Community Reacts to Childcare Deaths

With three infants dead in the last year at area daycare facilities, Dakota County is launching an awareness program aimed at teaching parents and daycare providers the proper position in which to leave infants sleeping.

The county's message is simple.

"Do the right thing," Kelly Harder, Dakota County's director of community services, told KSTP. "It's something that is preventable, and we want to show that and support in anyway we can as well to make sure there aren't anymore deaths."

Inver Grove Heights Patch readers reacted to the county's campaign in the comments section of our story:

"I would like to commend Dakota County for promoting this safe sleep campaign. The post cards certainly grabbed my attention and this video is educational. Bravo!!"

- User "Joan Gabriel"

"We all lament the death of even one child, let alone a baby. Of course, we want to do everything possible to ensure their safety while allowing them to thrive in loving and nurturing environments...SIDS CANNOT be prevented, you can only reduce the risk! Babies can and do die from SIDS/SUIDS in perfectly safe sleep environments, their parents' or caregivers' arms, in front of anyone. This is the problem with much of the information out there. Unsafe sleep practices can cause babies to die by asphyxiation, choke, etc., but those deaths would not be SIDS deaths...Again, the Star Tribune has unfortunately misled people into viewing SIDS as the same as unsafe sleep practices. There is a difference."

- User "Happy in St. Michael"