States Lacking in SIDS Precautions in Day-Care
Originally published by The Associated Press, May 7, 2001
Few states have adequate regulations aimed at preventing sudden infant death syndrome in day-care centers, where a significant number of cases occur, researchers say.
Forty states have no regulations addressing proper sleep position or supervision of sleeping infants in licensed day-care centers and 42 have none for home-based centers, according to a survey based on data from 1998 to 2000.
Pediatricians and SIDS advocates say putting infants to bed on their backs is the best way to reduce the risk of SIDS.
SIDS kills nearly 3,000 babies nationwide each year, with an estimated 20% of the deaths occurring in child-care settings, said Dr. Rachel Moon of Children's National Medical Center in Washington.
"It is alarming that basic safety requirements are not mandated, particularly in light of the high proportion of SIDS occurring in the care of a child-care provider," Moon and colleagues said in the May issue of the journal Pediatrics, where their survey is published.
The authors acknowledged that some regulations may have been revised since their review.
Judy Jacobson, executive vice president of the SIDS Alliance advocacy group, said she knows of no recent revisions in regulations. She noted that a few day-care providers recently were sued by families whose babies died of SIDS after being placed on their stomachs to sleep.
The alliance is working with child-care providers around the country to improve SIDS precautions in day care.
"We have an enormous ways to go with trying to educate them," Jacobson said.
The American Academy of Pediatrics' SIDS guidelines say infants under 6 months should be placed to sleep on their backs on firm, snug mattresses in cribs without soft objects such as pillows, comforters and stuffed toys.
A smoke-free environment is also recommended, since research has shown that infants whose mothers smoke face an increased SIDS risk.
While crib safety is addressed by about half the states, 20 states allow child-care centers and 15 allow home-based centers to use playpens for sleeping, the survey found.
Only six states have requirements for avoiding soft objects in the crib in day-care centers and only four have them for home-based centers, the survey found.
States fare better when it comes to keeping infants away from tobacco smoke, with 36 prohibiting smoking in child-care centers during hours of operation; 17 states require the same of home-based centers.
