Pokyny k obrázkům

Every time and everywhere we show images of sleeping babies, we have an opportunity to educate families on safer sleep practices. That’s why we’re here to support brands and the media on how to select images that encourage safer sleep, and ultimately save babies’ lives.

A baby lying on their back while a photographer kneels down beside them and takes a photo.

Na této stránce

Baby sleeping on their back on a firm, flat surface.

Choosing an appropriate image of safer sleep

At The Lullaby Trust, we empower parents, carers and professionals with trusted advice on baby safety, which includes our safer sleep advice. Parents and carers today are receiving more mixed messages than ever before, whether on social media, advertising, or product packaging. This webpage has been carefully curated to talk you through everything you need to know about choosing an appropriate image of safer sleep. Baby safety is everyone’s responsibility, and we want to support you in representing safer sleep.

Přehled bezpečnějšího spánku Guidance for the media

Why choosing the right image is important

Making the right choice for your images means you can feel confident that you are helping to keep babies safe. Taking your time with choosing an image at this stage could save you any unnecessary stresses of being urged to swap it urgently, further down the line.

If you were to choose an image contradicting safer sleep, such as one showing a baby sleeping on their front, this could normalise sleeping practices that increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or accident. We see for ourselves, and are notified often, of hundreds of images of babies sleeping that don’t portray safer sleep practices. Previous research conducted by The Lullaby Trust found that a third of media images of sleeping babies used in consumer magazines and online, didn’t follow safer sleep advice. This included some of the UK’s most popular parenting sites and titles.

You can help to ensure consistency of the safer sleep message across all media.

What is sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)?

A baby is sleeping with their arms either side of their head. They're wearing yellow, have light skin and a dummy in their mouth.

With your support, we can tip the balance towards safer baby imagery

Ultimately, with your support, we can save more babies’ lives, one photo at a time.

Proč existujeme

All images should portray safer sleep

Decades of research into baby sleep safety has contributed to our safer sleep guidance, which has helped to save the lives of 30,000 babies since our Back to Sleep campaign in 1991. Our safer sleep guidance centres around the ABCs of safer sleep:

Always sleep your baby on their back, in a clear cot or sleep space.

Images that reinforce this message are needed to make safer sleep practices more understood, and normalised. Selecting images that promote safer sleep should not affect your ability to choose an image that is perfect for promotion or advertising. We hope that it will in fact support your promotional activity, with safer sleep images helping to build trust with families who are aware of safer sleep practices.

Poloha při spánku

Baby sleeping on their back in a cot. A green tick in the top right corner.

Dos and don’ts of baby sleep images

Do show the baby

On their back
In the feet-to-foot position (with the baby’s feet at the bottom of the cot) if using a blanket
In their own cot, in the stejná místnost as an adult
With tucked-in (no higher than shoulders) lightweight bedding or a well-fitting baby sleep bag
If using an image of a baby b edsharing, have a cot/moses basket by the side of the adult bed for those times when it might not be suitable to bedshare. Adult blankets and pillows should be kept well away from baby, with no slatted or decorated headboards and no other children or pets in the bed.

Baby sleeping on front on mother's chest, not following safer sleep guidance. Red cross in the top right corner to signify this isn't a safer sleep position.

Don’t show the baby

On their front or side
Wearing anything on their head
Sharing a bed with an adult in a way that doesn’t follow our co-sleeping guidelines
On a sofa with an adult
With loose or excess bedding
With a pillow in the cot
With anything hung over the side of the cot or Moses basket
With toys in the cot
In a cot with bumpers
In a car seat nebo buggy (unless it is lie-flat)
In a beanbag, bouncer or hammock
On a soft, plush surface
Together with a sibling unless they are co-bedding following our guidance
Together with a pet
In a smoky environment or near a smoker
In direct sunlight
Overwrapped in too much bedding/layers
In a cot positioned near blind cords

Tummy time

We encourage parents and carers to give their baby supervised ‘tummy time’ when nay’re awake throughout the day. This helps babies to strengthen their upper body muscles and learn how to roll. It is fine to use images of babies laying on their front if they are awake. It’s also fine to use images of babies lying on their parent on a sofa or armchair as long as they are upright and not lying down, and the parent is not asleep or sleepy.

Read safer sleep advice in full

Thank you

Whether you’re familiar with safer sleep guidance, or this is all new to you, thank you for taking the time to learn. By reading this webpage, you are giving families a safer start to life.

Každé dítě je v bezpečí. Každá rodina má podporu.

Got questions?

The Lullaby Trust would be happy to advise you about the use of baby safer sleep images. Please contact [email protected].

Learn more

Illustration of a man, woman and baby sleeping. The man and woman are both facing in the direction of the baby, who is sleeping next to mum. The baby is sleeping on the mattress, with no bedding covering them and no pillow beneath their head.

Společné spaní

Some parents choose to share a bed with their babies, while others sometimes fall asleep with their baby without meaning to. Sleeping together with your baby is known as co-sleeping.

A baby sleeping safely on their back in an empty cot. They have one arm by their head, and another on their stomach. They are wearing a blue, polka-dot baby-grow.

Poloha při spánku

The best baby sleep position is on their back. Put your baby on their back for every sleep, day or night, as this is the safest way for them to sleep.

Výrobky na spaní pro děti

With so many baby sleeping products on the market it can be hard to know what to choose, so use these guidelines to help you choose safer sleep products for your baby.

Camera on a tripod is filming a subject who is talking in the background to an interviewer out of screen.

Tiskové a mediální centrum

The Lullaby Trust is here to keep babies safe and keep grieving families supported. Being involved in the media helps us do this.