RESEARCH BRIEFING- Government regulation of maternity nurses, nannies and the infant sleep industry

9 Jun

Regulation, Risk and Responsibility: What the Current Debate on Nannies, Maternity Nurses and Infant Sleep Advice Means for Safeguarding Practice

At RLB Safeguarding Ltd, we continue to monitor developments that sit at the intersection of childcare practice, professional regulation and safeguarding risk. Recent Parliamentary debate and research briefings have highlighted growing concern about the regulation of nannies, maternity nurses and individuals offering infant sleep advice, alongside wider questions about consistency, accountability and public protection within early years care.

This is not a new discussion, but it is one that is gaining urgency.

A changing landscape in early years and private childcare support

Families increasingly rely on a diverse range of privately arranged childcare and infant care support. This includes nannies, maternity nurses, sleep consultants and informal advisers who may operate outside of traditional regulated early years settings.

However, as highlighted in recent Commons Library research briefing CBP-10860, the regulatory landscape in England is complex and uneven. While Ofsted regulates certain childcare provision through the Early Years Register and Childcare Register, not all roles fall within the same statutory framework.

For example:

Childcare providers in formal settings are required to follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and meet safeguarding and welfare requirements
Some roles, such as nannies working in private households, may be registered only on a voluntary basis, or may not be required to register at all depending on circumstances

This creates a variable system of oversight, where children may receive care or advice from individuals who are not subject to consistent national qualification or regulatory requirements.

Concerns about safety, consistency and misinformation

The Parliamentary briefing and wider sector commentary reflect increasing concern about the consistency and safety of advice being provided to parents, particularly in relation to infant sleep practices.

Recent investigations have raised issues around:

Individuals presenting themselves as “experts” without regulated qualifications
Advice being given that does not align with established NHS safer sleep guidance
The potential for misinformation to spread quickly through online platforms and private networks

These concerns are particularly significant given the vulnerability of the infant population and the importance of consistent, evidence-based messaging around safer sleep and early care practices.

From a safeguarding perspective, inconsistent or inaccurate advice is not a neutral issue, it has the potential to create avoidable risk.

The question of regulation: where does responsibility sit?

The current debate, including recent Parliamentary consideration reflects a wider policy question: whether roles such as maternity nurses, nannies and infant sleep consultants should be more formally regulated.

At present, safeguarding responsibility is distributed across:

Statutory frameworks (such as Ofsted regulation and EYFS requirements)
Professional regulation in health and social care
Employment and consumer protection law
Voluntary codes of practice and sector-led standards

However, gaps remain where individuals operate outside regulated frameworks while still providing advice or care that directly impacts infant wellbeing.

This raises an important safeguarding consideration: when advice influences care decisions for babies and young children, should minimum standards always apply, regardless of job title or setting?

Safeguarding implications for practitioners and services

For safeguarding professionals and early years practitioners, this evolving landscape reinforces several key considerations:

1. Professional boundaries and clarity of role
Practitioners must remain clear about their own professional remit and how it interfaces with unregulated or semi-regulated roles in the wider system.

2. Critical engagement with external advice
Families may receive conflicting guidance from multiple sources. Professionals have a role in supporting families to understand and apply evidence-based advice consistently.

3. Escalation where risk is identified
Where unsafe sleep practices or harmful advice are identified, there is a clear safeguarding responsibility to respond appropriately, particularly where infants are at risk of significant harm.

4. The importance of multi-agency alignment
Consistency across health, early years and safeguarding partners remains essential to reducing confusion and ensuring clear messaging to families.

A system under pressure from complexity

The debate also highlights a broader systemic issue: the fragmentation of the early years and childcare landscape. As services diversify and more support is delivered privately or informally, the traditional boundaries of safeguarding systems are increasingly tested.

This creates a challenge for policymakers and practitioners alike:

How do we maintain flexibility and parental choice
While also ensuring consistent safeguarding standards and accountability?

Moving towards clarity and consistency

There is growing recognition across government and sector stakeholders that clearer standards, improved oversight and stronger public understanding may be needed to reduce risk and improve consistency.

This may include:

Strengthening expectations around training and qualification for specific roles
Improving public understanding of regulated vs unregulated provision
Enhancing consistency in safer sleep messaging and infant care guidance
Reviewing whether certain professional titles should carry protected status.

Conclusion

The current debate on the regulation of nannies, maternity nurses and infant sleep advisors reflects a wider and longstanding safeguarding challenge: how to ensure children are protected in an increasingly diverse and unregulated care landscape.

While policy direction continues to evolve, the safeguarding principles remain consistent, children’s welfare must come first, advice must be evidence-based, and roles that influence infant care should be subject to clear expectations and accountability.

At RLB Safeguarding Ltd, we continue to support organisations in navigating these complexities, strengthening safeguarding practice and ensuring that policy, practice and lived experience remain connected in ways that protect children and support families effectively.

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