daycare safe sleep guidelines vs. licensure - 6 mo old

[Anonymous]

FTM- My 6 mo old has been going to a rather well-regarded center in Silver Spring for a month or so and I really like it so far, but found out yesterday that the reason he is taking longer naps (which was a problem at first) is that they are letting him nap on a boppy pillow. He is able to roll from back to front on his own, and at home in his crib both at night and during the day I put him down on his back and he flips himself to his stomach. The daycare teacher told me that they flip him back when he does that because they are required to due to licensure until he is able to flip himself from front to back.

There is no way that sleeping on a boppy pillow is allowed via licensure but a baby who can flip themselves are not allowed to nap on their stomachs- This is in contrast to the AAP safe sleep guidelines, right? I dont know if he could flip himself while elevated on the pillow, but that seems rather risky even at 6 months, right?

Everything about this place seems great, but what do i do about this? Should i elevate it with the director or the nurse at the center or just directly tell the teacher on Monday that they need to change what they are doing? Should I do it in writing showing the AAP guidelines? Also are there actually licensure requirement son infant sleeps in for Maryland?

[Anonymous]

clarification: when the teacher said they were flipping him to his back, this is not when he was using the boppy pillow

[Anonymous]

How did you find out?

[Anonymous]

OP: They told me. Which is what is strange that the teacher said they were required to flip him to his back once his flipped to his stomach on his own bc it was not allowed but was open that he was sleeping on a pillow when that is clearly against all infant sleep guidelines.

[Anonymous]

Are you at KFICC?
I would certainly raise the issue with the nurse and director and ask them why the teachers are using a Boppy in the crib. They might not be aware of what’s going on in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Not allowed

[Anonymous]

Unsafe. No excuses. Escalate immediately in writing. Needs to be addressed and / or it’s time to start looking elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

When I was touring centers in MoCo in 2019, more than one explicitly warned me to make sure my baby could sleep on her back because they were required to have them sleep on their backs on a flat surface with no loose blankets. It has to be some kind of regulation.

[Anonymous]

They are only required to put then to sleep on their backs. They are not required to flip them back. They are misunderstanding the regulation.

[Anonymous]

Also the boopy sleeping is SO dangerous and definitely against the regulations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are only required to put then to sleep on their backs. They are not required to flip them back. They are misunderstanding the regulation.

OP here. Do you have a source for this? That would be super helpful- thanks

[Anonymous]

My kids are in middle school and sleeping on a boppy wasn’t even safe back then! Huge hazard.

[Anonymous]

Huge red flag. Sleeping with a boppy or any type of infant pillow is never okay. The fact that they don’t follow safe sleep guidelines is absolutely not acceptable. I would immediately pull my child out and never return. Risking your child’s life is never okay. They should know and understand safe sleep. This is seriously alarming.

[Anonymous]

I would immediately tell the teachers you don't want your baby sleeping on the boppy, and tell the director that you told them that, since she could be unaware this is happening or it could be at her direction.

Fwiw, our first daycare in Virginia used to flip the babies, too (no boppy, though, and we left after 2 months due to other issues).

[Anonymous]

I would pull my child as soon as possible. No excuse for not following basic safe sleep guidelines. And I would report them.