Each year, almost 3,400 babies die in our country while sleeping, often due to SIDS or sudden infant death syndrome or accidently from suffocation or strangulation. October reminds us to make sure infants safely sleep – for every sleep.
The American Academy of Pediatrics provides infant safe sleep recommendations and this toolkit for parents with videos and social media activities. The Safe to Sleep Campaign also has a toolkit to raise awareness and encourage safe sleep, includes activities for parents and grandparents and has a hashtag (#) challenge.
Specifically for child care programs, check out the resources from the National Institute for Children’s Health Equity and these safety updates for cribs and sleep products from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Colorado has some great resources the Colorado Child Fatality Prevention’s and this brochure from Children’s Hospital Colorado. For your child care program or family child care home, make sure staff have this safe sleep information from the Office of Early Childhood, have reviewed this from CO4Kids and have completed their annual training on the PDIS.