Baby Sleep Safe

The Cause

ITAVOCF's mission is to help local families in the Foothills area that are facing hardships with free essential baby supplies in the first year of their babies' life.

ITAVOCF is applying for funding to purchase Baby Boxes made by the Baby Box Company and funds to store the Baby Boxes. ITAVOCF receives numerous requests from families looking for cribs or bassinets. Due to liability reasons, ITAVOCF is unable to accept used cribs to donate to other families and due to space restrictions, we are unable to store bassinet donations. When families do not have a designated safe sleeping space for their baby, babies can be placed in car seats, couches, couch cushions, swings, etc. which are not safe spaces for babies to sleep and can increase the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). We want to ensure that every family in the Foothills with a newborn never has to place their baby in an unsafe sleeping environment because they were not able to obtain a crib/bassinet for their baby. We want to give a "hand-up" to families going through challenging times so they in turn are able to give their children the best possible start in life.

A Baby Box is a tested, safe-certified sleep environment for infants. The bed boxes are supplied by the Baby Box Company, the only accredited supplier of tested, safe-certified Baby Boxes anywhere in the world, and approved by Health Canada for meeting the Crib, Cradle and Bassinet Regulations. The Baby Boxes were inspired by the Finnish practice of giving a bed box to all new mothers, regardless of economic status. ITAVOCF is working to provide an equal start for all children in the Foothills region.

Who Will it Benefit?

The families that receive ITAVOCF’s services are a very wide ranging demographic (teen mothers, First Nation families, new immigrants to Canada, single parent households, grandparents as sole caregivers, high risk mothers, low to middle income households). We help families that are unable to supply the basic necessities for their babies due to various circumstances (income levels, medical conditions, domestic violence, situations, etc). ITAVOCF assists families that have babies aged 0-12 months. 55 families used ITAVOCF services in 2015.