Free template
Safe sleep check sheet template
A timed record of every crib check while babies are asleep: the time, the position you found them in, and the initials of the person who looked.
- One row per check, with columns for time, child, position, and initials
- A header line for the date and the staff on duty in the room
- Enough rows for a full day of checks at fifteen-minute intervals
- Plain enough to fill with one hand while patting a back with the other
PDF, one page, letter size. Print daily and clip it inside the infant room.
Get the template
Tell us where to send it and the file is yours. We send the template and the occasional new one, nothing else.
Designed to be filled standing up, in a dim room
Time column
Written, not pre-printed, so the sheet reflects the checks you actually made rather than the ones you meant to.
Child and crib
Name plus crib number, which matters in a room where the assignment changes week to week.
Position found
Back, side, or stomach, with a note line. Rooms that record this catch a rolling stage early.
Staff initials
The person who looked, not the person who wrote the row later. That distinction is the whole point of the sheet.
Room conditions
A short block for crib checks: nothing in the crib, tight sheet, room temperature, monitor on.
Policy reminder line
A single printed line restating your safe sleep rule, so a substitute reads it before filling anything in.
The habits that make this sheet mean something
A safe sleep sheet is only as good as the checks behind it. These are the practices programs get cited for missing.
Check on your interval, then write. Look, then record. Filling in a row ahead of the check is the one thing that turns a safety record into a liability.
Train every substitute before they cover the room. Point at the policy line on the sheet and watch them do the first check with you.
Keep the day's sheet with the room, not the office. It belongs on the wall by the cribs while it is in use, then filed at the end of the day.
Safe sleep records, answered
How often do we have to check sleeping infants?
Intervals are set by your state, and many programs use a short fixed interval with a written record. Confirm the requirement that applies to your license and set the sheet to match.
Does this replace a safe sleep policy?
No. The sheet records checks. You still need a written policy, signed parent acknowledgments, and staff training, which your licensor will ask for separately.
What if we find a baby on their stomach?
Follow your policy, which for most programs means returning them to their back if they cannot roll independently, and note the time and what you did.
Can we log checks on a tablet instead?
Often yes. Ask your licensor whether an electronic log satisfies the record requirement, and keep the interval and initials the same either way.
Sleep checks that timestamp themselves
Log a check with one tap and the record carries the real time and the staff member automatically. No backfilling, no unreadable initials.