Avoid Sudden Death In Child Care Settings
American Academy of Pediatrics
January 29th, 2003

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29  --With 20 percent of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) cases occurring in child care, a campaign was launched today to unite child care, health, and SIDS prevention partners across the country to reduce the number of SIDS-related deaths in these settings.

In 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended that infants be placed to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of SIDS. Since then, the annual SIDS rate has decreased by more than 50 percent.

But not everyone is aware of this important recommendation. Safe back-to-sleep practices are not being used consistently in all family child care or center-based child care programs.

In fact, only 15 states in the US have child care licensing regulations that mandate placing infants on their backs to sleep.

The Healthy Child Care America Back to Sleep campaign will launch on Wednesday, January 29, 2003, from 11 :00 am to 1:00 pm in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Room (S-211 ) at the United States Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Besides the AAP, other coalition partners include First Candle / SIDS Alliance and the CJ Foundation for SIDS.

"This practice must be applied across the board in all child care settings," said E. Stephen Edwards, MD, president of the AAP. '"This is a tremendous opportunity when you think that 3,000 more babies a year could live because of a simple, little intervention."

This initiative is sponsored by the US Department of Health and Human Services Child Care Bureau and Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and is designed to build on the success of the "Healthy Child Care America" and "Back to Sleep" campaigns.

Launched in 1995, the Back to Sleep campaign was a focused effort of several national organizations working to educate the public about the importance of putting babies to sleep on their backs to decrease the incidence of SIDS.

The Healthy Child Carle America campaign is a collaborative effort of health care professionals, child care providers, and families of children in child care, working in partnership to improve the health and well-being of children in child care settings. It is coordinated by the AAP and is sponsored by the US Department of Health and Human Services Child Care Bureau and Maternal and Child Health Bureau. It was launched in 1995.

Through this joint campaign, all partners will offer technical assistance and resources to:

• Promote the Back to Sleep message in child care programs

• Raise awareness and change practices in family child care homes and center-based child care programs

• Support states interested in safe sleep practices to include this topic within state child care regulations

For more information on the campaign, please visit http://www.healthychildcare.org/

Source: American Academy of Pediatrics

CONTACT: James Romano of SIDS Alliance, 1-202-544-7499; or Carolyn Kolbaba of American Academy of Pediatrics, + 1-847-434-7945

Web site: http://www.healthychildcare.org/  and http://www.aap.org/

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