{"id":20130,"date":"2026-07-09T10:08:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T09:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/?p=20130"},"modified":"2026-07-09T11:29:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T10:29:57","slug":"dfe-safer-sleep-updated-statement-on-floor-beds-and-coracles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/dfe-safer-sleep-updated-statement-on-floor-beds-and-coracles\/","title":{"rendered":"DfE safer sleep updated statement on floor beds and coracles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Minister Bailey sent a letter in March 2026 setting out proposed revised safer sleep requirements in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2\" rel=\"noopener\">Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework<\/a>. This included the requirement for early years providers that babies aged 12 months and under must only be placed to sleep in a cot. Following this, the Department received numerous requests for guidance from the sector in relation to floor beds, which include coracles and sleep pods, with rigid or semi rigid sides.<\/p>\n<p>The Department has sought expert advice from a safe sleep academic in order to provide guidance to settings. Taking this advice into account, the Department recommends that floor beds for children are only used by early years providers for babies aged over 12 months. This is due to safety concerns associated with babies aged up to 12 months.<\/p>\n<p>The risks presented by beds with partially lowered sides have been highlighted in a prevention of future deaths report related to a bedside sleeper crib where a child suffocated after getting caught on the partially lowered side. The Department has been advised that the lack of coordination and torso strength in babies under 12 months could mean they get caught on the side if they squirmed or\u00a0attempted\u00a0to get out of a bed with a partially lowered side.<\/p>\n<p>We must ensure that the safety of our youngest children is put first. A cot, carry cot, moses basket or travel cot that\u00a0fully\u00a0meets British Safety Standards\u00a0and is used\u00a0in accordance with\u00a0the manufacturer\u2019s instructions\u00a0is the safest place for a baby aged 12 months and under to sleep\u00a0in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>See guidance from the Department for Education on safer sleep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":649,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-updates"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-21 14:27:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/649"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20130"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20147,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20130\/revisions\/20147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/eycs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}