Last week, Early Education Minister Bailey wrote to early years providers in England to clarify the safeguarding requirements for sleeping arrangements within the EYFS statutory framework and shared plans to strengthen these requirements from September 2026.  

Her letter made it clear that all early years providers should be meeting the safer sleep requirements in the EYFS statutory framework, which currently links to the NHS safer sleep guidance.  

Currently the EYFS statutory guidance on sleep is as follows: 

Sleeping arrangements  

3.85  Sleeping children must be frequently checked to ensure that they are safe. Being safe includes ensuring that cots and bedding are in good condition and suited to the age of the child, and that babies are placed down to sleep safely in line with the latest government safety guidance: Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) – NHS (www.nhs.uk). Childminders should read NHS advice on safety of sleeping babies: Reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) – NHS (www.nhs.uk). 

The NHS guidance also links to The Lullaby Trust’s Safer Sleep information which can be found here: Safer sleep overview | The Lullaby Trust. 

Both the NHS and The Lullaby Trusts do not recommend the use of soft-sided pods or nests, pillows, duvets or thick heaving bedding, cot bumpers, hammocks or sleep positioners.  

The advice for babies to sleep safely is that they need a cot or moses baskets, a portable sleep space, an appropriate mattress for each sleeping place, a baby sleeping bag or sheets and a blanket and a room thermometer. The Lullaby Trust has a useful product guide to help buy safer sleep essentials. You can find this here: Product-guide.pdf. 

Babies are always safest sleeping flat on their backs, and this includes prams. As with all other sleep places it is important to make sure that the pram mattress is firm, flat and waterproof. The Lullaby Trust advise against allowing babies to sleep in a seated or inclined position, such as in pushchairs or buggies.  

Car seats are essential for safe travel and babies do often fall asleep in them, but they aren’t designed to be a main sleeping space, so it is important that babies should be given regular breaks when on longer journeys and should be removed from them and transferred to an appropriate flat surface once you reach you destination. 

It is key to consider that the item complies with British Safety Standards. It should have a BSI mark if it does comply. When considering items that a baby will sleep on, such as a mattress, it needs to be form, so that the baby’s head does not sink more than a few millimetres, should be entirely flat with no raised or cushioned areas and be fitted with a waterproof cover. 

The safety standards for baby sleep products are: 

• Cots and travel cots – BE EN 716-1:2017 

• Moses baskets and carry cots – BS EN 1466:2014 

• Bedside cribs – BS-EN 1130:2019 

• Mattresses – BS 7177:2008 + A1:2011 

• Mattresses for costs, travel cots and cribs: BS EN 16890:2017+A1:2021 

• Sleep bags – BS EN 16781:2018 

For those childminders who spend large parts of their day out and about, whether that is at the beach, in the woods or at play areas, they will need to carefully consider how they will be able to comply with these existing regulations. For the youngest children, this may mean using a carry cot. These can often be used until the child is able to roll, over, push themselves up or sit unaided and many of these have a recommended weight limit, often 9kg, which the average child will normally reach by about 18 months.  

The Lullaby Trust and the NHS are both clear that a clear cot is a safer cot. Unnecessary items such as toys can cover babies faces and obstruct their breathing. The new guidance incorporates this information but what if young children struggle to go to sleep without their comforter such as a muslin square or special teddy? One suggestion is that the adult should stay present whilst the child falls to sleep and they should then remove the items from the cot as soon as the child is asleep. It is also advisable that childminders work with parents to support them to understand safer sleeping guidelines. 

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We’ve received a number of questions from childminders regarding this update and have sought further clarification from the Department for Education and they are working through the questions we have raised. We will provide an update when we know more.