State board: Children in day care must sleep on their backs

ATLANTA - A state agency has created rules to protect infants in day care centers from sudden infant death syndrome. <br> <br> The director of the child care licensing section for the Department of Human Resources, Jo Cato, said infants in Georgia&#39;s 1,600 day care centers and six-thousand registered family childcare homes now must place infants -- children less than one year old -- on their backs when they sleep. <br> <br> The agency&#39;s board of directors approved the rule Wednesday. <br> <br> Cato said the department thinks it will make children safer. <br> <br> Cato said, ``Every year we do have some SIDS deaths, mostly in family childcare homes. We still see a lot of infants still sleeping on their stomachs when they&#39;re in facilities.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Last year, 112 babies died of SIDS in Georgia. <br> <br> The agency&#39;s board of directors also approved a new rule that allows the state to notify parents if a facility&#39;s license is about to be revoked or suspended. <br> <br> The rules will remain in effect for 120 days and the public will have the chance to comment on the rule change. Afterward, the agency&#39;s board of directors must vote to make the rule permanent.