Sleeping Baby

[JoanneP]

Just wondered what other peoples arrangements are for children sleeping. I have a 11 mth little girl starting soon , I have a travel cot that I can put up in the living room which doesn't really take up too much space but my daughter that is just over 1yr sleeps on the sofa at the moment through the day.

I have had a look through the EYFS and cant seem to find any definite guidelines as I am new to childminding just wonderd if anyone know what Ofsteds says on the matter.

Thankyou.

[sue m]

Hi Joanne, if the baby will sleep in the travel cot in the lounge that's fine. I asked for my back bedroom to be registered and have my travel cot up there. My lo is 15 months and she's slept up there since she started 3 months ago. You can use a baby monitor to listen out for her too.

[sarah707]

The Eyfs says babies / children should be provided with places where they can rest and/or sleep safely without disturbance...

Sofas are not considered safe because of the risk of suffocation between the cushions - I know you are not thinking about this for the mindee but it's always worth pointing it out...

'Without disturbance' is a tricky one for a lot of people... if you put them upstairs, you are traipsing up and down every 15 mins or so to check on them, then you have to risk assess what to do with other children... and if you keep them downstairs there's a risk of other children disturbing them...

The front room with a slightly ajar door and a baby monitor is ideal... just check baby is ok every 15 mins...

Also discuss with parents what they want to happen if their child falls asleep in teh buggy or wants to sleep just before a school collection ... do you leave them in buggy or take them out...? Get signed permission from parents if they are happy for you to leave or sleep their child in a buggy :D

[danast]

so can you 2-3 yrs old sleep on the sofa??
I have one sleeping in a travel cot and one sleeps on my leather sofa.I give him small cusion and blanket and he loves it.
His parents are ok about it .
I am registered for upastairs but i do not use it so i want to cancel upstairs.
And if i have one sleeping in the living room and the other one not then he plays quietly with me on the floor.
They need quiet play and babies learn to sleep with noise.
Am i doing it wrong??

[singlewiththree]

I read somewhere, probably on my course, that a sofa wasnt safe they could suffocate or roll off even if there was a cushion and that it should only be somewhere flat. But saying that my childminder used to with my permission let me daughter fall asleep on the sofa, she was very difficult to get to sleep so used to fall asleep watching cbeebies.

Jurys out in my house on this one so will be interested in the replies.
Paula

[madasahatter]

You've got to go with what works for you, the child and the parents. If the child (and parents) is happy sleeping on the sofa and you are monitoring them and have removed any hazards then I can't see a problem (I put cushions on the carpet so that in the off chance that they do roll off they have a soft landing-never happened though in 11 years). Currently I have one child who would only ever go to sleep upstairs in the travel cot for 15 mins max. They would be grumpy and miserable because they needed more sleep. I discovered they were happiest sleeping in a car seat (keep an old one just for this now) and would sleep for 1 to 1.5 hours waking refreshed and happy. Sleeping arrangements were discussed with parents and we came to an arrangement that worked for everyone. Now he rarely has a sleep, but if he is tired he will ask for his carseat. Another child would only go to sleep in the pushchair....no problem, pushchair in hall, carseat in lounge, both asleep, me checking regularly and in the meantime writing up my obs and planning in the dining room with a nice cuppa and the odd hobnob ;)
The problem is always going to be when you have got a mix of children where one needs a sleep and the others don't and you've got to find some way of providing a quiet atmosphere for sleeping whilst still allowing the others to play.
I do always try to get children to sleep in the travelcot upstairs but it doesn't always work for a multitude of reasons. If you have problems you have to find a solution as a team, with the parents. I can't see any way Ofsted can complain about that.

[danast]

Cool that what was i thinking.
but do you know if i need parent permission for child to sleep on the sofa?
Because it seem to be you needed on everything else!

[sarah707]

Cool that what was i thinking.
but do you know if i need parent permission for child to sleep on the sofa?
Because it seem to be you needed on everything else!

I would say get permission for anywhere you let a child sleep...

Especially buggies (because I know this has been questioned in the past by inspectors)... sofas (because of the greatly increased risk of death if a child rolls and gets stuck)... and upstairs (to reassure parents you are checking on the child regularly)

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I use travel cots in my children's bedrooms until they are no longer safe (climbing out etc). They also go outside in the pushchair - rain or shine

My 2 year old sleeps on my bed

[marian]

As has been said earlier it all depends on the child - they are individuals and may all need different sleeping arrangments.
I have an 18 mth old who when tired will say '' buggy '' and be standing with her dummy and blankie ready for me to get the pushchair out ( it does lie totally flat mind you)
I have one child who will sleep in a travel cot on our 1/2 landing but the others like the sofa's
I think if you disscuss sleeping arangments with parents and get premission then you should be okay
Marian x

[Pudding Girl]

I have travel cot which no-one uses :rolleyes: 2yo and 3yo nap on sofa or cushions on floor and 6mo baby will nap just about anywhere BUT the flippin travel cot :rolleyes: