ORLANDO, Fla. — The state of Florida continues to deal with a silent killer. New numbers show that investigators are looking into more child sleeping deaths in the state than in previous years.
There are new tactics to deal with the problem as sleeping for infants remains a very dangerous activity in the state of Florida.
"It's extremely heartbreaking. Everyone thinks, 'This isn't going to happen to me,'" said Anna Wilson, of Healthy Families.
In 2013, 112 children died from unsafe sleeping. Channel 9's Jamie Holmes found out that as of 2015, investigators are looking into another 114 children who died in their sleep.
That's roughly 25 percent of all child fatalities in the state, nearly equivalent to the same number of children who drowned or died from traumatic injury like gunshots, Holmes said.
Healthy Families in Orlando is determined to push those numbers down.
When a family comes into an area hospital, zip codes with high Department of Children and Families caseloads are flagged, and a member of the team can help parents know how to safely put their baby to sleep. They can then remain with them for a year, visiting once a week.
"We look at safe sleeping issues. Infant maternal health. Where are you going to have your baby to sleep? How are you going to put your baby to sleep?'" Wilson said.
Education remains their primary tool. For example, do not put bumpers or blankets in the crib and put the baby to sleep on their back. Also, no co-sleeping, not even on the couch, where in some cases, babies have rolled into the couch cushions and died.
"Many people say, 'It will never happen to me.' Unfortunately, it does. When you talk to parents, they say, 'Only if.' Only if I'd done this, but I was tired that night. They're heartbroken. There's no consoling them," Wilson said.
The Healthy Families Sleep Safe program targets 16 zip codes in Orange and Osceola counties.
The overwhelming number of sleeping deaths in the state continues to come from co-sleeping.