For a child or infant in respiratory arrest or failure (with a pulse but not breathing adequately), the commonly taught rate is 1 breath every 2–3 seconds, which is about 20–30 breaths per minute, with visible chest rise.

Key points

  • Applies to infants and children with a pulse: This is “rescue breathing” (respiratory arrest/failure), not full cardiac arrest CPR.
  • Rate: 1 breath every 2–3 seconds (≈20–30 breaths/min), using the lower end of the range for older children and the higher end for infants/younger children.
  • Technique: Each breath over about 1 second, just enough to make the chest rise; avoid excessive volume or pressure to reduce risk of gastric inflation and barotrauma.

If your exam, course, or protocol specifies a single number, it will almost always be framed as “1 breath every 2–3 seconds (about 20–30 per minute)” for pediatric rescue breathing in respiratory arrest or failure.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.