Airway

Infant airway positioning

An infant's airway is smaller and more anterior than an adult's, so slight head extension or flexion can kink the passage and obstruct airflow. For a medical patient without suspected spinal injury, your goal is a straight, open path from nose and mouth to lungs—not a forced tilt backward or chin-on-chest flexion.

Place a rolled towel or pad under the shoulders to hold the head in a neutral position (sometimes called a sniffing position for older patients). If trauma could involve the cervical spine, skip aggressive extension and use a jaw-thrust to lift the jaw forward while stabilizing the neck per protocol.