What questions should I ask a UK nursery about their safer sleep policy?

Why ask these on the visit, not later?

The Trust’s checklist for families (reviewed June 2026) is written for a nursery, childminder or nanny visit. It says ask to see where babies are slept, and it offers opener lines if the conversation feels awkward: you follow safer sleep at home and want that routine followed here; the Trust produced a checklist you would like to go through.

From 1 September 2026 the EYFS group-provider framework puts safer-sleep duties in the main text (paragraph 3.86). Help for early years providers, written with the Trust, is the readable version. Asking the checklist questions is how you hear whether this setting can describe those duties in its own words.

MayTally is walking through the Trust list and the EYFS lines. Official records show what settings must do. This page does not rate a nursery as meeting or missing that duty.

What do I ask about policy, training and the sleep room?

The first block on the PDF is yes/no with space for notes. Take a copy or photo of the written policy if they will share it.

What do I ask about the cot, the bag and the tog?

EYFS 3.86 says under-ones must be placed to sleep only in a cot (cot, carrycot, Moses basket or travel cot). Sleep spaces hold a firm, flat, waterproof mattress and lightweight bedding tucked below the shoulders, or a well-fitted baby sleep bag used to the maker’s notes. Heads uncovered. Room for babies 16–20°C.

• Mattress. “Are babies on a firm, entirely flat, waterproof mattress, with no raised or cushioned sides?” The Trust list specifically advises against soft-sided pods or nests, bouncy chairs, hammocks, bean bags, swings, sleep positioners and sofas.
• Clear cot. “Does the cot hold only the baby and their bedding — no toys, comforters or pillows?” EYFS: no extra items such as toys, pillows, extra blankets, bumpers, wedges or straps. Foundation Years / DfE: sleep comforters only over 12 months.
• Who provides the bag? The Trust bedding question is: firmly tucked sheets not above the shoulders, or a well-fitted sleeping bag — “you may want to check who provides this”. There is no national who-buys rule.
• Tog and heat. “What temperature do you keep the sleep room, how do you monitor it, and how do you stop babies getting too hot?” Feel the chest or the back of the neck. No extra blanket over a sleeping bag.
• Standards they look for. Trust and DfE list BS EN 16781:2018 for sleepbags, plus cot and mattress standards. The Trust also says a British Standard is not a SIDS standard.

What do I ask about checks, dummies and arriving asleep?

1. How are babies monitored while sleeping? EYFS: under six months must have an adult in the same room for every sleep; all children frequently checked; always within sight and hearing. DfE: a monitor that lets staff see and hear may be used over six months; it does not replace checks.
2. What happens if they arrive asleep in a car seat? NHS and DfE: transfer to the cot once you are in the setting. Hats and extra layers come off indoors.
3. Are babies ever slept in a buggy or other seated product? Trust and DfE: if they fall asleep sitting, move them to a firm flat surface.
4. How do you keep babies smoke-free? EYFS already bans smoking on the premises when children are present.
5. How do you copy a safer routine from home — dummy, swaddling? That is the Trust’s last conversation question. If rolling signs have started, the public stop is free arms, including for nursery naps.
6. THANKS / infection. The checklist asks if they know the Trust’s T.H.A.N.K.S. (Think Hands And No Kisses) infection advice.

Write the answers in the PDF’s notes column while you are still in the room. A verbal “we follow Lullaby Trust” without a shown cot, a copy of the policy or a who-provides-the-bag line is an incomplete answer, not a verdict.

How do I run the conversation without it turning into an argument?

1. 1
   Open with the Trust’s own line “We follow safer sleep at home, and The Lullaby Trust has a checklist I would like to go through.” That is the PDF’s suggested phrase.
2. 2
   Ask to see the sleep space first Cots, mattress condition, what is in them, room thermometer. Then sit with the written policy.
3. 3
   Walk the bag, tog and check questions Who provides the sleeping bag, what tog for this room, how often staff stand next to the baby and look at breathing and colour.
4. 4
   Finish on the home routine Dummy, wrap, early waking, arriving asleep. Leave a one-page note of what you do at home.
5. 5
   Take the helpline if a reply is unclear Trust baby safety line 0808 802 6869, weekday 10:00–14:00, or [email protected]. Do not treat a MayTally page as the inspection.

In shortAsk the Trust’s questions, look at the cot, and write down who provides the bag, what tog they use, and how they check. EYFS sets the duties. This page does not score the setting.