Best Infant CPR Classes

If you are intimidated by the thought of using CPR on anyone, let alone a baby, this instructional DVD comes with a manikin so you can practice your technique until you’re comfortable.

If you’ve considered taking an online infant CPR course but worry you still wouldn’t know what to do if faced with a real-life emergency, we get it—watching someone else do CPR on an infant and actually performing lifesaving measures yourself are totally different things.

That’s why we love the Infant CPR Anytime Training kit by the American Heart Association (AHA). The instructional DVD and manikin set means you get to learn and practice your CPR skills from the comfort of home. Based on the AHA’s up-to-date guidelines, the 20-minute video reviews the basics of infant CPR, including how to perform resuscitation measures and how to handle infant choking. As you watch the video, you can follow along and practice on the infant-sized manikin, making sure you are 100% comfortable with the anatomy of an infant should you ever need to perform CPR on a baby.

While you won’t get any certification from this course, we still think the practical, hands-on training is worth its weight in gold. Plus, you can rewatch the video and practice your skills as many times as needed. You even can host your own training sessions for grandparents, sitters, friends, and family. The kit is $38.50 plus the cost of shipping (approximately $8), making it an affordable and incredibly easy way to familiarize yourself with infant CPR in a comfortable setting.

This course is quick but thorough, focusing on everything you need to know about performing CPR on babies younger than 1 year old.

If you’re having a baby or are at home with a newborn, you don’t have a lot of time, energy, or mental bandwidth to learn a bunch of new skills. Still, knowing how to perform lifesaving measures on an infant is probably at the top of your priority list now that you’re faced with the reality of keeping a tiny human alive!

What you need is a short and to-the-point course that can teach you everything you need to know about giving CPR to an infant since it’s different from kids and adults. We love the InfantCPR class for babies ages 0 to 1 for exactly this reason. While you may want to learn child CPR in the future (and InfantCPR has classes for that), this course trims away all the fat to teach you exactly what you need to do if your baby stops breathing or is choking.

For $40, you’ll get a 30-minute course featuring video and written instructional content, which concludes with a 25-question exam and a certificate of completion when you pass the test. It’s quick and easy but incredibly informative, which is exactly what new parents need.

SimpleCPR is an affordable option for becoming fully certified in less than one hour, making it perfect for busy babysitters looking for a professional boost.

Babysitting has turned into a fairly competitive business, and there’s no better way to increase your sitter appeal to prospective parents than by showing them you are certified in infant CPR. Babysitting doesn’t pay big bucks, so you need to be able to increase your professional profile without breaking the bank.

With a SimpleCPR course, in less than an hour you can be certified in CPR for all ages, including infants, all for only $20. You’ll learn how to assess emergencies and secure the environment, when to call 911, how to perform rescue breathing and chest compressions, and how to use an AED, among other skills.

At the end of the course, you can take and retake your exam free of charge as often as needed until you pass, and then you’ll receive a certification card right away that you print at home. Show off to all your clients to prove what a knowledgeable and responsible babysitter you are!

Grandparents don’t need certification, just the knowledge to be able to help their grandchild in case of a medical emergency. This class is quick and affordable, with written and video content that appeals to everyone.

In addition to the AHA, the American Red Cross offers the gold standard when it comes to lifesaving procedures and guidelines for CPR. We love that its Child and Baby First Aid/CPR/AED course takes its time outlining all those procedures and guidelines, offering a two- to three-hour class comprised of videos, written content, and interactive, real-world simulations. It’s perfect for grandparents who don’t need certification but want to feel confidently prepared to help their grandchild in an emergency.

For $35, you can sign up and take the course from your home computer; the course isn’t compatible with mobile devices, but its simplicity and ease of use might be a bonus. You’ll learn the basics of how to recognize and respond to medical emergencies, provide a range of first-aid strategies and lifesaving procedures, and perform rescue breathing and chest compressions for babies younger than 1 year old and children up to age 12.

On-demand video content taught by a certified instructor and printable checklists make this a solid course for anyone who simply wants to learn infant CPR skills in the time it takes to cook dinner.

If you don’t need certification and feel confident in your ability to transfer some basic knowledge over to a real-life emergency scenario, the Tinyhood Safety 101 course might be a good fit for you. Based on a series of short video modules honing in on different aspects of CPR and relief for infant or child choking, the course is a rapid-fire way to introduce yourself to new skills or brush up on old ones.

This course is video-based and includes instructions for handling infant choking and CPR from age 0 to 12 months. The infant CPR training segment includes three helpful scenario videos that will prep you for making on-the-spot decisions in an emergency. We also appreciate that there is a set of 10 visual checklists and guidelines you can print and keep handy for future reference, as well as a private group forum for chatting with other people who have taken the class. At $29, it’s an affordable, no-pressure way to learn a new skill in 30 minutes.

With several different course options, it’s easy to find a program that meets your exact professional needs and fulfills your employer’s requirements.

If you work in child care, pediatric healthcare, are a first responder, or otherwise need to be certified in infant CPR for your job, you’ll need to make sure your employer will accept certification from whatever course you’re planning to take. In some cases, only in-person courses qualify, but if you’re allowed to take an online course instead, we strongly recommend this one by ProTrainings.

You will receive a comprehensive, four-hour course on performing first aid and CPR on infants, children, and adults, receive a two-year certification from the program, and the chance to practice your skills in a hands-on way. For an additional expense, you can choose a blended option that combines online learning with a virtual evaluation by a certified instructor. If you opt for this, ProTraining will send you a manikin and help you schedule your evaluation to complete your certification.

For the online course only, the Adult, Child and Infant, Pediatric CPR/AED & First Aid is only $40. If you choose the blended option, your overall expense will run from $95 to $140, depending on which course training you require. When you’re done, you can return to ProTraining for your recertification at a 10% discount.

The Infant CPR course at the National CPR Association is an entirely online course offering professional and personal two-year certification. Based on AHA guidelines, the course instructs you on the proper CPR techniques for babies up to 1 year old. While it might not be the jazziest option on this list, the course is full of technical and professional perks. You can access the material online anytime at your own pace, take practice tests and retake exams as many times as you need to, and even access the course materials for two years after you receive your certification.

The initial certification with the National CPR Association costs $40 and recertification costs $30. You’ll receive your certification instantly for downloading and printing, making it a one-stop-shop approach to signing up, learning, and becoming certified on your own convenient schedule.

While it’s not as extensive as some others and you won’t be certified, it’s still a free and easy way to learn the basics.

We won’t pretend this course is as in-depth as some of the others on this list, but if you’re looking for an entirely free option that you can refer to when you need a refresher on the skills you learned in another course, this is a decent choice. For example, if you took an infant CPR course while pregnant, but now that your baby is here, you aren’t sure if you remember what you learned, this course could help you feel more confident. 

To sign up, simply register with the site, and then you’ll be free to complete the online modules on your own time, at your own pace, as well as practice, test, and retest as often as you want.

The first module includes lifesaving skills, such as performing infant and child CPR and providing choking relief, while the second module is focused on handling medical emergencies, covering common childhood ailments like asthma and febrile seizures. If you like the zero-pressure method of learning CPR skills at home, First Aid for Free also offers several other courses, including basic and advanced CPR and both AED-only and CPR-only options.