Parent Engagement

Parents as Partners for Safe Sleep
We are recruiting parents to join our campaign to stop preventable deaths of our community’s babies due to unsafe sleep conditions.

Parents can be a powerful force in changing safe sleep practices. Parents of newborns often rely on experienced parents in their family and network of friends in their own culture for advice on caring for their babies.

Why You’re Needed
You can use your experience as a parent and trusted adviser to help parents and caretakers learn how to keep their babies safe while they sleep. You can also work with the Baby Safe Sleep Coalition to make sure our Safe Sleep education messages and projects are culturally competent and effective.

Two Ways Parents Can Help
First, join Baby Safe Sleep’s Parent Engagement Committee. This team makes recommendations about parent engagement activities and/or programs that will bring awareness and education to parents about the risk to babies of unsafe sleep environments. The parent engagement committee:

  • Works with the BSS Board and Coordinator to plan and organize engagement outreach, programs and activities for BSS.
  • In working with the BSS Coordinator will publicizes family engagement activities and events using newsletters, website, social media and backpack express, and
  • Works with the BSS Steering committee, BSS Coordinator and other committee chairmen when parent input or engagement is needed.

The parent engagement committee will target activities to local parents/families most affected by infant deaths in unsafe sleep deaths. Our data show this population to be mostly low income families of African American and Latino descent. To ensure cultural relevance, members of the committee will be parents from the target populations and others, such as grandparents and aunts who influence parent behaviors/practices in caring for babies.

Or, the second way you can help is to become a Safe Sleep Parent Ambassador to spread the ABCs of Safe Sleep to every part of the Rochester area. (As a reminder, the ABCs are: “Babies must sleep Alone, on their Backs, and in an empty Crib free of bumpers, blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals.”)

Safe Sleep Parent Ambassadors Will:

  • Attend one training course taught by the Baby Safe Sleep Coalition. This course will teach you the basics of infant safe sleep.
  • Be empowered as a safe sleep advocate in your community.
  • Be responsible for educating at least 10 more community members by sharing your knowledge in everyday conversations with friends, family, and co-workers about safe sleep education.
  • Become an integral part of the Coalition by supporting our efforts to reduce infant mortality rate.

Let’s Get Started
You can choose how you would like to support our efforts. Please use the form below to send us your contact info and share your interest area: either (1) Parent Engagement Committee or (2) Safe Sleep Parent Ambassador.