Licensing Rules for Child Care Centers
1. All bedding and sleeping equipment must be appropriate for the child, clean, comfortable, safe, and in good repair.
Reduces the risk of injury and/or death.
The center must make sure cribs are safe. Safe cribs have:
2. Heavy objects that could fall on a child, such as shelving and televisions, must not be above sleeping equipment.
3. A crib or portable crib must be provided for all infants in care.
4. A crib, portable crib, cot or mat, and a sheet or blanket of appropriate size must be provided for all toddlers and preschoolers less than 3 years of age in care.
5. Along with a cot or a mat, a sheet or blanket of appropriate size must be provided:
Reduces the risk of injury or death. Ensures the safety and well-being of children. While portable cribs (porta-cribs) are not designed to withstand the wear and tear of normal full-sized cribs, they may provide more flexibility for programs that vary the number of infants in care.
There must be cribs or portable cribs available onsite (i.e. classroom or storage) for the number of infants the center is licensed for.
A portable crib must meet the following criteria:
Note: Sleeping equipment constructed of fiber or mesh sides, such as a “Pack-N-Play®” or playpen, is not permitted for use.
Children cannot use the same cribs, beds, other sleep equipment, or bedding at the same time.
See Rule 400.8277 if nighttime care is provided.
It is recommended that mats be waterproof and at least one inch thick.
Note: Children napping or resting outdoors should be protected from extreme weather conditions, including sun and rain. This can be done with shaded areas, such as tarps, tents, or other weather-appropriate shelter to make sure children have a safe and comfortable place to rest.
Note: School age children are not required to nap or rest. Centers should consider having sleeping equipment available for children who may want to rest.
6. Car seats, infant seats, swings, bassinets, and play yards are not approved sleeping equipment.
7. Documentation from the child’s licensed health care provider is required if a child has a health issue or special need that requires the child to sleep in something other than a crib or portable crib for infants or toddlers, or cot or mat for toddlers. The documentation must include specific sleeping instructions and time frames for how long the child needs to sleep in this manner, including an end date.
8. Swaddling with a sleep sack swaddle attachment or swaddle wrap is allowed only for infants up to 2 months of age. If a child has a health issue or special need that requires the child use a swaddle attachment or swaddle wrap after the child is 2 months of age, documentation from the child’s licensed health care provider is required. The documentation must include specific sleeping instructions, and time frames for how long the child needs to sleep in this manner, including an end date.
Ensures for the safety and well-being of children by reducing the risk of infant death.
According to Keeping Kids Alive, between 2010 and 2017, there were 136 sleep-related infant deaths in Michigan. Infant sleeping requirements are based on the AAP recommendations.
Research has shown that placing a baby to sleep on soft mattresses or other soft materials can increase the risk of death due to positional asphyxiation. Babies have been found dead with their faces, noses and mouths covered by soft bedding, such as pillows, quilts, comforters, and sheepskins.
Infants can be swaddled with a blanket while they are held by program staff. Infants swaddled in blankets must not be placed in cribs.
Wearable blankets -- sleeps sacks, sleep sacks with a swaddle attachment, and swaddle wraps -- are allowed alternatives to blankets and may be worn by infants when they are sleeping.
Note: Swaddling with sleep sacks with a swaddle attachment and swaddle wraps is allowed only for infants up to 2 months of age.
Note: The swaddle attachment for the sleep sack must be attached correctly before it is used. The Velcro on swaddle sacks and swaddle wraps must be attached securely and must be checked every time the infant is checked while sleeping.
R 400.8219(8) requires continual monitoring of the infant’s breathing, sleep position, bedding, and for possible signs of distress.
If an infant has a health issue or special need that requires the use of a device, such as a wedge to prop the infant, documentation from the infant's health care provider is required prior to using the device. The documentation must include specific sleeping instructions and time frames for how long the infant needs to sleep in this manner. See also R 400.8219(7).
When infants are put to sleep in any type of wearable blanket, such as a sleep sack, it is essential to make sure the garment fits properly. If the infant is wearing a wearable blanket that is too big, it could bunch or gather around the infant’s face and cause a suffocation hazard.
There are risks associated with swaddling. They include:
Due to these risks, it is recommended that infants not be swaddled in a child care setting. For more information, see the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education. Caring for Our Children: National Health and Safety Performance Standards;
Guidelines for Early Care and Education Programs, 4th ed. Itasca, IL: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2019. Caring for Our Children.
Resources regarding infant safe sleep include the following:
9. A center shall not use stacking cribs.
If a center wasn’t using stacking cribs as of December 7, 2006, the center was prohibited by the previous licensing rule [R 400.5204(9)] from using stacking cribs. Effective June 28, 2011, all cribs sold in the U.S. must be manufactured to new standards. Per the new standards, all child care providers were required to replace all cribs not meeting the new standards by December 28, 2012. Stacking cribs manufactured prior to December 8, 2006 do not meet the new standards and had to be replaced by December 28, 2012. Per the previous rule [R 400.5204(10)], stacking cribs could not be replaced with stacking cribs. Thus, stacking cribs are no longer allowed for any centers.
Stacking cribs were prohibited for the following reasons:
Stacking cribs were prohibited after December 28, 2012, when all cribs were required to be replaced in order to meet the new standards.
10. Cribs and portable cribs must comply with the federal product safety standards issued by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Bedding and equipment safety standards are set forth by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
Since June 28, 2011, all baby cribs sold in the U.S. (both full size and non-full size) are required to comply with new federal standards (16 C.F.R. part 1219 and 16 C.F.R. part 1220) under Section 104(c) of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. It is presumed that cribs manufactured on or after June 28, 2011, comply with the new standards. If the tracking label or registration form on the crib indicates that the crib was manufactured after June 28, 2011, no additional documentation is necessary to determine compliance with 16 C.F.R. part 1219 or 16 C.F.R. part 1220.
If the crib was manufactured prior to June 28, 2011, a Children’s Product Certificate (CPC) or test report from a CPSC-accepted third party lab is needed to be in compliance with 16 C.F.R. part 1219 or 16 C.F.R. part 1220. Though not required, many importers, manufacturers or retailers will provide CPCs or test reports upon request, or they post them on their websites.
Note: Under the new standards, non-full-size baby cribs must be sold with the mattress. Stacking cribs were prohibited after December 28, 2012, when all cribs were required to be replaced in order to meet the new standards.
11. A crib or portable crib must have a firm, tight-fitting waterproof mattress.
12. A tightly fitted bottom sheet must cover the crib or portable crib mattress with no additional padding placed between the sheet and mattress.
13. Soft objects, bumper pads, stuffed toys, blankets, quilts, comforters, and other objects that could smother a child must not be placed in, or within reach of, a crib or portable crib with a resting or sleeping infant.
14. Blankets must not be draped over cribs or portable cribs when in use.
Ensures the safety and well-being of children by reducing the risk of infant death. In 2015, 159 infants died in Michigan due to unsafe sleep environments. Several infants die each year in child care due to unsafe sleep environments. Infant sleeping requirements are based on the AAP recommendations.
Research has shown that placing a baby to sleep on soft mattresses or other soft materials can increase the risk of death due to positional asphyxiation. Babies have been found dead with their faces, noses and mouths covered by soft bedding, such as pillows, quilts, comforters, and sheepskins. The AAP recommends that infants not be swaddled after 2 months of age.
Note: Under the federal crib standards, non-full-size baby cribs must be sold with the mattress. The mattress, when inserted in the center of the crib, must not leave a gap of more than 1/2 inch at any point between the mattress and the crib side. When the mattress is placed tight to one side and end of the crib, the gap on the other sides must be less than 1 inch. These measurements must be taken with no sheet covering the mattress. If the non-full-size crib mattress was sold with the crib and meets these requirements, it will be in compliance with subrule (8) of this rule.
Note: Under the federal crib standards, full-size baby crib mattresses must measure 27 1/4 inches by 51 5/8 inches with a thickness not exceeding 6 inches.
Note: Burp cloths, sleep sacks and other similar cloth/soft items cannot be draped over side.
15. Cots and mats must be constructed of a fabric or plastic that is easily cleanable.
16. All sleeping equipment and bedding must be cleaned and sanitized when soiled, between uses by different children, and at least once a week regardless of use by different children.
Reduces the spread of disease from one child to another.
Cleaned and sanitized means:
Note: Laundering bedding in hot water and detergent cleans and sanitizes the bedding.
Examples of sanitizing solutions include, but are not limited to:
Note: When sanitizing toys and other items children may put in their mouths, including cots and mats:
Bleach is recommended as a sanitizing product because it is safe, effective, and inexpensive.
Refer to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC website to know the difference between cleaning, disinfecting, and sanitizing.
For cleaning up vomit (including spit-up) or feces, it is recommended that the mat be disinfected. A disinfecting solution can be made using water and non-scented chlorine bleach with a concentration of 1/3 cup bleach per gallon of water. The bleach solution should be left on the surface for 10 to 20 minutes and then rinsed with clean water.
17. When sleeping equipment and bedding are stored, both of the following apply:
Toddlers often nap or sleep on mats or cots. These mats or cots are taken out of storage during nap time, then placed back in storage. Lice, infestations, scabies, ringworm, and other diseases can be spread if bedding materials (e.g., blankets, sheets, etc.) used by children come into contact with one another.
To prevent the spread of disease, each child should have their own bedding that is stored individually. This separates the personal items of one child from those of another child.
Each child’s bedding can be stored on a cot used only for that child prior to stacking cots for storage. Take care to store each child’s bedding so that it does not make contact with other bedding. Mats may be stacked only if they are sanitized prior to each use.
Note: When sanitizing mats:
Examples of ways bedding may be stored include labeled bins, cubbies or bags. Bleach is recommended as a sanitizing product as it is safe, effective and inexpensive.
18. All occupied cribs, portable cribs, cots, and mats must be placed in a manner that there is a free and direct means of egress and be spaced as follows:
Ensures staff and children have adequate space to evacuate the room if needed and staff have access to children in the case of an emergency.
Separated sleeping spaces reduce the spread of disease from one child to another.
This rule only applies when cribs, porta-cribs, cots, and mats are occupied.
If a center uses screens, partitions, furnishings, etc., to separate children, they have to allow immediate access to children in an emergency.
Cribs or porta-cribs can have one or two sides next to a wall. If not placing cribs or porta-cribs end-to-end, the remaining two or three sides must be at least two feet from another occupied crib or porta-crib. Cots and mats can be placed so that one or two sides are next to a wall. The two or three sides must be at least 18 inches from another occupied cot or mat.
