The Best Infant CPR Classes to Take Online So You Can Be Well-Prepared

Easily the first name in first aid and CPR, the American Red Cross offers online classes for infant CPR, first aid and AED (Automated External Defibrillator—the device that resets someone’s heart rate to the normal rhythm), as well as First Aid/CPR/AED for older children and adults.

Keep in mind: If you need certification that meets OSHA requirements for your job, you’ll also need to complete an in-person skills session in addition to the online class (and needs to be completed within 90 days of finishing the online part).

The American Heart Association offers an online class with the option to add an in-person class. The online portion of this course ranges from ninety minutes to three hours, depending on your individual learning speed.

The in-person portion lasts about two hours and is sold separately from the online course. In-person classes are located at a local AHA Training Center and are led by an AHA BLS or Heartsaver instructor.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to do the in-person portion. You only need it if you want an official course completion card—and, of course, the hands-on experience with an infant-sized dummy rather than with a makeshift dummy from home (often a baby doll or a rolled-up towel) or only learning theoretically.

We love Tinyhood for their wide variety of educational offerings (from breastfeeding and childbirth to starting solids and sleep training), and their CPR and Choking course provides all the expert instruction and invaluable learning materials you can expect from a Tinyhood class.

You can access this course as part of the Tinyhood paid membership—and keep in mind that a membership includes access to all of their online classes, including birthing techniques, infant care, feeding and more. Each video lesson is short and sweet (often less than two minutes long), and with unlimited access, you can go back and watch the videos as much and as often as you need. You also get about a dozen downloadable guides and checklists to keep on hand in case of an emergency.

Keep in mind: This course covers only infant CPR (newborn to 12 months old). Their course on child CPR (up to 12 years old) is a separate set of videos.

If you’re looking to get CPR certified, InfantCPR.com offers two years of certification and free renewal forever. The course itself takes only about 30 minutes to complete the learning portion, plus a 25-question exam, so it’s perfect for caregivers with time constraints. There’s also a special section of the course that helps you tell the difference between a need for CPR versus choking relief. And the best part: once you purchase the class, you have access to it forever. You can retake the class and the exam as many times as you want without paying again, and there’s no expiration date on your access (though your certification expires after two years).

Don’t have time to take a full course? Or maybe you took a course a few years ago and now just need a quick refresher of the basics. Thankfully, the National CPR Foundation has provided a free webpage with the most important things to know when performing infant CPR, including video examples performed on a dummy. While this site won’t take the place of hands-on training or live video coaching from a certified instructor, it’s an excellent resource for quick reference for budget-conscious caregivers.