Safe Sleep

Every home is different, so it’s not possible to advise on every scenario. If you need specific advice or have special requirements, please speak to your health visitor. In general terms, toddlers should be able to free themselves from bedding, so co-sleeping becomes safer than it is for babies. It is important to ensure there are no gaps between your bed and the wall or other heavy furniture that your toddler could become wedged or trapped in. For general tips on safer co-sleeping check the Lullaby Trust’s co-sleeping advice Find more simple ways to keep your child safe from accidents

Sometimes, the choices you’re faced with when it comes to sleep arrangements for your family are far from ideal. You may have limited space, a baby that is ill or won’t settle, multiple children needing you in the night, the list goes on. When it comes to co-sleeping with your baby the advice from the Lullaby Trust is clear - the safest place for your baby to sleep is in their own clear cot with a firm, flat mattress. If you need to co-sleep with your baby follow the Lullaby Trust’s co-sleeping advice for practical tips to make co-sleeping safer. Find more simple ways to keep your child safe from accidents

For any sleep surface used for a child under the age of about 4 years, it's important that the bed is arranged so that the child can't become wedged between the bed and another object, like the wall or another piece of furniture. It is not possible to describe every potentially risky setting, but if there is a potential gap into which a small child might wriggle and get stuck, this is something to think about and avoid. You may want to consider how heavy the toddler bed is – can your child push it away from the wall? Is the mattress very deep creating a deep gap between the mattress and [...]

Toddler beds will usually be low enough to the ground not to be a serious fall risk if a child does fall out of bed. You can keep a clear space next to the toddler bed so there’s no risk of a child hitting their head if they do fall out of bed. Bear in mind that children should only move up to a toddler bed when they are old enough or they’re starting to climb out of their cot which is causing a fall risk. If you are going to use a bed guard: Ensure the bed guard is made to standard BS7972:2001+A1:2009. If it isn’t, don’t use it. Only use [...]