Last night Zach and I attended the infant CPR course at the hospital. We have taken it each time I am pregnant. It’s a free course offered by the hospital and I feel it’s essential to get the update so we are fresh with our CPR abilities for our new baby!
We asked Mrs. Charlotte to come with us since she is the main person who will watch Leo for us…and it randomly worked out that Casey and Jordan were signed up for the same night as us too! It was quite the family event 🙂
In the past the CPR course was a separate class but now they have combined it into a two hour session with the Tender Loving Care Class. Which, let’s be real, Z and I did not need the TLC portion but I’m still glad we went!
I ran a little late getting there so I didn’t really get a good feel for the amount of people in the room, but it wasn’t many. These classes are FREE. And they may not be the most amazing thing in the world…but they still provide information. You would think a lot more people would attend? I mean don’t people want to know what the heck to do with their baby when it pops out?!?!
The first part of the course was the TLC portion. I missed the section on breastfeeding but she did cover a good bit about formula feeding. Even though I’ve had two kids and attended this same class back in 2008…it was still a good refresher on some things:
- The nurse said we should use the bulb syringe to clean out the mouth first, then nose a couple times a day for the first week or so. I’ve NEVER heard that?!?! Is that something others have done? I remember having to do Britt’s mouth once in the hospital but not really at all after that, and never with Kye?
- She also said to clean the bulb syringe I need to fill it with warm water and boil it for 10-15 min. I think I need to add that to my list of things to do before Leo comes…
- They recommended cleaning the umbilical cord at each diaper change with rubbing alcohol but I remember from Britt’s first well visit that our pediatrician recommended only doing it twice a day. What do you guys do???
- It was a good reminder about how to handle circumcision care b/c if Leo is a boy I for sure didn’t remember about that lovely experience! She said to put a glob of Vaseline on it each diaper change for a week or so. And to not get any of that rubbing alcohol near it and also not to use any baby wipes for the first week.
- When we do give a bath it’s best to test the water with the inside of our arms rather than our hands to get a good feel for the temperature!
She went over what to expect as far as the baby’s sleep habits. She said, on average, most babies only sleep 5 hours solid through the night at 3 months old and that sleeping longer may be possible by 6-9 months old. OMG. Y’all. I cannot fathom that. I am so used to Babywise and have been using the techniques for so long that it’s just the norm to me and I completely forgot that most babies do take so long to sleep solid. I would be a ZOMBIE!!! I probably wouldn’t have as many babies as we want to have if they didn’t sleep so well so early on haha. I mean I’m sitting here worried about how I’m gonna make it the first 8 weeks it’ll take Leo to sttn…I can’t imagine it being months!!!
As I mentioned, we did take the TLC class before we had Kye. I covered ALL the stuff from that course in this post! When reviewing that post here are a few things that have changed since then:
- They now don’t recommend parents using rectal thermometers! Which is great b/c I never used them any way and that’s one less thing to feel guilty about 😉
- They also did a MUCH better job discussing SIDS prevention this time around. I still thought they should have gone into more detail but she really put an emphasis on back to sleep which was great!
The CPR portion of the class we have had two previous times now. We took it both when we were expecting Kye (you can read that post here) and again while pregnant with Britt (and here is that post). I’m very, very glad we decided to take it this time again as things have changed!!!
Now instead of starting with opening the airway and giving breaths, they are saying it’s best to go straight into chest compressions!!! Big difference from the old way! Again this is all for INFANTS which is under the age of 1!
If Leo were unresponsive (or, most likely in our case, if the angel care monitor starts beeping…) then here is what we do:
- Tap foot and yell name to see if responds.
- If no response yell for someone to call 911 (if alone do NOT go call 911 right away)
- Move baby to flat, firm surface above the ground
- Just below nipple line in center push straight up and down as well as hard and fast. Do 100 pushes per minute and let the chest fully rise back up between pushes.
- Do 30 pushes then give 2 breaths
- When giving breaths you want to open airway first (push back on forward and tilt chin up) and you want to cover BOTH the nose and mouth with your mouth. If your mouth isn’t big enough then you want to just cover the nose
- While the chest compressions should be firm, the breaths you administer should be easy and you should be able to see the baby’s chest rise.
- If alone do 5 sets of 30 pushes with 2 breaths (roughly 2 min) then call 911. If not alone trade off every 2 min so you won’t get tired.
- If the baby gasps for air that is actually NOT a sign to stop CPR. You want to keep going until the cry and or breathe normally.
With choking I like that they pointed out if the baby is coughing/making noise to LEAVE THEM ALONE and let them work it out. People freak out a lot about choking but as a seasoned Baby Led Weaning parent I’ve become where it doesn’t panic me anymore. Britt had many occasions where she choked or gagged a little and totally worked it out herself. However, if they are not making sounds then you start the procedure:
- Hold baby facedown on forearm and rest it on your thigh (I’d probably need to sit down)
- Give the back 5 slaps between the shoulder blades
- Sandwich baby between your arms and flip over and then give 5 chest thrusts (like the CPR ones above) while keeping infants head lower than body
- If alone, then call 911 at that point
- Continue to do the steps until infant coughs, cries, etc or until becomes unconscious.
If baby is unconscious due to choking:
- Do CPR like above
- If not able to get breath in then reposition and try again and if still not able to then do CPR breathing and chest compressions for 2 min. Look in the mouth each time before giving breaths to see if you can see object.
- Call 911 if alone after 2 min of CPR
- If you do see something in mouth then turn head to side and remove it with little finger.
- Never ever do a blind sweet in baby’s mouth! Which totally made me feel awful b/c when everything happened with Titus that time I thought he was choking (he actually was having a breath holding spell) so I immediately did a blind finger sweep. Oops. Thankfully choking wasn’t the issue and just me messing with him that way did seem to help wake him up, but it’s super important to keep in mind never do that again!!!
Overall I didn’t feel like this class did as thorough of a job of covering everything the way they did last time so if you are pregnant I do highly recommend you reading this post! I was also proud of myself for biting my tongue through majority of the class. Haha. I kept thinking “man I should offer to teach this thing” Not that I’m some mommy expert or anything but so often the people who teach these classes have older children and aren’t really as up to speed on the newest information. They read from a prompt on a screen and don’t really add anything to it. Casey actually made more points than I did…I know I’ve said it before but I LOVE how well researched she is 😉 She is straight up passionate about this pertussis vaccine too which is awesome! We did talk a bit about it but not intensely and everyone in the room had different experiences and said different things about the shot. It’s BEYOND frustrating how confusing it all is!!!
The class was supposed to last 2 hours but only lasted about 45 min. Casey, Jordan, Zach and I ran by Taco Bell (coincidentally it was Cinco De Mayo haha) for some dinner and to catch up a little bit since it’s been forever since we’ve all gotten to hang out. We had a babysitter at the house so we ate pretty quick but it was still nice to unwind a bit!
We plan to attend two more courses at the hospital: breastfeeding basics (another thing I feel is important to always get a refresher about!) and the sibling class. When we got home and kissed Kye (he’s at an age where he wants us to wake him when we get home) he popped right up from his sleep and was super chatty and asked ALL about the class and is SUPER excited about getting to go to the sibling one 🙂 I think it’ll be the best one too!
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We were also told to just leave the umbilical cord stump alone – don't wash it, sanitize it, etc. I think people attend the classes that they want to, or feel they need to. Before we had our baby last September we attended an all day baby class to prepare us for the birthing process as well as a breastfeeding class. I felt comfortable with how to care for a baby and didn't feel the need to attend a TLC class. Classes can only teach you so much, but you learn the rest once you are actually home with the baby.