MUNCY – A resolution introduced by Rep. Garth Everett (R-Lycoming) to designate November as Infant Safe Sleep Month in Pennsylvania unanimously passed the Pennsylvania House.

The Everett measure is designed to raise awareness about an American Academy of Pediatrics Task Force recommendation that infants be placed on their backs to sleep. Additionally, the resolution highlights the academy’s finding that the safest sleep environment for babies is one in which they are able to sleep alone in an empty crib with a tightly fitted sheet and appropriate sleepwear.

“Each year, many infants across the country die because their caregivers did not know the proper position in which to lay them down to sleep,” said Everett. “These are tragic, preventable deaths that result largely from a lack of education. The purpose of my resolution is to spark conversations among parents, the medical community and others who care for children so that no family has to go through the grief of losing a child due simply because of the wrong sleep position.”

Everett urges parents, grandparents, day care workers and others to visit the National Institute of Child Health and Development’s website at www.nichd.nih.gov to learn more.