5. Important Differences When Helping Infants

Applying artificial respiration to an infant requires special care due to their small size and fragile anatomy. The following adjustments are critical for safety and effectiveness.

• Airway Position: Do not tilt an infant’s head back as far as an adult’s. Instead, tilt it back only slightly into the “sniffing position,” as if they were sniffing the air. Tilting it too far can block their delicate airway.
• Giving Breaths: Place your mouth over both the baby’s nose and mouth to create a seal. Use gentle “puffs” of air from your cheeks, not deep breaths from your lungs. Give just enough air to make the baby’s chest gently rise.
• CPR Compressions: If the infant also needs chest compressions, use only two fingers (the index and middle finger) in the center of the chest. Perform compressions to a depth of approximately 4 cm at a rate of 100-120 compressions per minute.

These separate techniques—rescue breaths and chest compressions—are most effective when combined in the procedure known as CPR.