If your child is not breathing, you can try giving them two Rescue Breaths For Infants. Attempt to provide rescue breaths after every 30 compressions or when your child’s breathing stops. In addition to breathing rescue breaths for infants, you should watch for signs of normal breathing. If you can’t determine the cause of the child’s breathing crisis, try calling 911 or looking for an AED. Then, follow the steps below.
First, make the scene safe by putting on gloves and securing the baby. Call 911 or ask someone to get an AED. Check the child’s pulse for 10 seconds and give rescue breaths. Once the child’s breathing resumes, reassess his pulse every two minutes. After the second minute, the infant should normally be breathing again.
To check for breathing, lift the child’s head back and squeeze the nose. Press the tongue into the airway to open the airway. If you cannot feel the breaths, the baby is not breathing. If your child is not breathing, their chest will move, but you will not be able to feel it. If your child isn’t breathing, you should try giving five rescue breaths. Give the first one slowly and gently, and wait for the baby to respond.
First, if the infant is not breathing, try giving rescue breaths to keep him from passing out. Once you have secured a tight seal over the mouth, blow in for a second while holding the baby’s head still. Repeat this procedure for every 30 compressions. After each set of rescue breaths, give two gentle breaths.
Next, compress the sternum using two fingers. The compression should be done just below the intermammary line and should not stretch the xiphoid. Compress the chest for approximately one-third of the depth of the infant’s chest, which is four to six centimeters. Repeat as needed. Once the chest has fully recoiled, the compressions should continue until the infant breathes.
If the infant is unconscious, seal the mouth with your hands. Give rescue breaths for about a minute, then repeat. It would help if you repeated this every five or six seconds or every ten to twelve seconds, depending on the severity of the breathing problem. Repeat steps one and two until the infant is breathing on their own. Then, call 911. It’s important to practice the technique on an unconscious patient. And remember, rescue breaths for infants are not the same as CPR.
Asphyxial cardiac arrest is much more likely in infants, so chest compressions and ventilations are essential for pediatric resuscitation. A recent large pediatric study and animal studies have shown that chest compressions combined with mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing produce better outcomes in treating asphyxial cardiac arrest. Compressions and ventilation can theoretically delay the start of rescue breaths for infants by at least 18 seconds. Still, more time may be needed if two rescuers perform it.
