Sleep is a huge part of a baby's day, particularly during their first year. For Early Years professionals, supporting sleep isn't simply about helping babies settle and maintaining their routines - It's also an important part of keeping them safe.

Safer sleep isn't a new conversation, but it is receiving greater attention across the Early Years sector. From 1 September 2026, changes to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework in England will make safer-sleep requirements clearer and more explicit.

So, why are these changes being introduced, and what will they mean in practice?

Why is the guidance changing?

Sadly, there have been cases where children have died following unsafe sleep practices in childcare settings. These incidents have highlighted the importance of ensuring that safer-sleep expectations are clear, understood and consistently followed.

Early Years providers are already required to follow safer-sleep guidance, but the current EYFS framework directs providers to separate NHS guidance for some of the detail.

From September 2026, clearer safer-sleep requirements will be brought directly into the EYFS framework, making expectations easier for providers and practitioners to understand and follow.

The aim isn't to completely reinvent safer-sleep practice. It's about removing ambiguity, strengthening safeguarding and helping to ensure that babies and young children have a safe sleeping environment while in Early Years care.

The basics haven't changed

Many of the key principles of safer sleep remain the same.

Babies should be placed on their backs for every sleep, on a firm, flat mattress, with their sleep space kept clear.

Items such as pillows, duvets, cot bumpers, soft toys, sleep pods and nests shouldn't be placed in a baby's sleep space. Temperature matters too, with a room temperature of around 16–20°C generally recommended to help prevent overheating.

Importantly, safer-sleep principles apply to daytime naps just as much as they do at night.

Where babies sleep matters

One area receiving greater attention is the sleep environment itself.

From September, the EYFS will make it explicit that babies aged one year and under must only be placed to sleep in a cot.

Pushchairs, car seats, bouncy chairs and other seated or inclined products shouldn't be used as routine sleep spaces.

A clearer approach to safer sleep

The changes coming into effect from September 2026 aren't about completely rewriting what we know about safer sleep. Instead, they're about making existing expectations clearer, more visible and harder to misunderstand.

Following tragic incidents linked to unsafe sleep practices, there has been a renewed focus on ensuring that anyone caring for babies understands what a safe sleeping environment should look like.

By bringing clearer requirements directly into the EYFS framework, the aim is to create greater consistency, remove ambiguity and make safer sleep an even more prominent part of safeguarding.

Ultimately, the changes reinforce a simple but incredibly important message: wherever a baby is sleeping and whoever is caring for them, safer sleep should always be a priority.

This article is intended as general information and shouldn't replace current statutory requirements or safer-sleep guidance. Early Years settings should always refer to the latest EYFS, NHS and recognised safer-sleep guidance.