Serving Solano County since 1978!

Our Parent Voices coordinator, Jennifer Ostrowski, Director of Subsidy Services, Eloisa Mercado, and Executive Director, Kathy Lago stopped by Jim Frazier’s office to personally thank him for his partnership in advocating for families and child care providers in our county.

SIDS is defined as “The sudden unexpected death of an infant, under one-year of age, with onset of the fatal episode apparently occurring during sleep, that remains unexplained after a thorough investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, and review of the circumstances of death and the clinical history”.

The key features of the definition are that the infant’s death is sudden and unexpected, and following a thorough investigation is unexplained.  SIDS is the most common cause of death in infants between 1-month and 1-year of age.  SIDS currently kills ~one out of every 2,000 live births.

SIDS is every parent’s worst nightmare.  Research has shown that the risk of an infant dying from SIDS can be reduced by following a number of Safe Infant Sleep recommendations:

• Infants should sleep flat on their backs for every sleep.
• Use a firm sleep surface without blankets, quilts, sheepskin, etc.
• Room-sharing, but not bed sharing, is recommended.
• Keep objects and loose bedding out of the crib.
• Pregnant women should receive regular prenatal care.
• Avoid cigarette smoke exposure during and after pregnancy.  Infants should never be exposed to cigarette smoke.
• Avoid alcohol and illicit drug use during and after pregnancy.
• Breastfeeding is recommended.
• Consider offering a pacifier at sleep, but do not persist if the infant refuses it.
• Avoid overheating.  Do not overdress sleeping infants.
• Infants should receive regular immunizations on the normal schedule.
• Avoid commercial devices marketed to prevent SIDS,

While these Safe Infant Sleep recommendations will not prevent all SIDS, they will reduce your baby’s chance of dying from SIDS.   SIDS appears to be a natural cause of death, and research suggests that abnormalities in brain-stem neurotransmitters are present in many SIDS babies.

October is SIDS Awareness Month.  Please adhere to Safe Infant Sleep recommendations if you care for any infant, and help support those families who have had a baby die from SIDS.

While waiting to see a movie at the local theaters, you may have seen our ad:

Employment Opportunities

Child care laws and regulations are carefully created with the health and safety of children in mind. Training classes are required during the licensing procedure which give best practices in keeping our children safe and to assist providers in meeting licensing requirements.
Citations for deficiencies can be very costly for child care providers, so don’t come up short at your next visit from licensing. Make sure you put into practice what you have learned. Click this link to see what the most common deficiencies were for last year.

Milestones matter! Track your child’s milestones from age 2 months to 5 years with CDC’s easy-to-use illustrated checklists; get tips from CDC for encouraging your child’s development; and find out what to do if you are ever concerned about how your child is developing.

From birth to age 5, your child should reach milestones in how he or she plays, learns, speaks, acts, and moves. Photos and videos in this app illustrate each milestone and make tracking them for your child easy and fun!

The use of this app is not a substitute for the use of validated, standardized developmental screening tools as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

**Click this link for the Health and Safety Reimbursement Application 2018-19