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  Office for Young Children (OYC)
 

        BEYOND BACK TO SLEEP

On Thursday, March 10, 2005 the Capital Area Infant Safe Sleep Coalition sponsored a community media event to launch its “Keep Infants Sleeping Safely” public health education campaign.  The goal of the campaign is to educate all parents and infant caregivers in the Capital Area about best safe sleep practices.  The event, held at Spartan Child Development Center in East Lansing, brought together representatives from the Ingham County Health Department, Sparrow Health System, and Tomorrow’s Child (formerly Michigan’s SIDS Alliance).  The speakers discussed the problem that too many infants (12 months and younger) around the State and in the Capital Area are dying from unsafe sleep environments. 
 

The Back to Sleep campaign has improved the generally accepted sleeping position for infants and helped decrease SIDS.   However, even babies put to sleep on their backs are not fully protected if their sleep environment is unsafe with the risks of suffocation or entrapment. 

 Steps to creating a safe sleep environment for babies include:
         Babies will sleep alone in a crib or portable crib.
         Babies will sleep on a firm mattress with a tightly fitted sheet.
         Babies will be put to sleep on their backs, even when able to roll over.
         Babies’ sleep area will be free of loose bedding, pillows, quilts, comforters, stuffed animals and other soft things.
         Babies will sleep in a smoke-free environment.
         Babies’ faces will be kept uncovered during sleep for easy breathing.
         Babies will be dressed in as much or as little clothing as adults are wearing, as to not overheat.

Child care providers who follow these steps can take the “Safe Sleep Pledge” by clicking on the links below.  The following links are for the KISS Pledge Certificate in two formats to download, print, sign and display.   Show families that you are doing your part to help Keep Infants Sleeping Safely.  Capital Area Infant Safe Sleep Coalition pledge forms (Keeping Infants Sleeping Safely) suitable for printing and framing:

 SAFE SLEEP PLEDGE SHEET in MS Word DOC format (revised Nov. 2005)