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Ask any nursery manager what "safer sleep" means and they'll usually start with the cot: clear, firm mattress, nothing loose inside it.
And they're right. A safe cot is the foundation of safer sleep.
But if you've ever looked at the sleep room with fresh eyes, you'll know the cot is only part of the story.
A shelf positioned incorrectly, a room that's running warm, a cable someone forgot was there. Any one of these can quietly undo all the good work that’s gone into making the sleep environment safe and comfortable.
Getting safer sleep right isn't just about having the right equipment and a policy in a folder somewhere.
It's about a team who genuinely know what to look for, checks that reflect what's actually happening in the room (not just what's written down), and a clear, confident response the moment something looks off.
England's early years rules have just tightened up around sleep arrangements. Wherever region your childcare setting operates in, this is a good excuse to take a proper look at the whole environment your little ones sleep in, not just the cot itself.
Here's the thing about safer sleep: a risk assessment tells you what the hazards are and how you're controlling them.
Checks are how your team proves, day in and day out, that those controls are actually holding up. Tudu brings both of those together - digital risk assessments, scheduled checklists and issue reporting - so safer sleep becomes part of everyday practice, not just paperwork.
For a sleep room, that might look like:
Say spare bedding keeps turning up beside a cot when it shouldn't.
Moving it solves today's problem. But asking why it keeps happening, and updating your storage arrangements and checks accordingly. is what stops it becoming a pattern.
That follow-through is where Tudu earns its keep.
It won't interpret new guidance for you - what it does is help your team turn your agreed safety measures into consistent daily habits, and give managers a clear record to look back on.
Updated Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) frameworks came into force in England on 1 September 2026, and safer sleep requirements are one of the areas that's been strengthened.
Scottish childcare settings are covered by NHS Scotland/Scottish Government's "Safer Sleep for Babies" guidance and the Scottish Cot Death Trust's "Reduce the Risks: Early Years Safe Sleeping Guide"
The main change in the EYFS frameworks is around equipment.
Babies aged 12 months and under can now only be placed to sleep in a cot.
That includes carrycots, Moses baskets and travel cots.
The Department for Education has been clear that floor beds, coracles and sleep pods don't meet this requirement.
Whatever equipment you're using also needs to suit the individual child and be used exactly as the manufacturer intends. Check DfE safer sleep guidance for more information.
But swapping out a coracle for a cot isn't job done - it's just the starting point.
The room around that cot, and the routines that go with it, matter just as much.
Every sleep, babies should go down on their backs, on a firm, flat mattress that fits the cot properly and has a waterproof cover.
No pillows, no duvets, no soft toys, no cot bumpers or nests, no loose bedding, and no positioning wedges or straps.
An age appropriate, well-fitted baby sleeping bag works well, or lightweight bedding tucked in securely below shoulder height with the baby's feet at the foot of the cot, just don't layer extra bedding over the top of a sleeping bag. The Lullaby Trust's early years guide has some more information.
One small but important shift: make your checks specific. "Cot checked" doesn't tell anyone much. "Mattress undamaged, bedding suitable, nothing extra added" does.
A cot can look perfectly clear with a baby in it and still sit right next to a hazard.
Cord safety guidance is specific about this: keep cots away from accessible blind cords and electrical cables, including monitor leads. See Government cord-safety advice for further details.
A few practical things worth building into your risk assessment:
These aren't brand-new EYFS rules with their own wording.
Think of them as the practical controls that sit inside your existing risk assessment. And it's worth rechecking the surroundings any time a cot gets moved or the room gets rearranged.
What was safe yesterday might not be once changes are made.
The sweet spot for a sleeping baby's room is between 16 and 20°C.
A room thermometer helps, as does keeping cots away from radiators and direct sun, and thinking about clothing and bedding together rather than in isolation.
Feeling a baby's chest or the back of their neck is a good gauge. If they're hot or sweaty, it's time to remove a layer. This is covered in The Lullaby Trust's early years guide
A temperature log is only useful if it leads somewhere.
Your procedure should say plainly what staff do when a room runs too hot or too cold, when to bring in a manager, and when to reassess.
Recording what you did about it matters just as much as recording the number itself.
Infection prevention is part of safer sleep, not a separate topic.
UKHSA guidance recommends allocating bedding to a named child, washing linen at least weekly (and any time it's visibly dirty), and keeping clean and used linen well separated.
Cleaning schedules should spell out the task, how often it happens, and who's responsible. Occupied rooms need proper ventilation without compromising safety. This is spelt out in UKHSA infection prevention guidance
Weave this into your sleep-area checks: cot surfaces, mattress covers, floors, touchpoints, all cleaned in ways that suit the equipment and follow the manufacturer's instructions.
And keep an eye on wear and tear. Mattresses with tears or sagging need replacing promptly, not eventually.
Your facilities checks are also the place to catch loose fittings, damaged cot parts, heating issues, window safety and any hint of damp.
If something makes a cot or area unsafe, stop using it and have an alternative ready to go - logging the fault isn't the same as fixing it, and the equipment stays unsafe until it's actually sorted.
The DfE requires an adult in the room with any baby under six months for every single sleep.
Sleeping children need to stay within sight and hearing of staff, with frequent checks.
Once a baby's past six months, a monitor with sound and video can support supervision. But it doesn't replace those regular checks.
None of this works without the right staffing behind it.
Rotas, breaks and handovers all need to support these arrangements, and everyone needs to know who's responsible, how to raise a concern, and what to do if things go wrong.
No checklist, however good, replaces a person actually watching and responding to a child.
The new equipment rules are a good starting point, but they're not the whole picture.
A genuinely safer sleep environment comes down to the details: what's in the cot, what's within reach, what's overhead, how well the room is maintained, and who's watching.
Those details need to live in everyday practice - not just in a policy folder that gets dusted off for inspections.
Want to make your sleep-area risk assessments and checks easier to manage day to day?
Book a demo with Tudu to see how digital risk assessments, checklists and issue reporting can support your team.
Your questions answered
How can Tudu help with safer sleep?
Tudu brings your risk assessment, your daily checks and your issue reporting into one place, so safer sleep isn't just a policy sitting in a folder - it's something your team actively works through every day. It won't tell you what "safe" looks like in your setting (that's still down to your own judgement and current guidance), but it makes sure the checks you've agreed on actually happen, get recorded, and get followed up when something's wrong.
How can I set up digital risk assessments in Tudu?
You build a risk assessment for each sleep room, covering things like equipment, layout, overhead storage, temperature, hygiene and supervision - then attach the checks that go with it, like pre-use checks or routine hygiene checks. Once it's set up, your team works through it on a phone or tablet in the room itself, rather than referring back to a paper policy. If you're not sure where to start, book a demo and we'll walk through setting up your first sleep-room assessment together.
What happens if a check flags a problem - like a damaged mattress or a faulty radiator?
That's exactly what issue reporting is for. Whoever spots the problem logs it in Tudu there and then, along with whatever immediate action they took (like moving a baby to another cot or stopping use of that space). It's then visible to managers to follow up and close out - so nothing gets forgotten, and you've got a clear record of what happened and when.
Can Tudu replace staff supervision?
No, and it's not trying to. No app replaces a member of staff watching and responding to a sleeping child - that's still the heart of safer sleep. What Tudu supports is everything around that: making sure the environment, equipment and routines are consistently right, so your team's attention stays where it matters most.
Guidance checked on 17 September 2026. This article offers general information and practical suggestions for your risk assessment - it isn't an exhaustive safer sleep procedure. Always follow current guidance, manufacturer instructions and any child-specific clinical advice.
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