Baby CPR: the one skill all parents should learn

Your baby brings a lot of happiness and joy to your life. All parents would do anything for their children. What would you do when your child stops breathing or is choking on something? Most people find it hard to imagine a situation like that, and they hope that it will never happen to them. Knowing what steps to take in this situation can prevent further injury and even death. To prevent a situation in ending in tragedy you should keep your CPR skills sharp.

CPR stands for cardio pulmonary resuscitation. To get oxygenated blood to all the major organs,like the brain, is the main purpose of CPR. The sooner you can perform the CPR routine, the better the result could be. One minute can make a huge difference when a heart stops beating.

So who should take an infant CPR class? Any person that has daily interaction with a baby under the age of 1 year should be prepared to know what steps to take in an emergency. Examples are parents, caregivers, grandparents and au pairs.

The following are some situations where the skills learned in a baby CPR class could help you:

Choking is a real risk for infants. It is in a baby`s nature to be curious, so they put anything they can into their mouth. Always keep in mind that any small thing is a potential choking hazard. Also be on the look out when the baby is first introduced to solid food. Babies are not used to normal food so they might try and put too much food into their mouth, they may also laugh and play with their food. Keeping small items out of your baby`s reach and monitoring the child while they eat are great ways to prevent choking.

Drowning is another reason where you could save a life with baby CPR. We know that babies are curious and they do not know that water can be dangerous. Keep in mind that infants under the age of one year cannot be taught how to swim. You must keep your baby very close when they are close to water like pools, lakes, ponds just to name a few. Babies can drown in a very small amount of water very quickly.

SIDS or sudden infant death syndrome is unfortunately when a baby dies without a known cause. Steps you can do to reduce the risk of SIDS are: Do not smoke near your baby.Put your bay to sleep lying on their back on a flat surface.You should not let your baby sleep with stuffed toys or heavy blankets.

You can take all the precautions, but unfortunately your baby might still choke or stop breathing. Being prepared and the right knowledge is the best chance your baby has. If you have a baby currently or will have one in the near future it is the best to arm yourself with the knowledge of how to protect your little one. Baby CPR could help any baby so encourage friends and family to also learn it.