UK Baby Safety Charity and MP Urge Health Secretary to Regulate Infant Sleep Industry

Britain's leading baby-safety charity and a Liberal Democrat MP have written to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, calling for urgent action to regulate the infant-sleep industry after a BBC investigation.

In the letter, the Lullaby Trust and MP Tom Morrison urge Streeting to ensure no more babies' lives are put at risk due to unregulated and bogus sleep advice.

Last week, an undercover BBC report showed self-described sleep experts giving new parents advice that contradicts long-established NHS safer sleep guidelines.

Streeting said dangerous misinformation dressed up as expert advice must stop and that parents should only rely on trusted, evidence-based information like the NHS Best Start in Life website.

The Department for Health and Social Care announced in March that the law would change to limit who can call themselves a nurse. This bars hands-on workers such as night nannies from operating as maternity nurses.

An inquest into the death of football manager Steve Bruce's four-month-old grandson found Madison Bruce Smith died after being placed to sleep on his front by someone calling herself a maternity nurse.

Many, including the Bruce Smith family, call for greater changes by the Department for Health and Social Care and urgent regulation for anyone working with infants.

No oversight exists in the industry. Anyone can call themselves a baby-sleep expert or consultant, regardless of experience or qualifications.

This allows people to sell parents advice that raises babies' risk of harm, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, without consequence.

In their first statement since the inquest, Madison Bruce Smith's family told the BBC no parent should question whether the person they trusted to care for their baby is truly qualified. Clear standards and accountability are essential because so many children's lives depend on it.

The family wants all paid care for babies and infants properly regulated with mandatory training and strict adherence to national safer-sleep guidelines.

Morrison, MP for Cheadle, echoed these calls in his letter to Streeting. He wrote: I must ask what more can be done to legislate to prevent life-threatening advice being given to parents when they search for help in the vulnerable early days of parenthood.

The letter states that following an alarming BBC investigation, government regulation is urgently needed to stop individuals from giving parents sleep advice contrary to NHS and real expert guidance.

Secret filming exposed two prominent infant-sleep figures giving advice that medical professionals say could put babies at risk of serious harm or death. Both have published books, celebrity endorsements and tens of thousands of social media followers. Their publisher, Penguin, did not respond to BBC requests for comment.

NHS clinicians felt sick and horrified by the findings.

Medical professionals, researchers and families of babies who died under unsafe sleeping positions back calls to regulate the sector.

The Lullaby Trust says anyone advising on infant sleep or placing babies to sleep should meet clear standards, at minimum following NHS advice without a medical qualification.

Families reported poor experiences with self-described sleep experts and found no official place to register concerns.

First-time mother Emily Aston used a self-described sleep expert for her four-month-old son. She did not know where to report advice against safer sleep guidelines. It felt like she needed to be stopped and there was nothing to report her to, Aston said. The vulnerability of new parents is the main reason for regulation.

NHS midwife and certified lactation consultant Olivia Hinge reviewed undercover consultations with sleep experts. She said such support appeals to new mothers because it offers what the NHS often lacks: someone listening and discussing feeding alongside sleeping. It feels like real attention to them and their baby.

But Hinge cautioned that the support gap should not be filled by unsafe advice or unqualified people. Children are society's most vulnerable and we have a duty to protect them. We need regulation and consistent public health messages.

Morrison's letter highlighted nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan, who suffocated at her nursery after tight swaddling, strapping to a beanbag and being left unattended for 90 minutes. Her parents, Katie Wheeler and John Meehan, launched Campaign for Gigi for stronger early-years safeguards.

Last month, the Department for Education published updated safer-sleep guidance for early-years providers with the Lullaby Trust. It becomes statutory in September 2026 due to Wheeler and Meehan's campaigning.

But Morrison called it a time-critical mission to regulate safer-sleep advice. Although the government cracks down on improper nurse titles, it does nothing if someone switches to sleep consultant and gives bogus advice the next day, he said.

A department statement said: We are taking decisive action to crack down on unqualified individuals masquerading as professionals, making it a criminal offence to misuse the title nurse.