Infant First Aid - How to Prepare for Minor Medical Mishaps
The more mobile baby becomes, the more opportunity there is for mishaps. Your baby will hurt himself at times; it's part of his learning process. But understanding first aid will help you stay calm and know how to best care for your baby when accidents happen. An infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) course is highly recommended.
Head and eye injuries should always be taken seriously. Baby's head is fragile, and his developing brains and eyes are very sensitive. If your infant injures his head, he may show obvious signs off distress such as bleeding or lethargy, but even if he seems fine, he may have a concussion. Babies sometimes embed objects in their eye. Never try to dislodge these articles yourself. Scratched corneas are also common. In all of these situations, contact your doctor immediatelyso that you can rest easy knowing that all is well or provide the follow-up care that is needed.
CPR Technique:1 This information does not replace an infant CPR course, which is necessary for you to confidently help your baby in an emergency. Keep in mind that if you ever need to perform CPR, seconds matter, and you will not have time to refer to a book outlining the steps to take. If there is someone else with you when infant CPR is needed, have them call 911 at once while you begin the procedure. If you are alone with your infant, then perform CPR for two minutes before calling 911, followed by resuming CPR until help arrives. To perform CPR, check your infant's Airway, Breathing and Circulation (ABC).
Is the baby breathing? Look - is the infant pale, blue and obviously not breathing? If you are unsure quickly listen and feel for breathing. Place you ear just above his mouth and looking down towards his feet. Do you feel his breath on your cheek or hear him breathing? Can you see his chest rising and falling? Begin CPR if the infant is not breathing.
Airway. Quickly look for obstructions in his mouth and scoop anything out using a sideways, sweeping motion with your finger so as not to push anything further down.
Breathing.
- Lay your baby down on his back.
- Tilt his head back just slightly upward toward the ceiling (sniffing position) with one hand and lift his chin slightly with your other hand.
- Place your mouth over his mouth and nose.
- Cover his mouth and nose with yoru mouth and gently exhale one quick time into his mouth (should be more of a gentle puff rather than a blow of air, just enough for the infant's chest to rise). Look to see if his chest rises. If it does, give a second breath. Each breath you give baby should last no more than one second. An infant's lungs are small, and breathing too fast or hard can be damaging.
- Check baby's pulse by gently pressing the infant's side of the neck. If he has a pulse you do not need to do the compressions in teh next step, but must continue on with the rescue breaths until the infant is breathing unassisted.
Circulation. If the infant's chest doesn't rise with your rescue breaths, his airway may be blocked.
- Locate your infant's breastbone by imagining a horizontal line between your baby's nipples. Place the pads of two fingers just below this line and in the centre of your baby's chest.
- Compress his chest by pressing straight down gently to about one-third to one-half the depth of his chest and give the infant at least 100 chest compressions per minute. Compressions should be smooth and rapid.
- After every 5 compressions give your infant a rescue breath.
- Continue the compressions and rescue breaths.
- Again, check the infant's pulse. When the infant has a pulse stop the compressions but continue the rescue breaths until baby is breathing on his own.
First Aid Checklist2 – For Minor Medical Problems:
Keep a first aid kit in your home and in your car, and take one on vacations. As you use supplies, remember to replace them so the next time they are needed, you will have them. Regularly check medications to ensure they have not expired. A plastic tackle box or art supply box is well-suited to holding your supplies as long as it is labelled very clearly so that it is obvious and easy for others, such as babysitters, to find.
- Emergency contact information. Your local hospital, as well as your family doctor.
- Copy of prescription medications.
- Blanket. Space blankets are most commonly used as they take up minimal room. Use to reduce heat loss.
- Digital thermometer. Pick one that can be used in the mouth, armpit or rectally.
- Infant acetaminophen or ibuprofen. To relieve fever and mild pain.
- Syrup of ipecac. To cause vomiting in case of poisoning.
- Medical dropper or oral syringe. To administer liquid medication.
- Infant electrolyte replacement solution. To help prevent dehydration.
- Local pain reliever. To relieve teething pain.
- Antibiotic ointment. To heal cuts and prevent infection.
- Bandages. Have multiple and differently sized adhesive bandages available for cuts and scrapes. Include some non-stick larger bandages for bigger cuts.
- Aloe gel. To relieve burns.
- Liquid soap. Pick one that is mild enough to be used on baby's skin. To clean your own hands before administering first aid and to clean cuts and scrapes.
- Bottle of water. To flush the eye if necessary.
- Tweezers. To remove splinters.
- Rubbing alcohol swabs. To clean thermometer or tweezers.
- Sunscreen and lip protection. Look for SPF of 15 or higher.
- Insect repellent.
- Calamine lotion. To soothe sunburn and rashes.
- Hydrocortisone (0.5%) cream. To soothe nsect bites or allergic reactions.
- Cold pack. To reduce swelling.
- First-aid manual or pocket guide. To be used as a reference when needed.
- Saline nose drops. To relieve stuffy noses.