BUCYRUS―Unsafe sleep practices can create a dangerous situation for infants and the Help Me Grow Division of Crawford County Public Health has initiated a program to help local parents keep their babies safe.
The Help Me Grow Division is partnering with Cribs for Kids©, a National Infant Safe-Sleep Initiative to promote infant safe sleep practices for parents in Crawford County. Safe sleep education, along with portable cribs (pack ‘n plays), are provided free of charge to families that meet eligibility requirements and could not otherwise afford them, while quantities last.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), unsafe sleep practices contribute to 3,500 sleep-related deaths of U.S. babies every year. Research indicates the vast majority are accidental and are due to babies sleeping in unsafe sleeping environments with nearly three-fourths attributed to bed sharing. The Help Me Grow staff wants to help teach parents and caregivers that the safest way for a baby to sleep is alone on his or her back in a bare, safety-approved crib.
The Cribs for Kids© program not only supplies qualifying families with a free pack ‘n play to ensure the baby has a safe place to sleep it also includes a visit by one of the Help Me Grow social workers to demonstrate proper usage. Pam Kalb, Help Me Grow Contract Manager, believes in her teams’ ability to educate early and to educate often. According to Ms. Kalb, “Our social workers are committed to reducing sleep-related infant deaths by providing safe sleep education to Crawford County families. Families are eligible to receive a pack n’ play as early as 32 weeks pregnant. Providing parents (and grandparents) with information during the third trimester of pregnancy helps them prepare the home environment, helps them understand what a safe sleep environment looks like, and increases the likelihood that families will follow safe sleep practices after the baby arrives and comes home from the hospital.”
Cribs for Kids© is a national infant safe-sleep education program that helps to reduce the risk of injury and death of infants due to accidental suffocation, asphyxia, or undetermined causes in unsafe sleeping environments. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, Cribs for Kids© currently has more than 950+ partners throughout the United States implementing infant safe-sleep programs in their communities. All education is based on the AAP Guidelines for Infant Sleep Safety. Visit the Cribs for Kids website for more information.
To find out if your family qualifies for a free pack ‘n play, call (419)562- 4667 to reach the Help Me Grow Division.