Child Care Centers Lack SIDS Awareness

WASHINGTON (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Despite the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Back to Sleep campaign, which dramatically decreased the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in the United States, 25 percent of licensed child care centers continue to place infants on their stomachs to sleep.

The AAP recommends that all babies be put to sleep on their backs in an uncluttered crib environment. Twenty percent of SIDS deaths occur in child care settings. Millions of children in the United States have parents who work alternative shifts, which has increased the numbers of extended hour and night-time child care centers.

Researchers at the Children’s National Medical Center surveyed 110 child care centers that offered evening and nighttime care. The researchers found that infants were placed on their stomachs in 25 percent of centers and that infants slept in cribs 53 percent of the time, but in an uncluttered environment in only 18 percent of centers. The most commonly cited reason for avoiding prone positions for babies was an awareness of SIDS. However, 10 centers cited SIDS awareness and continued to place babies in prone positions.

The authors conclude “Most providers who place infants prone do so because of lack of awareness or misinformation about safe sleep environment.” Although the Back to Sleep campaign has been effective in communicating the risks of sleeping prone, back positioning is not universal among night-time child care providers. “Parents as advocates of their own infants need to be proactive in ensuring that safe sleep practices are implemented in child care settings,” the authors state.

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