Safe Sleeping Practices for Childcare Services

Sleeping infants and young children safely is a responsibility for those who care for other people’s children. It is therefore important for childcare workers to ensure that children in their care are safe at all times and that service policies and procedures reflect evidence based research.

Research has found that infants who are placed on the tummy to sleep for the first time are at a very high risk of SIDS and that up to 20% of SIDS deaths in the USA occur in childcare settings. It is very important to ensure that everyone who cares for babies knows to put them on the back to sleep from birth.

SIDS and Kids is a National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) ‘recommended authority’ on Safe Sleeping policy and guidelines. Childcare Services are required by NCAC to stay up-to-date with their policies for accreditation.

To assist childcare service providers SIDS and Kids has developed resource kits that provide practical information to ensure that sleeping practices meet national best practice guidelines.

The content of the kits will also enable service providers to further comply with the National Childcare Accreditation Council Guidelines that relate to the NCAC QIAS Quality Practices Guide Principle 6.5 Staff support each child’s needs for rest, sleep and comfort.

The purchase of this kit entitles the service to ongoing support from SIDS and Kids through relevant information updates for a period of two years. The updates will be sent by post or email and will include

• The latest findings in the field of sudden infant death research relevant to Child Care;
• Training modules for both new and existing staff
• Infant safe sleeping polices and procedures
• Emergency response following the death of a child.