning CPR could someday save your child’s or someone else’s life. If you’d like to learn how to administer infant CPR in the comfort and convenience of your own home, consider hosting your own infant CPR party. Call 1-800-695-5655 or fill out our online contact form for more information!

About EMC CPR & Safety Training, LLC
EMC CPR & Safety Training, LLC is a national distributor of leading AED brands, including Cardiac Science, Defibtech, HeartSine, Philips, and ZOLL. In addition, we offer full AED management programs.

Founded by New York CPR expert Stephanie Duehring, EMC CPR & Safety Training, LLC offers American Heart Association, ASHI, ECSI, and Red Cross CPR/AED/First Aid classes. We utilize a hands-on learning approach that leads to high student comprehension and retention levels. The company offers on-site training for businesses nationwide, including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston.

Thanks to Mom365, Romper, and Babygaga for using us as resources for their content on infant CPR training!

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