Safe Sleep for Newborns: What Let Mommy Sleep’s Cribs for Kids Partnership Means for Your Baby

October 16, 2023

Every family that brings home a newborn deserves a caregiver who takes safe sleep seriously, not just as a policy, but as an every night practice. Let Mommy Sleep’s partnership with Cribs for Kids is one of the ways we demonstrate that commitment in a concrete, verifiable way.

Here’s what that means for your baby.

What is Cribs for Kids?

Cribs for Kids® is a nationally recognized nonprofit organization founded in 1998 with a clear mission: to prevent infant sleep-related deaths by educating parents and caregivers on safe sleep practices, and by providing portable cribs to families who cannot afford a safe sleep environment for their baby.

Their work is both educational and practical. Through their National Public Safety Initiative, Cribs for Kids partners with community organizations, public safety agencies, and newborn care providers to make sure every baby has access to a safe place to sleep and that every caregiver knows how to use it correctly. Their Baby Friendly hospital designation incorporates evidence-based safe sleep in the hospital environment as well.

Let Mommy Sleep is proud to be a Cribs for Kids Safe Sleep Partner.

What Our Cribs for Kids Partnership Requires of Our Team

Being a Cribs for Kids Safe Sleep Partner is not a logo. It is a standard.

All Let Mommy Sleep night nannies, newborn care specialists and postpartum doulas are trained Safe Sleep Ambassadors. This means they:

• Follow and actively reinforce AAP safe sleep guidelines on every shift
• Educate parents on creating and maintaining a safe sleep environment
• Never place a baby to sleep in a product or position that does not meet safe sleep standards
• Know how to identify unsafe sleep products and communicate concerns to parents without judgment
• Cribs for Kids safe portable cribs are required and available at no cost to families who need them. Caregivers provide contact information and resources to receive a crib if needed.

When you bring a Let Mommy Sleep caregiver into your home, safe sleep is already built into how they work.

Certified Newborn Care Providers and Safe Sleep

Our caregivers are certified Newborn Care Providers (NCP). Certification matters in an industry with no licensing requirement. It means your caregiver has completed standardized training overseen by an independent advisory board, not just on-the-job experience, though we require that too.

In addition to NCP certification, Let Mommy Sleep caregivers hold current Infant CPR and First Aid certification and are up to date on vaccines that protect newborns too young to be immunized, including TDaP and MMR.

Learn more about how Let Mommy Sleep advocates for standards in the newborn care indstry by reading The State of Newborn Care policy paper, published on SSRN.

Why This Matters More Than You Might Think

Social media has made it genuinely difficult for new parents to sort evidence-based guidance from well-marketed but unsafe products. Influencers promote loungers. Retailers stock inclined sleepers despite recalls. Well-meaning relatives pass along products that haven’t been used safely in years.

Having a trained, certified newborn care specialist in your home who is accountable to a clear standard of care, and who will gently, consistently reinforce safe sleep every shift is one of the most practical things you can do for your newborn’s safety.

That is what our Cribs for Kids partnership represents. Not a credential on a website, a standard of care in your home.

Feeding Support and Postpartum Recovery

Safe sleep is one piece of the picture. Let Mommy Sleep’s team also includes International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) who provide non-judgmental feeding support whether you are breastfeeding, bottle feeding or both. Our caregivers also support postpartum recovery including mobility support after cesarean birth and monitoring for signs of postpartum mood disorders.

The overnight hours are when families are most exhausted and most vulnerable. Our role is to make those hours safe, supported and restorative for your baby and for you. Read 10 Steps to Safe Sleep for Baby for more information about creating a safe sleep environment.