3 August 2026 · 5 min read · First Aid for Babies
The overall sequence for a baby is the same as for an adult, but almost every physical detail is different. Applying adult technique to an infant either does nothing or causes harm, which is why infant CPR is worth learning specifically rather than assuming you can scale down what you already know.
Adults usually collapse because of a primary heart problem. Babies almost always deteriorate because of a breathing problem first, and the heart stops afterwards as a consequence of low oxygen. This is why rescue breaths carry more weight in infant resuscitation than they do in adult resuscitation, and why compression only CPR is a less suitable substitute for a baby.
Do not tilt a baby's head back the way you would for an adult. An infant's airway is soft and short, and over extending the neck kinks it closed. Keep the head in a neutral position, as though the baby is looking straight up, and lift the chin gently. Check the mouth for anything obvious, but never sweep a finger blindly.
Cover the baby's mouth and nose with your mouth, or use an infant face shield. Give small, gentle puffs rather than full adult breaths. You are aiming for just enough air to make the chest visibly rise. An adult sized breath can damage an infant's lungs. Give two initial breaths before starting compressions.
Place two fingers in the centre of the chest, on the lower half of the breastbone. Compress about one third of the depth of the chest, which is roughly four centimetres in a typical baby, at a rate of one hundred to one hundred and twenty compressions each minute. Let the chest come all the way back up between compressions. The ratio is the same as for adults, thirty compressions to two breaths.
Call 000 and put the phone on speaker so that your hands stay free. If you are completely alone with the baby and have no phone within reach, current guidance is to perform about one minute of resuscitation before leaving to get help, because oxygen is the immediate priority for an infant.
Parents frequently hesitate on an infant because they are afraid of hurting the baby. Effective compressions are firmer than instinct suggests, and a baby in cardiac arrest cannot be made worse by an imperfect attempt. Practising the pressure on an infant manikin is genuinely the only way to calibrate it.
Our Childcare First Aid course covers infant resuscitation in detail on baby manikins and takes about three and a half hours. Find a class near you.
Nationally recognised training with CBD College (RTO 91399). Book online and get your certificate the same day.
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