Healthy Baby Resources

SIDS kills over 100 babies in Florida every year. Florida SIDS Alliance provides family support, funds research, and education about reducing SIDS/ other infant death rates.

What is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome?

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome is the death of an infant that remains unexplained after a complete autopsy, death scene investigation, and review of medical history.

• SIDS is the number one cause of death for infants between the ages of one month and one year.
• SIDS is sometimes known as “crib death,” which strikes over 2,500 families each year. As many as 2,000 others die suddenly and without explanation.
• More babies die of SIDS than die of AIDS, cystic fibrosis, childhood cancer, pneumonia, child abuse, and childhood heart disease during their first fourteen years.

Tummy time is a period in which experts recommend is laying babies on their stomachs for brief periods while they’re awake to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Most babies spend a lot of time lying on their back, so tummy time gives your baby the chance to try a new position and helps prevent them from getting a flat spot on their head. Tummy time builds your baby’s head, neck, and upper body strength, and helps to develop the skills they’ll need to crawl, rollover, sit up and stand.

Taking care of your baby can be fun and enjoyable. But, when your baby won’t stop crying, it can be uncomfortable for you and your caregivers. It is normal for your baby to cry. A baby may cry two or three hours a day-sometimes more! Non-stop crying is difficult for all parents to cope with. There are ways to calm your baby and ways to handle your frustration. We’ve listed a few links below with more information.

Children have more well-child visits when they are younger because development is faster during these years. At your well-care visits, there should be a complete physical exam where the health care provider will check the child’s growth and development to find or prevent problems.

Your provider will record your child’s height, weight, and other important information. Hearing, vision, and other screening tests will be part of some of your visits. Even if your child is healthy, well-child visits are a good time to focus on your child’s wellness. If you have any questions or concerns, write them down before your visit and bring them with you. This will help you get the most out of the visit. Listed below are a few links with more information.

However, nutritional needs vary from one life stage to another. 

As we go through life, we move through different stages of development, each with its own biological, psychological, and social characteristics. We need essential amino acids, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, and 28 vitamins and minerals to sustain life and health. Listed below are a few links with more information on nutrition for babies at different stages in development.

Play is the language of childhood, and teaches children about their world, how to cofunction, and that they have influence. When a child struggles at school or in life, it is often because they do not have the right foundations in place. Developmental Play trains you to give children these foundations. It is like a pyramid where each level builds on an earlier one. Ensuring that each level is solid for a child, which may involve going back to rebuild it, is the key to the success of this approach.

The first six to 12 months of a baby’s life are an incredible time, as they change into a tiny person who can sit and play when propped up. Although each baby develops at its own pace, there are ways you can encourage that growth. Listed below are a few links with information on how activities that are conducive for your child’s development.

Even as babies, children build reading skills that set the foundation for learning to read. Kids develop reading skills at their own pace, so the exact timetable will be different based on the child individually. Although it seems babies are too young to enjoy being read to, they’re learning something new at every stage. Early reading promotes brain development, builds vocabulary, builds brain processing speeds, and more.

Because mothers pass antibodies to their babies before birth, they are born with protection from some diseases. Infants that are breastfed continue to get more antibodies in breast milk. But in both cases, the protection is temporary. Immunization or vaccinations are given as a way to create immunity to or protection from some diseases. This is done by using small amounts of a killed or weakened germ that causes the disease. Vaccines stimulate the immune system to react as if there were a real infection. It fends off the “infection” and remembers the germ. Then, it can fight the germ if it enters the body later. Listed below are a few links with more information.

Choosing quality childcare is one of the most important things you will do as a parent. When choosing, you will want to look for a provider that fosters a safe, nurturing, and stimulating environment for children. Below are a few links with information and checklists to get you started.