The birth of a child is a joyful event for families, and one that brings new challenges for parents. One important challenge is learning how to provide a safe environment for your baby to thrive and grow. As District Attorney, I want to share with you information that I have learned from the work of our Child Fatality Review Team (CFRT) about the importance of safe sleeping environments for infants.

The CFRT has investigated the deaths of 63 children in Westchester County since 2006, and in 26 of these cases, the deaths tragically occurred in unsafe sleeping environments. We as a community can do more to prevent these deaths. To increase public awareness, I am working with the eight Westchester County hospitals that operate maternity departments to launch the Westchester County Safe Sleeping Initiative. Our initiative to educate parents and caregivers about safe sleeping practices includes showing a video, "The ABC's of Safe Sleeping", and distributing informational material to new parents in the eight participating hospitals. The six-minute video, available in English and Spanish, will explain the simple safe sleeping ABC's: A for a baby sleeping "alone", B for a baby sleeping on her "back", and C for a baby sleeping in a "crib" that meets the Consumer Product Safety Commission's safety standards. These ABC's are easy to remember and are based on safe sleeping guidelines established by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Unsafe sleeping practices include actions that may not appear to present a danger, but actually pose a serious risk of fully or partially blocking a baby's airways. Because a young baby is unable to free himself when something blocks his nose or mouth, the danger may come from something as simple as a pillow or blanket in her crib, a brother or sister sleeping together with the infant in their parents' bed, or the arm of a chair or sofa where a dozing parent is seated. Follow these safe sleeping rules for your baby:

  • Babies should sleep in a separate space alone.
  • Place the baby on his or her back not on the side.
  • Provide a sleep surface that is flat and firm and free of pillows, blankets, toys and stuffed animals.
  • Use only cribs, cradles or bassinets approved for sleeping babies.
  • Keep the baby's room a comfortably cool temperature.
  • Avoid clothing that overheats the baby.

Have a caretaker who is free of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs within earshot of the sleeping baby

The Westchester County Safe Sleeping Initiative is a community partnership whose goal is to enhance the safety of babies in our county. My office produced "The ABC's of Safe Sleeping" video with sponsorship from Lawrence Hospital Center. The video's narrator is Dr. Jen Canter, the Director of Child Protection for the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center. The eight partner hospitals that will be showing the video to their maternity department families are: Lawrence Hospital Center, Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, Northern Westchester Hospital, Phelps Memorial Hospital, Sound Shore Medical Center, St. John's Riverside Hospital, Hudson Valley Hospital and White Plains Hospital Center. I am proud to be working alongside these important Westchester County institutions to improve child safety and assist parents in keeping their babies safe.

For more information on safe sleeping practices, you may also visit the American Academy of Pediatrics at www.healthychildren.org.