Screening and Counseling for Infant Safe Sleep 

Key points to remember about safe sleep screening and counseling. 

•  There are many ways to navigate conversation about safe sleep practices so you will feel comfortable answering any questions or concerns that may come up. 
• The 2 key clinical activities presented in this course are comprehensive conversations that happen in parallel and don’t follow a specific, linear structure based on a tool or standard questionnaire.
• During your conversations, think about how you are asking screening questions, and whether you are avoiding some questions or prompts. 
• You are selling safe sleep through screening and counseling - during thai conversations, you are making a sales pitch aiming to convince parents and caregivers to follow the recommendations when they go home.
• The communication techniques suggested in this course are grounded in the following 3 concepts and models for health behavior change: 

• Social networks and social norms
• Health belief model
• Theory of planned behavior

• Your focus is on changing attitudes, social norms, and providing parents the information they need to follow the AAP recommendations for safe sleep practices. 
• Getting parents and caregivers to buy into the concept of safe sleep connects to how people interpret risk and the challenge of accurately assessing risk.
• Use techniques such as motivational interviewing when asking family members and caregivers about infant safe sleep habits and practices.

Use the ABCs of sleep reflect an infant’s sleep location, position, and environment as a starting point for conversations with families.