The following resources may be helpful to you as you work to reduce the risk of SIDS in your child care center or home, and connect families to community resources.

Reducing the Risk of SIDS in Child Care

Three Brochures for Parents and Caregivers (free download)

• A Child Care Provider's Guide to Safe Sleep
  This easy-to-read brochure provides child care providers with straightforward information about safe sleep practices, as well as information about SIDS.
• A Parents' Guide to Safe Sleep
  This brochure is similar to the Child Care Provider's guide, but the intended audience is parents. It includes information about working with child care providers to ensure that safe sleep practices are used both in the home and in child care.
• Tummy Time
  Although babies should be placed on their backs to sleep, supervised tummy time is an important part of healthy development. Read about the importance of supervised tummy time in this brochure.

New Policy Statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics

• AAP Revises SIDS Risk Reduction Recommendations
  Despite major decreases in the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) over the past decade, SIDS is still responsible for more infant deaths beyond the newborn period in the US than any other cause of death during infancy. In an updated policy statement, the AAP provides recommendations to reduce the risk of SIDS.

Caring for Our Children: Booklet on Reducing the Risk of SIDS

• Reducing the Risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - Applicable Standards From Caring for Our Children
  Compiled from the comprehensive Caring for Our Children, 2nd Edition, this pamphlet presents the standards for SIDS prevention in child care settings, providing critical information for child care providers, government policy makers, health care consultants, and parents. Included are standards for caregiver qualification and training, proper sleep position, bedding, and reporting, as well as related health policies.

How Can I Tell If a Crib is Safety-Approved?

• Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA)
  You can tell that a product is safety-approved if it is certified by the JPMA. The JPMA Certification Program assures that manufacturers created their product with safety in mind. Check this website for a list of products that have the JPMA seal of approval.

Connecting Families to Community Resources

What is a Medical Home?

• AAP National Center of Medical Home Initiatives
  A medical home is not a building, house, or hospital, but rather an approach to providing comprehensive primary care. A medical home is defined as primary care that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family centered, coordinated, compassionate, and culturally effective. This comprehensive AAP web site will provide a wealth of information and resources.
  
  
• The Medical Home: AAP Policy Statement
  This policy statement, revised in 2002, contains an expanded and comprehensive interpretation and definition of the medical home.
  

Promoting the Medical Home Within Child Care Programs

• Immunization tracking and child care health record quality improvement tool: WellCare Tracker
  WellCareTracker™ is a web-based tool that assesses the completeness and timeliness of routine preventive health services received by children. Enter the child's health information, and WellCareTracker™ determines which immunizations and/or services are up-to-date, currently due, or overdue based on the American Academy of Pediatrics' recommendations.
  
  
• Promoting the Medical Home Within Child Care Programs- Applicable Standards from Caring for Our Children
  Compiled from the comprehensive Caring for Our Children, 2nd Edition, this pamphlet presents information about sources of health care, use of child care health consultants, information sharing, health records, and recommendations for preventive pediatric health care.
  
  
• Sample Letters to Help You Communicate With Parents and Doctors
  These sample letters, available on the Pennsylvania Early Childhood Education Linkage System (ECELS) web site, will help facilitate communication with parents and doctors about child health records.
  
  
  • Letter to Doctors Requesting Health Record Information
  • Form to Facilitate Information Exchange Between Doctors, Caregivers, and Parents
  • Letter to Parents about Providing Up-To-Date Health Record Info
  • Letter to Parents Describing Preventive Health Services
    

Information You Can Share with Parents

• Medical Home Tools for Families
  This page will help you connect families to medical homes.
  
  
• Navigating the Health Care System
  These Web pages, part of the "Health Topics" section of the AAP web site, will help parents find high quality health care for their children. Look here for information for parents on how to understand and effectively access the health care system.
  

Other Health and Safety Resources

• Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs - 2nd Edition
  Caring for Our Children contains all of the health and safety standards and guidelines that are supported by the AAP. This new edition contains updated guidelines on the development and evaluation of the health and safety of children in family and group day care homes and child care centers.
  
  
• Child Care Health Consultation
  For information and resources about child care health consultation, see this webpage. Featured on this page are: What is a child care health consultant? How do you find a child care health consultant? And more.
  
  
• Does My State Have a Healthy Child Care Web Site?
  View a list of states that have state Healthy Child Care program sites here.
  
  

• Health and Safety Website for Parents and Caregivers: Healthy Kids, Healthy Care
  Healthy Kids, Healthy Care gives quick access to key information, as well as offers parents and providers the opportunity to look into a topic in detail. For each topic, Healthy Kids, Healthy Care provides specific ideas for parents on how to help and work in partnership with their caregivers to ensure healthy children and safe environments. The website offers caregivers and parents key questions and information and links to additional web resources related to each topic:

  • SIDS Risk Reduction
    
  • Sources of Dental and Health Care
    
    
• Health Topics Pages on the AAP Web Site
  This web site from the AAP contains information and resources on a variety of health and safety topics, such as asthma and obesity.
  

Return to February 2006 Health and Safety E-News

Health and Safety E-News is provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics with support from the federal Child Care Bureau and Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Grant #U46MCO4436). If you are not yet signed up to receive this newsletter, click here. If you don't want to receive this newsletter, send an e-mail to childcare@aap.org.