Model health policies

Bloodborne pathogens

• Bloodborne Pathogen Exposure Plan (in MS Word)

Breastfeeding

Child care providers play a very special role in helping babies get the best nutrition for a healthy start in life. Health professionals agree that breast milk is the best food for babies. With your help, babies who are apart from their mothers and in your care can still benefit from the nutrients of breast milk. The Child Care Health Program staff has created a model breastfeeding policy that is designed to assist child care providers in supporting breastfeeding mothers and infants and protecting the health of breastfed babies in the child care setting. We hope that you will find this document useful in your programs.

• Breastfeeding Policy
• Lactation Coalition of King County 2023 Resources

Health policies

The documents below are model health policy templates designed for use by early learning programs. They include both WAC items and what is currently considered to be best practice from the American Academy of Pediatrics' Caring for Our Children 4th edition. Please note: as the Child Care Health Program receives clarification on newly implemented early learning program WACs, these documents may be updated. Please check back often to ensure you have the most up-to-date version. Public Health Nurses are available to assist King County early learning programs with development of a health policy. Please call 206-263-8262 to speak with a Public Health Nurse.

• Early Learning Program Health Policy templates (in MS Word):
  • For programs caring for infants
  • For programs not caring for infants

Pet policies

• Care and Handling of Animals on Child Care Center Premises
• Fish Policy

Safe sleep resources

• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) prevention
• The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Safe Sleep Practices explained
• What does a safe sleep environment look like?
• Safe Sleep videos