Your Baby’s Emergency & Safety Guide

Important: Know What to Do Before You Need It

The first few minutes of an emergency can be frightening. Knowing the basic steps for choking, CPR, safe sleep, and car-seat safety can help you respond quickly and confidently.

If your baby is having a life-threatening emergency, call 911 immediately.

This guide is for general education and is not a substitute for hands-on CPR training or medical care.

🚨 If Your Baby Is Severely Choking

Signs of Severe Choking

Your baby may be severely choking if they:

  • Cannot breathe
  • Cannot cry or make a normal sound
  • Cannot cough effectively
  • Have a weak or silent cough
  • Are becoming blue, gray, or very pale
  • Become unresponsive

If your baby is severely choking, call 911 and begin the steps below.

What to Do

1. Give 5 Back Blows

Support your baby’s head and neck.

Place your baby face-down along your forearm or thigh, with the baby’s head lower than the chest.

Using the heel of one hand, give 5 firm back blows between the shoulder blades.

2. Give 5 Chest Thrusts

Turn your baby face-up while continuing to support the head and neck.

Using the heel of one hand, give 5 chest thrusts in the center of the chest.

Do not perform abdominal thrusts on an infant.

3. Repeat

5 BACK BLOWS → 5 CHEST THRUSTS → REPEAT

Continue alternating 5 back blows and 5 chest thrusts until:

  • The object comes out, or
  • Your baby can breathe, cry, or cough effectively, or
  • Your baby becomes unresponsive.

If your baby becomes unresponsive, begin CPR and follow the instructions of the 911 dispatcher.

Never Do These Things

  • Do not blindly put your fingers into your baby’s mouth.
  • Do not shake your baby.
  • Do not perform abdominal thrusts on an infant.
  • Do not wait to call 911 if your baby cannot breathe, cry, or cough effectively.

Learn Infant Choking First Aid: American Heart Association (Infant Choking)

We strongly recommend learning these techniques through hands-on training rather than relying on a written guide alone.

🚨 If Your Baby Is Unresponsive or Not Breathing Normally

CALL 911 AND BEGIN CPR.

If someone is with you, have them call 911 and get an AED while you begin CPR.

If you are alone and have a cell phone, use speakerphone while beginning CPR and follow the instructions of the 911 dispatcher.

How to Begin Infant CPR

1. Recognize the Emergency

If your baby is unresponsive and is not breathing normally, including abnormal gasping, treat this as an emergency.

Call 911 and begin CPR.

2. Begin Chest Compressions

Current American Heart Association guidance recommends either:

  • The heel-of-one-hand technique, or
  • The two-thumb–encircling-hands technique.

The older two-finger technique is no longer recommended for infant chest compressions.

3. Give CPR

If you are trained and willing to provide rescue breaths, give:

30 chest compressions followed by 2 breaths.

Continue CPR until:

  • Your baby starts moving or breathing normally,
  • Someone with more advanced training takes over,
  • An AED is ready to use, or
  • Emergency medical services arrive.

If an AED is available, use it as soon as possible and follow its instructions. Use pediatric pads or a pediatric attenuator when available.

Hands-On CPR Training Is Strongly Recommended

Reading about CPR is not the same as practicing CPR.

The best time to learn infant CPR and choking first aid is before you need it.

American Heart Association — Find a CPR Class:  American Heart Association (CPR CLASS LOOK UP)

💤 Safe Sleep

Creating a safe sleep environment is one of the most important things you can do for your baby.

The ABCs of Safe Sleep

A — ALONE

Your baby should sleep in their own sleep space.

The safest place for your baby is a crib, bassinet, portable crib, or play yard that meets current safety standards.

B — BACK

Place your baby on their back for every sleep — naps and nighttime.

Once a baby can roll from back to stomach and stomach to back independently, you do not need to continually reposition them if they roll during sleep. Continue placing them on their back when you initially put them down.

C — CRIB

Use a firm, flat, non-inclined sleep surface with a fitted sheet.

The sleep space should be free of:

  • Pillows
  • Blankets
  • Quilts
  • Comforters
  • Bumper pads
  • Stuffed animals
  • Sleep positioners
  • Toys
  • Other loose or soft objects

A fitted sheet on a firm, flat sleep surface is all your baby needs for sleep.

A Few More Safe-Sleep Reminders

  • Keep your baby’s sleep environment smoke-free and away from nicotine.
  • Avoid overheating your baby.
  • Do not use weighted blankets, weighted swaddles, or other weighted sleep products.
  • If you swaddle your baby, always place your baby on their back.
  • Stop swaddling as soon as your baby shows signs of trying to roll.
  • If your baby falls asleep in a car seat, stroller, swing, infant carrier, or other sitting device, move your baby to a firm, flat, non-inclined sleep surface as soon as it is safe to do so.
  • Keep your baby’s head and face uncovered during sleep.
  • Provide supervised tummy time when your baby is awake.

More Safe-Sleep Information

American Academy of Pediatrics: HealthyChildren.ORG

🚗 Car Seat Safety

Your baby’s car seat is one of the most important pieces of safety equipment you will use.

Keep Your Baby Rear-Facing

Your baby should ride rear-facing in the back seat.

Keep your baby rear-facing until they reach the maximum height or weight allowed by the car seat manufacturer.

When your baby outgrows an infant-only seat, move to a convertible or all-in-one seat and continue using it rear-facing if the seat allows.

Always follow both the car-seat manufacturer’s instructions and your vehicle owner’s manual.

Check the Installation

1. Use the Back Seat

Install the car seat in the back seat of the vehicle.

2. Follow the Instructions

Use the installation method permitted by both the car-seat and vehicle manufacturers.

This may involve the vehicle seat belt or lower anchors.

3. Check for Movement

At the belt path, the installed car seat should not move more than 1 inch side-to-side or front-to-back when you pull on it.

4. Check the Recline Angle

Make sure the car seat is installed at the correct rear-facing recline angle shown by the manufacturer.

The correct angle helps protect your baby’s airway.

Buckle Your Baby Correctly

Before every ride:

  • Place your baby’s back and bottom flat against the car seat.
  • Make sure harness straps lie flat and are not twisted.
  • For a rear-facing seat, harness straps should come through slots at or below your baby’s shoulders.
  • Tighten the harness until you cannot pinch extra webbing at the shoulder.
  • Place the chest clip at armpit level.

Winter Coat Safety

Bulky coats and snowsuits can interfere with proper harness fit.

BUCKLE → TIGHTEN HARNESS → ADD BLANKET OR COAT OVER THE HARNESS

Do not place a bulky coat or thick blanket underneath the harness.

Never

  • Never place a rear-facing car seat in front of an active front airbag.
  • Never use a car seat beyond the manufacturer’s height or weight limits.
  • Never use a car seat that has been involved in a crash unless the manufacturer specifically says it is safe to continue using.
  • Never place thick padding under or behind your baby unless it is approved by the car-seat manufacturer.
  • Never assume a car seat is correctly installed simply because it feels secure.

Get Your Car Seat Checked

If you are unsure whether your baby’s car seat is installed correctly, a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPST) can help check the installation and harness fit free of charge.

Free Inspection Information: lovemycarseat.org

📍 Local Resources for Hometown Pediatrics Families

Pediatric Urgent Care

Care for Kids — The Woodlands

(Formerly Urgent Care for Kids)

1640 Lake Woodlands Drive, Suite E
The Woodlands, TX 77380

Phone: 281-367-0010

Hours: 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM daily

Care for Kids provides pediatric urgent care for infants, children, teens, and young adults ages 0–21.

Texas Children’s Urgent Care — The Woodlands

17600 I-45 Suite 285 
The Woodlands, TX 77384

Phone: 936-267-6100

Hours: 10:00 AM-10:00 PM

 

Memorial Hermann Urgent Care (Go Health) — The Woodlands

10868 Kurkendahl Road, Suite E
The Woodlands, TX 77381

Phone: 346-478-0831

Hours: 8:00 AM-8:00 PM

 

Important: Urgent care is not a substitute for emergency care. If your child is having difficulty breathing, is unresponsive, has a serious injury, or you believe your child is experiencing a life-threatening emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.

🏥 Emergency Departments

Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands

17600 Interstate 45 South
The Woodlands, TX 77384

Phone: 936-267-5000

Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands has a dedicated pediatric Emergency Center.

Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center

9250 Pinecroft Drive
The Woodlands, TX 77380

Phone: 713-897-2300

Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

Memorial Hermann The Woodlands has a 24-hour Emergency Center that treats both children and adults.

🚨 For a Life-Threatening Emergency

CALL 911

Do not drive your child to the emergency department yourself if your child needs immediate emergency medical assistance.

💊 Poison Control

If you think your child may have swallowed a medication, household product, chemical, plant, or other potentially poisonous substance, get help right away.

Do not wait for symptoms to develop.

Poison Control

1-800-222-1222

Poison Control is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the United States.

You can also use the online Poison Control tool for guidance.

Poison Control — Get Help Online or by Phone: https://www.poison.org/

💊 24-Hour Pharmacy

Walgreens

3061 College Park Drive
Conroe, TX 77384

Phone: 936-271-9741

 

❤️ A Final Word to Parents

Emergencies involving a baby are scary. You do not need to know everything — but knowing the first steps can help you act quickly.

We encourage every parent, grandparent, babysitter, and caregiver to learn infant CPR and choking first aid through hands-on training.

Keep this page bookmarked and share it with anyone who regularly cares for your baby.

And remember:

When in doubt about a life-threatening emergency, call 911.

Important Medical Disclaimer

This page is provided by Hometown Pediatrics for general educational purposes only. It does not replace hands-on CPR or choking training, professional medical advice, emergency medical services, or the instructions provided by your child’s healthcare professional.

Emergency procedures and recommendations can change. Follow the instructions of the 911 dispatcher and emergency medical professionals during an emergency.

For questions about your child’s health or safety, please contact Hometown Pediatrics.

For a life-threatening emergency, call 911.