First Aid Tips for Infant Care

This information is NOT intended to replace your doctor's advice. In every emergency it is best to call 911 or your doctor as quickly as possible.

Choking:

Signs and Symptoms:

• Hyperagitated - jumping up and down, flailing arms, and or panicked.
• Unable to cry or talk and gesturing as such.
• Lips, cheeks, and/or fingers may appear blueish.

Remedies:

Babies 12 months and younger

• If coughing forcefully, allow them to continue coughing.
• If coughing continues past a few minutes or coughs become weak or not cough at all; call 911 immediately.

If infant is UNCONSCIOUS:

1. Lay infant face-up and tilt head back slightly while lifting the chin. Open infant's mouth and look for a foreign object. Remove it if one is present and can be removed without risk of pushing it further into the throat.
2. If no object is present, place your mouth over the infant's mouth and nose to form a seal. Give two gentle breaths and watch for the chest to rise. If the chest doesn't rise, then the infant is more than likely choking.
   To clear the air passage of a choking UNCONSCIOUS infant:
3. Hold infant upside down with one arm supporting its chest and its head resting in your arm.
4. Strink infant between the shoulder blades five times with the heel of your palm.
5. If the object is not expelled, lay the infant on its back again. Place two fingers on the breastbone, one finger width below the nipples. Using only your fingers, give five quick downward thrusts to the chest at a depth of 1/2 to 1 inch.
6. Check again for breathing. Tip infant's head back and administer two breaths while watching the chest. If not breathing, repeat from step 3 until the object is expelled or help arrives.

Prevention:

• Never feed an infant: hot dogs, hard candy, nuts, grapes, popcorn, or raw carrots.
• Keep small items (coins, buttons, batteries, pills, etc.) well out of reach.
• Cut foods that require chewing into fingertip-size pieces.
• NEVER give balloons or plastic bags to infants!

Poisoning

Signs and Symptoms:

• Empty or spilled pill bottles
• Signs of vomiting and burning around the mouth
• The odor of chemicals.

Remedies:

1. Call poison control immediately. Look in the white pages of your phone book or call 911 and ask the operator to connect you.
2. Do NOT induce vomiting unles told to do so by medical personnel.

Prevention:

• Buy child resistant bottle when available.
• Lock poisons and other dangerous materials in cabinets out of childrens' reach.

Cuts

What to look for:

Is it a cut or a scrape? Scrapes can be results of a fall. Falls can be more serious than the obvious scrape that you see. Always contact your doctor if you are concerned that your infant has taken a serious fall.

Remedies:

1. For minor cuts: Elevate wounded area if possible and apply direct pressure with an ice bag wrapped in a towel.
2. If the wound has dirt or debris; numb it with ice and very gently clean wound under cool running water.
3. Once the bleeding has stopped, clean with soap and rinse with cool water.
4. Loosely cover the wound with a bandage.
5. Keep wound dry until it forms a scab.
6. If redness, swelling, pus or heat developes around the wound, call your doctor immediately.

Call your doctor if bleeding continues after 5-10 minutes of direct pressure.