El Paso County launches new campaign to prevent infant sleep deaths
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - El Paso County Public Health is launching a new campaign to prevent infant deaths after data revealed sleep-related infant deaths are the leading cause of injury - or violence-related death for infants, the leading cause of unnatural death in infants.
Between 2014 and 2023, the El Paso County Child Fatality Review Team reviewed 80 infant deaths tied to unsafe sleep. Officials say more than half of those happened in the first three months of life.
“That’s a huge, significant impact of loss in our community. And the important emphasis there is that these are mostly preventable deaths,” said Emma Bernick, Injury & Violence Prevention Planner at El Paso County Public Health.
Bernick says investigators see the same patterns in nearly every case. The most common risk factors include babies placed on soft bedding or with toys, not sleeping in a crib or bassinet, not being placed on their back, or co-sleeping with another person.
Public health leaders emphasize that soft bedding, toys, and other items in the sleep environment are a risk - and that a sleep environment is not always a crib.
To address the problem, the county is rolling out its “Infant Safe Sleep” campaign, teaching caregivers the ABCs of safe sleep: Alone, Back, Crib.
“The A stands for Alone… The B stands for back… And then finally, the C is crib. We always recommend that they’re in a crib, bassinet, or pack and play,” Bernick said.
While youth suicides and transportation-related child deaths have dropped in El Paso County in recent years, sleep-related infant deaths have not. Public health leaders say that’s why the prevention effort is so urgent.
“Historically, the main causes of child injury and violence-related deaths in El Paso County have been youth suicides, transportation-related deaths, and sleep-related infant deaths,” Bernick said. “While we did see a decline in both suicides and transportation-related child deaths from 2023 to 2024, we saw no decline in sleep-related infant deaths.”
Officials stress the message is simple: “The number one takeaway that we want parents and caregivers to have from this sleep initiative is that the majority of sleep-related infant deaths are preventable if we always put babies in a safe sleep environment,” Bernick said.
To support families, a new Safe Sleep Station is now open at the Public Health Vital Records Office, where parents can pick up free educational materials. With funding from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the county also has a limited supply of cribs and sleep sacks available for families in need.
El Paso County Public Health says it expects to release statewide data soon to show how the county compares with the rest of Colorado.
For more information, visit El Paso County Public Health’s Safe Sleep page or contact safesleep@elpasoco.com.
Stay up to date with the latest local news, sports, and investigations by downloading the KRDO13 app. Click here to download it from the Apple App Store. Android users can download it from Google Play here.
