NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Infants should sleep alone, on their back and in a crib. Those are the ABCs of sleep being stressed by Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters during Safe Sleep Awareness Month.
The hospital held a demonstration Monday to show how an infant should be put to sleep safely.
“There’s a lot of things that are out of our hands, but the way that we put an infant to sleep is very much the way in our control,” said Cristi Herrera, a registered nurse and education coordinator for CHKD.
Herrera explained that implementing the ABCs can help reduce the risk of sudden unexpected infant death, or SUID.
“We have really good research and knowledge now about the safest way to position our babies to sleep from one year of age and younger,” Herrera said.
According to the Virginia Department of Health, SUID is the leading cause of death for babies under a year old in the Commonwealth.
Recent numbers from the VDH also show that it’s been on the rise over the years, especially in Hampton Roads.
“The rates of this are higher when compared to the rest of the state,” Herrera said. “So we’re really just focusing on as much education and community information as we can get out there.”
Their efforts to raise awareness begin in the hospital by educating families before they go home and put their baby to bed. They’ve also been reaching out to the community to let people know exactly how their infant should be sleeping at night.
“If you go to your pediatrician, you might see a safe sleep table through CHKD,” Herrera said. “We’re at the practices all throughout the month of October and the beginning of November, speaking with families of infants in this demographic and making sure that families have the care, have the resources that they need, the spaces that are considered safe sleep.”
CHKD has been pushing the message of safe sleeping practices for years through its National Safe Sleep Hospital Certification Program. Recently, they were recognized for their efforts with the new title of ‘Gold Certified Safe Sleep Hospital’ by Cribs for Kids.
Cribs for Kids is a national organization that informs caregivers about ways to reduce infant sleep-related deaths with education about safe sleeping practices.
“We went for the highest standard,” Herrera said. “So that’s what they consider the gold level. And we are happy to say that that was granted to CHKD back in March of 2024, and we’ll continue to make sure that we’re doing those things as a hospital, both in our inpatient and outpatient settings.”
You can find more information about safe sleep and CHKD on their website here.