First Aid Guide
Essential first aid guidance for babies and young children. Know what to do in an emergency.
111 is available in England, Scotland and Wales. In Northern Ireland, use your GP or local GP out-of-hours service for urgent non-emergency care.
This guide is for reference only. It does not replace proper first aid training. Consider taking a baby first aid course — St John Ambulance, British Red Cross, and many local children's centres offer them.
Choking
If your baby can't breathe, cry, or cough
Signs of choking:
- • Unable to cry, cough, or make noise
- • Lips or skin turning blue
- • Loss of consciousness
For babies under 1 year:
Give up to 5 back blows
Lay baby face down along your thigh or forearm, supporting the head and neck and keeping the head lower than the body. Give up to 5 sharp blows between the shoulder blades, checking after each blow.
Check mouth
Turn baby over and look in their mouth. Only remove an object if you can clearly see it and pick it out easily. Never poke blindly.
Give up to 5 chest thrusts
If back blows don't work, turn baby face up with their head lower than their body. Place two fingers in the centre of the chest, just below the nipple line. Give up to 5 sharp chest thrusts, checking after each one.
For children aged 1 year and over:
1. If they can cough effectively, encourage coughing and do not leave them.
2. If they cannot breathe, speak, cry or cough effectively, lean them forward and give up to 5 back blows, checking after each one.
3. If still choking, give up to 5 abdominal thrusts: stand or kneel behind them, place a fist between the navel and ribs, grasp it with the other hand and pull sharply inwards and upwards. Check after each thrust.
4. If the blockage remains, call 999 on speakerphone and continue alternating back blows and abdominal thrusts.
If they become unconscious: lower them onto a firm, flat surface, call 999 on speakerphone, remove only a clearly visible object that is easy to grasp, and start CPR. Do not leave them.
Important: Do NOT use abdominal thrusts on babies under 1 year. Never sweep a finger blindly inside the mouth. Even if the object comes out, get medical advice because part may remain or the procedure may have caused injury.
Baby & Child CPR
If a baby or child is unresponsive and not breathing normally
Call 999 immediately or ask someone else to call
For babies under 1 year:
Check safety, response and breathing
Check for danger, gently tap baby's arm and call to them. If there is no response, call 999 on speakerphone or ask someone else to call.
Open the airway and check breathing
Place baby on their back on a firm surface. Lift the chin while keeping the head neutral. Look, listen and feel for normal breathing for no more than 10 seconds. Gasping is not normal breathing.
Give 5 rescue breaths
Seal your mouth over baby's mouth AND nose. Blow gently for about 1 second, watching for chest rise. Give 5 initial rescue breaths.
Give 30 chest compressions
Place two fingers in the centre of baby's chest, just below the nipple line. Push down about 4cm (one-third of chest depth), 30 times at a rate of 100-120 per minute.
Continue cycle: 2 breaths, 30 compressions
After the first 30 compressions, give 2 rescue breaths. Continue alternating 30 compressions and 2 breaths until help arrives or baby starts breathing.
For children aged 1 year and over:
Use the same safety, response, breathing, five initial rescue breaths and 30:2 sequence.
Airway and breaths: tilt the head and lift the chin, pinch the soft part of the nose, seal your mouth over their mouth and give each breath over about 1 second.
Compressions: place the heel of one hand over the lower half of the breastbone (use two hands for a larger child if needed). Compress about 5cm—roughly one-third of the chest depth—at 100–120 per minute.
Keep going until normal breathing or other signs of life return, qualified help takes over, or you are physically unable to continue. Follow the 999 call handler's instructions.
Compression rate tip: Push at the rhythm of "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees — about 2 compressions per second.
Fever
High temperature in babies and children
Normal temperature
36.4°C
(around this is normal)
Fever
38°C or above
(high temperature)
What to do:
- Keep them comfortably dressed and do not cover them in too many clothes or bedclothes
- Offer frequent age-appropriate fluids. Continue breast or formula feeds for babies; ask a health professional before giving additional water to a young baby
- If they are distressed or uncomfortable, give age-appropriate paracetamol or ibuprofen only if the packaging says it is suitable. Ibuprofen is not suitable under 3 months or 5kg, with dehydration or chickenpox, and needs medical advice with asthma. Do not alternate medicines unless advised
- Do NOT sponge with cold water — this can make them shiver and raise temperature
Call 999 for life-threatening signs:
- • Has a rash that doesn't fade when you press a glass against it
- • Has difficulty breathing or is breathing very fast
- • Is unusually drowsy or hard to wake
- • Is having a seizure (fit)
- • Has blue, pale, or blotchy skin
- • Will not wake, stops breathing, or seems seriously unwell
Call 111 if:
- • Baby is under 3 months with a temperature of 38°C or above, or you think they have a high temperature
- • Baby is 3-6 months with a temperature of 39°C or above
- • Fever lasts more than 5 days
- • You're worried but it's not an emergency
Medicine safety: do not give paracetamol under 2 months, ibuprofen under 3 months, or aspirin under 16 unless prescribed. A young baby with fever still needs urgent assessment even if medicine lowers the temperature.
Burns & Scalds
Heat, hot liquid, chemical, or electrical burns
Immediate action:
Cool the burn with running cool water
Hold the burn under cool (not cold) running water for at least 20 minutes. Do this as soon as possible after the injury.
Remove clothing and jewellery near the burn
Do this while cooling, but don't try to remove anything stuck to the skin.
Cover the burn loosely with cling film
After cooling, cover loosely with cling film laid lengthways (never wrapped around a limb and never over the face), or use a clean, dry, non-fluffy dressing. A clean plastic bag can be used for a hand or foot.
Keep baby warm
Cover unburned areas to prevent hypothermia, especially in babies.
Do NOT:
- • Apply ice, butter, toothpaste, or creams
- • Burst any blisters
- • Use fluffy materials like cotton wool
Go to A&E or call 999 for burns that:
- • Are larger than baby's hand
- • Are on the face, hands, feet, genitals, or over a joint
- • Are deep (white or charred skin)
- • Go all the way around an arm or leg
- • Were caused by chemicals or electricity
Chemical burn: protect yourself, remove contaminated clothing if it is not stuck, brush off dry chemical and rinse continuously with plenty of water while emergency advice is obtained. Electrical burn: switch off the power before touching the child and seek urgent medical assessment.
For any burn or scald in a baby or child where you are unsure what to do, call urgent medical services for advice after starting cooling.
Head Bumps & Falls
Falls from changing tables, beds, sofas
Most minor bumps to the head are not serious. However, watch your baby carefully for the next 24-48 hours.
What to do:
- Comfort your baby and apply a cold compress (wrapped in cloth) to any swelling
- If they're tired, let them sleep but check on them regularly
- Keep feeding normally — it's fine to breastfeed or bottle feed
Call 999 if baby or child:
- • Was knocked out and has not woken, or cannot stay awake
- • Has blood or clear fluid from ears or nose
- • Has a seizure (fit)
- • Is unusually drowsy or won't wake up
- • Has unequal pupils (one bigger than the other)
- • Has weakness or problems with balance/walking (in older babies)
- • Is under 1 and has a large bruise, swelling or cut on the head
- • Fell more than 1 metre or down more than 5 stairs
- • Has a dent or object in the head, or was injured at high speed
Get urgent advice if they were briefly knocked out but have woken, vomit after the injury, seem dizzy, behave differently, or have any symptom that worries you. Call 111 (or your local urgent-care service) and follow its advice about A&E. Do not drive them yourself if you have been told to go to A&E.
Allergic Reaction
From food, insect stings, or medicines
Possible allergic-reaction signs:
- • Itchy rash or hives
- • Swelling around eyes or lips
- • Tummy pain or vomiting
Severe reaction (anaphylaxis):
- • Difficulty breathing
- • Swollen tongue or throat
- • Floppy, pale, drowsy
- • Blue lips or skin
Call 999 immediately for severe reactions
For severe allergic reaction:
Call 999
Say you think your baby is having an anaphylactic reaction.
Use an adrenaline auto-injector if prescribed
If your child has a prescribed adrenaline auto-injector, use it immediately according to its instructions. If symptoms have not improved after 5 minutes, use the second prescribed injector.
Lie baby down (unless breathing is difficult)
Keep them lying flat; legs can be raised. If breathing is difficult, carefully raise their shoulders or allow them to sit up. Do not let them stand or walk, even if they improve.
Stay calm and wait for help
Be ready to give CPR if baby becomes unresponsive and stops breathing.
Do not assume a reaction is mild: rapidly developing lip or tongue swelling, breathing or throat symptoms, collapse/floppiness, or symptoms affecting more than one body system can indicate anaphylaxis—use prescribed adrenaline and call 999. For isolated mild skin symptoms, call urgent medical services or speak to a pharmacist/GP before giving an antihistamine, and use only a product and dose suitable for the child's age.
Febrile Seizures (Fits)
Seizures caused by high temperature
Febrile seizures can happen in children aged about 6 months to 6 years when they have a high temperature. They usually last 2–3 minutes and rarely last more than 10 minutes.
What a febrile seizure looks like:
- • Body becomes stiff, arms and legs twitch
- • Eyes may roll back
- • Baby may become unresponsive
- • May wet or soil themselves
During a seizure:
- Stay calm — most febrile seizures stop on their own
- Note the start and finish time — this helps emergency clinicians
- Make sure they're safe — place them on a soft surface away from hard objects
- Put them in the recovery position once seizure stops (on their side)
- Do NOT put anything in their mouth or restrain them
Call 999 if:
- • It's their first seizure
- • Seizure lasts more than 5 minutes
- • They have difficulty breathing
- • Stiffness or twitching affects only one side
- • They have more than one seizure within 24 hours
- • They remain much sleepier than usual for more than 1 hour
Do not drive to A&E while they are seizing or unconscious—call 999.
After their first febrile seizure: They need hospital assessment to check the cause of the fever. About 1 in 3 children who have a febrile seizure will have another during a future illness; fever medicines may improve comfort but do not reliably prevent seizures.
Meningitis Signs
Know the signs — act fast
Meningitis can get serious very quickly. Symptoms can appear in any order, and some may not appear at all. Trust your instincts.
Signs in babies and young children:
The glass test:
Press the side of a clear glass firmly against the rash.
If the rash doesn't fade under pressure, it could be a sign of meningitis or septicaemia. Call 999 immediately.
Note: The rash can be harder to see on darker skin — check lighter areas like palms, soles, inside eyelids, or roof of mouth.
Don't wait for a rash. If you suspect meningitis, call 999 or go to A&E immediately.
When to Get Help
Knowing which number to call
Life-threatening emergency
Follow the call handler's instructions
- • Not breathing or difficulty breathing
- • Unconscious or unresponsive
- • Choking and can't clear it
- • Severe allergic reaction
- • Seizure lasting more than 5 minutes
- • Suspected meningitis
- • Severe bleeding that won't stop
- • Blue, grey, or very pale skin
- • Suspected poisoning, a swallowed button battery, or too much medicine
Urgent but not life-threatening
Urgent advice in England, Scotland and Wales
- • Worried but unsure if it's an emergency
- • Need medical advice out of hours
- • High fever that's not responding to medicine
- • Baby seems unwell but stable
- • Vomiting or diarrhoea with signs of dehydration
- • Mild allergic reaction
- • Need urgent advice but can wait a few hours
Northern Ireland: use your GP or local GP out-of-hours service for urgent non-emergency care. Call 999 for a life-threatening emergency.
Non-urgent concerns
Book an appointment
- • Minor illnesses lasting a few days
- • Rashes that aren't spreading or concerning
- • Feeding concerns
- • General health questions
- • Follow-up after hospital visit
Always trust your instincts. You know your baby best. If something feels wrong, get it checked. NHS staff would always rather you called than didn't.
Take a baby first aid course
This guide is helpful, but nothing beats hands-on training. Many courses are free or low-cost.