As parents we want to ensure our children’s safety. When it comes to safe sleep, infants are particularly vulnerable to experiencing life threatening issues while sleeping due to a number of factors. The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and national initiatives have helped bring awareness across the country to concerns like SUID (Sudden Unexpected Infant Death), which was listed as the cause of approximately 3,500 deaths in 2014.

Most of the infants who experienced SUID were victims to one or more of these causes:

• Suffocation by soft bedding
• Co-sleeping person rolling on top of the infant
• Wedging or entrapment by objects or furniture

Infant Safe Sleep Among Low Income Families

There is a high concern for infant sleep safety among low income families due to the fact that these parents may lack the appropriate furniture or accommodations an infant needs to sleep safely. Some families have been documented to use cardboard boxes to lay down their babies to sleep. Brightside Academy recently partnered with Cribs for Kids on a Speaker Series event to bring safety sleep information to our McKees Rocks academy and Pittsburgh region families. Organizations like Cribs for Kids help educate parents on things they can do to help increase safe sleep in their homes.

Cribs for Kids also partners with law enforcement organizations in a program called Cops ‘n Cribs that seeks to expand community policing policies to provide safe sleep tips and free portable cribs to families in need. The purpose of Cops n’ Cribs is to keep Infants safe while they sleep and to bring awareness to the causes of SUID in our communities.

Safe Sleep Guidelines

Below we share Cribs for Kids’ guidelines to prevent sleep-related deaths due to unsafe sleeping environments which are also recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) and safe sleep experts:

1. Your baby should sleep alone
2. The baby’s crib should be in the parents’ room
3. Keep your baby and yourself healthy – get scheduled immunizations and eat well
4. Do not overheat or overdress your baby
5. Do not allow smoking around baby
6. Consider offering a pacifier at nap time and bedtime after breastfeeding is established
7. Do not bed share – a baby who bed-shares is at 40 times greater risk of dying.

Brightside Academy locations follow the state regulations concerning safe sleep for infants. Visit our website to learn more about Brightside Academy’s infant early development program. For additional information about SUID or SIDS please visit the CDC website.

Upcoming Speaker Series events are posted on our Facebook page.