Alaska Daycare Safe Sleep Requirements

Back to Sleep, Every Time

Alaska's safe sleep rules for licensed child care homes follow the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines codified in state regulations. For infants — children under 12 months — the requirements are strict and non-negotiable:

• Infants must be placed on their backs to sleep, unless otherwise ordered by a physician
• No exceptions for "this baby sleeps better on their stomach" — even with a signed parent request

This is the single most scrutinized safe sleep standard during CCPO inspections. A licensing specialist who sees an infant face-down during a nap check will issue an immediate correction notice.

Crib Standards

Infants must sleep in federally approved cribs — either wooden or mesh-sided. The specific requirements:

• Firm mattress that fits tightly against the crib walls with no gaps
• Tight-fitting sheet — the only bedding allowed
• Nothing else in the crib: no loose blankets, quilts, comforters, pillows, bumper pads, stuffed animals, or sleep positioners

Playpens, bassinets, and standard adult beds are not permitted for unsupervised infant napping. If you're caring for infants, you need one approved crib per infant — sharing cribs between children during overlapping nap times isn't allowed.

Used cribs are fine as long as they meet current federal safety standards. Cribs manufactured before June 2011 — when the CPSC banned drop-side cribs — should be replaced. The CCPO inspector won't measure your crib dimensions but will check for recalled models, structural damage, and proper bedding.

Nap Supervision Requirements

Sleep areas must be arranged so that caregivers maintain continuous sight and sound supervision of all resting children. If children are sleeping in a designated napping room, you must remain on the same floor with easy access to that room.

The practical implication: you can't put infants down for a nap upstairs while you supervise toddlers in the basement playroom. Sleep areas should be positioned so you can check on sleeping children without leaving the rest of your group unattended.

One staffing rule eases the ratio burden during naps: if all children in a group are asleep, the staff-to-child ratio requirement may be doubled, using the ratio for the youngest child in the group. For a sole caregiver in a child care home, this means you can supervise more sleeping children than awake ones — but you must still maintain continuous monitoring.

Safe Sleep Training

The CCPO requires that all caregivers complete safe sleep training as part of their pre-licensing education. This is typically covered in the mandatory Health and Safety Basics course and the abuse/neglect mandated reporting training.

The 24 hours of annual training required under 7 AAC 57.350 should include periodic safe sleep refreshers, particularly if you serve infants. Safe sleep protocol violations are among the most common compliance findings during monitoring inspections.

Documenting Your Safe Sleep Policy

Your written policies — which must be available on-site for inspection and shared with parents — should include your safe sleep protocols. Specify:

• Back-to-sleep positioning for all infants
• Your bare-crib policy
• How you handle the transition from crib to mat for older toddlers
• Your nap supervision procedures

Parents of infants should sign an acknowledgment of your safe sleep policy at enrollment. This protects both the children and your license if a disagreement arises about sleeping practices.

The Alaska Home Daycare License guide covers safe sleep requirements alongside the full home inspection preparation checklist, so you're not discovering compliance gaps during the CCPO visit itself.

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