Safe sleep at daycare
Licensed daycares in Texas and California must put babies to sleep on their backs, alone, in a bare crib, and may not let them sleep in bouncers, swings or car seats. Here is what each state requires, what inspectors find most often, and what to ask before your baby starts.
Updated Oct 12, 2026. Numbers come from state inspection records and update daily.
The rules at a glance
Both states follow the same basic advice pediatricians give parents: babies sleep on their backs, alone, on a firm flat surface with nothing soft around them. They differ on swaddling and on how often staff must check on sleeping babies.
| Texas | California | |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep position | On the back, unless a health care professional signs a sleep exception form. A baby who can roll both ways may stay in the position they roll into (§746.2427). | On the back until 12 months, unless a doctor signs an exemption on the baby’s sleeping plan (LIC 9227). A baby who rolls over on their own may stay that way once the parent signs that part of the plan (§101430). |
| What may be in the crib | Nothing for babies under 12 months but a tight-fitting sheet and a thin mattress cover made for that crib (§746.2415). | No loose items, including blankets and pillows; no bumper pads or anything hung on the crib. A pacifier with nothing attached is allowed (§101439.1). |
| Bouncers, swings and car seats | A baby may not sleep in one and must be moved to a crib as soon as possible (§746.2426). Awake babies may not sit in one for more than 15 minutes, except to eat or ride (§746.2417). | A baby who falls asleep anywhere but a crib must be moved to one as soon as possible (§101430). |
| Swaddling | Only with a sleep exception form signed by a health care professional (§746.2428). | Not allowed in care, with no exceptions (§101430). |
| Covering the head | A baby’s head, face or crib may never be covered (§746.2429). | A baby’s head may not be covered (§101430). |
| Watching sleeping babies | Babies may never be left unsupervised (§746.2401). The rules set no fixed schedule for checks. | Watched by sight and sound at all times and physically checked every 15 minutes, with each check logged (§101429). |
| A crib of their own | Every baby under 12 months who isn’t walking has their own crib (§746.2405). | One baby per crib, and no stacked cribs (§101439.1). |
Texas: 26 Texas Administrative Code Chapter 746 (Minimum Standards for Child-Care Centers). California: Title 22 rules for infant care centers. Links open the rule text.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends putting babies on their backs for every sleep, on a firm, flat surface that isn’t inclined, with nothing soft in the sleep area, and says sitting devices like bouncers and swings are not for routine sleep (AAP, 2022). Federal law has banned inclined infant sleepers and padded crib bumpers since November 2022 (Safe Sleep for Babies Act), and since December 2012 child care centers may use only cribs that meet the current federal standard, so no drop-side cribs (CPSC).
Child care is where safe sleep habits are easiest to break. In a study of 1,916 sudden infant deaths in the 1990s, about 1 in 5 happened in child care, and of the deaths where the time in care was known, about a third came in the baby’s first week there. Babies usually put to sleep on their backs or sides at home were more likely to be put down on their stomachs in child care (Moon and others, Pediatrics, 2000). About 3,400 babies in the United States die suddenly and unexpectedly each year, including 1,351 from sudden infant death syndrome and 947 from accidental suffocation or strangulation in bed in 2024 (CDC).
What inspectors find most often
Texas. Since October 2021, inspectors have cited 1,429 licensed centers 2,150 times under the state’s safe sleeping rules, about 21% of centers licensed for infants. The most common problem is a baby asleep in a bouncer, swing, car seat or other device (661 citations). Where inspectors named the device, it was most often a bouncer (206) or a swing (159). Next come cribs that weren’t bare or babies with something over their head (558), and babies swaddled without the required form (147). Inspectors are finding these problems less often: safe-sleep citations found at inspections fell from 3.1 per 100 inspections of infant centers in 2022 to 1.9 in 2025.
California. Since February 2021, the state has cited 552 licensed centers 802 times under its infant sleep rules, about 22% of licensed infant centers. Most often, sleeping babies weren’t checked every 15 minutes or the checks weren’t logged (409 citations). Next come unsafe cribs or loose items in the crib (208) and swaddling (61), including 32 citations that mention sleep sacks.
Swaddling and sleep sacks
California doesn’t allow swaddling in child care at all (§101430). Inspectors apply the rule to sleep sacks (wearable blankets) too: 32 of the 61 California swaddling citations since February 2021 mention one, some even when the baby wasn’t otherwise swaddled. If your baby is used to a swaddle or sleep sack, practice naps without one before they start, and ask the center before you send one.
Texas allows swaddling only when a health care professional signs the state’s sleep exception form saying it is medically necessary (§746.2428). Without the form, a center that swaddles your baby can be cited, even if you asked it to.
Pediatricians advise always placing a swaddled baby on the back and stopping swaddling as soon as the baby shows signs of trying to roll over; weighted swaddles and weighted sleep sacks are not safe (AAP). National child care health standards say swaddling is not necessary or recommended in child care (Caring for Our Children, 3.1.4.2).
Sleep exception forms and sleeping plans
Some babies need to sleep differently for a medical reason, for example on their side because of reflux. Both states allow that only with a doctor’s signature.
- Texas: the Infant Sleep Exception / Health Care Professional Recommendation form covers three exceptions: a sleep position other than the back, sleeping in a restrictive device, and swaddling. Your baby’s health care professional fills it out and you sign it; the center keeps it on file.
- California: every baby in an infant program has an Individual Infant Sleeping Plan (form LIC 9227). One part lets you confirm your baby can roll both ways, so staff may leave them in the position they roll into; another records a doctor’s exemption from back sleeping. There is no exception for swaddling.
Nap time for toddlers and preschoolers
Texas: children 18 months and older who are in care five hours or more get a supervised rest period after lunch, no longer than three hours (§746.2901, §746.2903). Staff may not force a child to sleep or keep a child in a restrictive device to make them sleep (§746.2905); a child still awake after an hour gets a quiet activity (§746.2907). Cots and mats need a walkway so no one steps over children (§746.2909), and lights may be dimmed only if every child can still be seen (§746.2911).
California: every child gets a chance to rest without distraction, and each child under 5 has a cot or mat; no child may be forced to stay awake or kept in the nap area past the usual rest time (§101230). Mats must be at least 3/4 inch thick with a sheet and blanket, and staff must be able to reach every child without stepping over others (§101239.1).
Questions to ask before your baby starts
Where will my baby sleep, and can I see the crib?
Is anything ever put in the crib: blankets, bumpers, toys or positioners?
What do you do when a baby falls asleep in a bouncer, swing or car seat?
Do you swaddle or use sleep sacks? (California: no swaddling, and inspectors have cited sleep sacks. Texas: swaddling only with a health care professional’s form.)
How often do staff check on sleeping babies, and do you keep a log I can see?
Who is in the nap room, and can they see and hear every baby?
How will you handle my baby’s first week, especially if my baby is used to being held or rocked to sleep?
What safe sleep training have the infant teachers had?
Has the center been cited for a safe sleep rule? What changed afterward?
May I send a pacifier? (California allows one with nothing attached.)
Then read the center’s inspection record: every licensed center on Daycare Record has a page listing each citation in the state’s words. How to read an inspection record →
If your center is cited
Texas: a center cited under any of the seven safe sleeping rules must tell the parent of every child in care in writing within five days, using the state’s Notification of Safe Sleeping Deficiency form, even if your child wasn’t there that day (§746.309, §746.311; Human Resources Code §42.0429). If you get one, read the citation on the center’s page and ask the director what has changed.
California: inspection and complaint reports are public. Each center’s page on Daycare Record lists its citations, and the state’s CCLD facility search has the full reports.
To report a concern, see how to report a daycare in Texas, California or another state. If a child is in danger, call 911.
Common questions
Can a baby sleep in a bouncer or swing at daycare?
No. In Texas a baby may not sleep in a bouncer, swing, car seat or other restrictive device unless a health care professional has signed a sleep exception form, and a baby who falls asleep in one must be moved to a crib as soon as possible. California also requires a baby who falls asleep outside a crib to be moved to one as soon as possible.
Can daycare swaddle my baby?
In California, no: swaddling isn’t allowed in child care. In Texas, only if a health care professional signs the state’s sleep exception form saying swaddling is medically necessary.
Can my baby wear a sleep sack at daycare?
Ask the center first. In California, inspectors have cited centers for babies napping in sleep sacks under the rule that bans swaddling in child care, even when the baby wasn’t otherwise swaddled. In Texas, ask the center how it handles sleep sacks; any swaddling needs a sleep exception form signed by a health care professional.
How often does daycare have to check on sleeping babies?
California requires staff to watch sleeping babies by sight and sound at all times and to check each one in person every 15 minutes, logging every check. Texas requires that babies never be left unsupervised but sets no fixed schedule for checks.
What is LIC 9227?
LIC 9227 is California’s Individual Infant Sleeping Plan, a form kept for each baby in an infant program. It records whether the parent confirms the baby can roll both ways, staff observations, and any doctor’s exemption from back sleeping.
Can I send a blanket for my baby’s crib?
Not for a baby under 12 months. Texas allows only a tight-fitting sheet and a thin mattress cover made for the crib, and California requires cribs to be free of loose items, including blankets and pillows.
Do daycares make toddlers nap?
Texas centers must offer a supervised rest period after lunch to children 18 months and older who are in care five hours or more, but staff may not force a child to sleep; a child still awake after an hour gets a quiet activity. California centers must give every child a chance to rest and may not force a child to stay awake.
Sources: Texas: 26 Texas Administrative Code §746.309, 746.311, 746.1305, 746.1309, 746.2401–746.2429 and 746.2901–746.2911 (Cornell LII); SB 568 (2019), Human Resources Code §42.0429; California: Title 22, California Code of Regulations §101230, 101239.1, 101429, 101430 and 101439.1 (Cornell LII); form LIC 9227; American Academy of Pediatrics, 2022 safe sleep recommendations; NICHD Safe to Sleep; CPSC, Safe Sleep for Babies Act; CPSC, crib standard; CDC, sudden unexpected infant death data; Moon, Patel and Shaefer, “Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Child Care Settings,” Pediatrics, 2000; Caring for Our Children 3.1.4.2 (reprinted by the Maryland State Department of Education); Texas Health and Human Services and California Department of Social Services inspection records.