Safe sleep in nurseries

[Sarahhelenrose]

Hi
Is there anywhere in ofsted which regulates safe sleeping for babies at nursery’s? As in they should sleep on the back at not on reclining bouncers?
Thanks

I am in the UK, but going by the comments from other people it seems to be the norm 🤷🏼‍♀️

Most nurseries have few kids under 6 months anyway, most take maternity leave until at least then so I doubt ofsted would be checking routinely, whilst the nursery at work takes from 6 weeks the youngest is 11 months currently

Well I'm an old parent op and I feel passionately about child safety too - but this is not an issue that you need to crusade on and minding your own business would be advisable.

Wow ok

Ok, I’m not going to add anything more to this thread, but just to clarify. I came her looking for advice and opinions from other mums, I came here to vent my anxiety in what I thought was a ‘safe space’ I’m a first time mum with no family, my daughter is my world, maybe I am being to OTT, I guess thats what motherhood does to
You, for that I apologies, I have also been diagnose with post natel depression, so thanks for telling me to mind my other business, you’ve just sent a depressed mum a bit further down the chain. Good work.

I’m afraid that you didn’t say you were in a fragile position with PPD or else you may have received some kinder responses.

It is worrying being a first time mum, but others may have received your statement about bouncers as a judgement on them. The same way you’ve now reacted.

Please try not to take it too personally, everyone is trying there best to cope with the challenges of children and managing a reasonable level of life (sleep).

Take care of yourself OP and try not to fixate too much on specific details. You make the choices about your baby and others will make theirs. As I've said I think it's relatively uncommon for nurseries (not people at home) to use bouncers at all, especially to sleep. I've not seen one at all and spoke to DM last night who ran a private nursery for ten years, worked in others prior to that and knows a lot of people who also work in childcare. She has never known a nursery to put a baby to sleep in a bouncer, few who had them at all especially now. She does remember one baby who had terrible reflux and had to be held upright to sleep, she was his keyworker and fondly remembers being paid to cuddle a sleeping child for hours.

Some people are SO rude. I have no idea whether bouncers are safe or not but thank you for trying to raise awareness. I would say it’s a parents preference myself, however I would prefer my baby to sleep in a cot :)

Thank you to the last 3 replies, means a lot. I never in a million years questioning the integrity of parents, of course we look after our Babies it was purely in a nursery environment.
As I said I’m a single parent with no family and for past 9 months leading up to birth I’ve been on a ‘safe sleep forum’ I’ve prob had the fear of god put into me, I’m only ever questioning bouncer sleep in nurseries, in that environment it’s impossible for workers to monitor every baby al of the time. The nursery were my daughter is at all babies sleep in bouncers will one lady looking after all of them, and all the nurseries I’ve viewed that seems to be the norm.
As I stated in my OP it was the raise awareness in nurseries, and as I’ve said I’ve requested my baby doesn’t sleep in one. If I was selfish or self centred I wouldn’t be asking the question, was just trying to maybe raise awareness in ofsted. Single mom fighting a losing battle by the sounds of it, but thank you so much for the people thay were kind to me, means a lot x

Yes but your mortality rates
I’ve found in the US last year 133 babies died as asphyxiation in recliners when asleep, that’s 133 infancy deaths that could of been avoided ( not even uk) is simply to grab your attention! It doesn't take into account any other factors. Awful, but not always true that they could have been avoided simply by not being in a bouncer.

In my experience it's very unusual to have bouncers for all sleeps in a nursery.

Some younger babies who are not yet in the nursery routine may fall asleep in a bouncer in the playroom, but normally nurseries have cots or sleep mats.

It's also pretty unusual to have babies under 6 months in a nursery setting, most start at around 9-12 months and will be having regular 1-2 naps a day.

Yes I agree, as I said I’ve had the fear of god put into me, was just asking for opinions, maybe my wording was wrong, was never my intention to sound like I know everything, the complete opposite, was asking for advice

Perhaps you could contact Ofsted and ask why it isn't a requirement of all settings.
Perhaps you could ask your Nursery why they do this and what their risk assessment is.
At the same time, though, you will be continuing to the next stage of parenting where you are no longer in complete control of everything around your daughter and, if you are going to be able to relax at work, have to accept that Nursery will be taking decisions about your daughter and that, whilst her best interests are important, they are not paramount.
I'm a cautious parent who spent a lot of time (and still do spend a lot of time) reading up on babies, development, risks etc. Nonetheless, DC2 regularly slept in his bouncer both in the day when he might be next to me in the kitchen or living room and at night when I was asleep (albeit in the same room) as he was another one with reflux and, other than in a sling or on the bare chest of an upright person, it was the only place he would sleep. The risk of something happening to him had to be balanced against mine & DC1's needs.

How many babies are there with only one member of staff watching them? The ratio should be a minimum of 1adult to 3 babies between the age of 3months and 2 years. Babies under 3 months should have a ratio of 1:1 so if this is not the case i would be more concerned about this and it's definitely an ofsted requirement!

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask the nursery what they allow children to sleep in and if you are concerned raise the lullaby trust safe sleep guidance. I would follow that up with an e mail stating how you wish your child to sleep and reference the guidelines you follow.

I did email lullaby trust and this was there response

We recommend that babies only sleep on their backs on a firm, flat and waterproof surface, such as a Moses basket or cot, as these sleep environments are associated with the lowest chance of SIDS.

When young babies are in a seated position their heads can flop forward and put pressure on their windpipe, making breathing difficult, so it is not safe for them to sleep in this position.

This includes bouncers that do not lie completely flat. These are not safe for babies to sleep in, but they are fine for supervised awake time.

Yeah, I'd be bloody furious if anyone put my child to sleep in a bouncer.

I agree with you op
It’s not safe for babies to sleep in bouncers or car seats or even push chairs
I’m a manager and I’ve just raised this issue in my baby room leaders supervision
I had noticed that our youngest baby who is 6 months old was asleep in the bouncer
Our policy is to follow the safe sleep guidelines and only let them sleep flat in a cot or on a mat
I’ve made this an action for her to revisit the policy in the policy folder and to make sure she is following this policy as well as making sure all staff in the room follow this policy too
Unfortunately, it’s not an ofsted requirement but ofsted are keen that nursery policies are followed

Thank you! Xxx

My babies nursery have 8 cots in a dark quiet room and lots of little beds (like dog beds haha) for the older children. I’ve seen 1 bouncer while I’ve been there with a small baby asleep, but a member of staff was sat beside her doing paper work! I imagine this is the only way to get them to sleep for some people. my nursery also have a sheet where they check the babies breathing every 10 mins which puts my mind at rest :)

Those little dog beds are called dream coracles and cost over £300 each
We have them in our setting
www.communityplaythings.co.uk/products/baby-room/sleeping/g961

@insancerre that’s them! Love them! X

I work in a separate setting to my daughter (I thought this would make things easier) and we have no bouncers, although some parents have suggested bringing their own in and even their prams which we said no to.

My dd would often sleep in a bouncer/swing chair at home and at nursrry but this led her pretty much horizontal.

It was the only way nursery could get her to nap for the first few months until she was properly settled and happy to go in a cot.

OP just focus on your child. If you say no bouncer, a nursery should listen to you.

Yes, OFSYED requires that we follow safe sleep guidelines

Report your concerns direct to them.