Understand how helping a child and an infant differs from helping an adult, and don't carry adult techniques over to an infant.
The line is at one year
A child and an infant are two different cases
It starts as with an adult: while a child coughs loudly and forcefully, keep your hands off. The difference begins when there's no cough. The key line is one year.
A child over one: lean them forward, up to five back blows between the shoulder blades; if that fails, up to five abdominal thrusts; then alternate. Same sequence as for an adult; the grip and force change, not the order.
An infant under one: face down along your forearm, supporting the head — up to five back blows; then onto their back on your thigh — up to five chest thrusts with two thumbs; then alternate. Never give an infant abdominal thrusts: the risk of injuring internal organs is too high.
Everything is scaled to the child, not the adult, as the pediatric CPR number shows: push at least a third of the depth of the chest, not “five or six centimeters” as in an adult.
No blind finger sweeps: remove only what you can clearly see. If the child stops responding, start CPR — in a child, it begins with five rescue breaths.
Don't put off the call. If someone is nearby, send them to call right away. If you're alone, call on speaker yourself: your hands stay free, and the dispatcher talks you through it.
Example: an eight-month-old baby goes quiet in someone's arms, face tense, no sound, beads scattered nearby. Not abdominal thrusts — forearm, face down, five back blows.
Lesson notes
A child and an infant are two different cases
It starts as with an adult: while a child coughs loudly and forcefully, keep your hands off. The difference begins when there's no cough. The key line is one year.
A child over one: lean them forward, up to five back blows between the shoulder blades; if that fails, up to five abdominal thrusts; then alternate. Same sequence as for an adult; the grip and force change, not the order.
An infant under one: face down along your forearm, supporting the head — up to five back blows; then onto their back on your thigh — up to five chest thrusts with two thumbs; then alternate. Never give an infant abdominal thrusts: the risk of injuring internal organs is too high.
Everything is scaled to the child, not the adult, as the pediatric CPR number shows: push at least a third of the depth of the chest, not “five or six centimeters” as in an adult.
No blind finger sweeps: remove only what you can clearly see. If the child stops responding, start CPR — in a child, it begins with five rescue breaths.
Don't put off the call. If someone is nearby, send them to call right away. If you're alone, call on speaker yourself: your hands stay free, and the dispatcher talks you through it.
Example: an eight-month-old baby goes quiet in someone's arms, face tense, no sound, beads scattered nearby. Not abdominal thrusts — forearm, face down, five back blows.