This Safer Sleep Week, we’re warning against misleading marketing

Safer Sleep Week is our national awareness campaign, targeting anyone looking after a young baby. We raise awareness of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and the simple advice that reduces the risk of it occurring. Since our Back to Sleep campaign in 1991, almost 32,000 babies’ lives have been saved by safer sleep advice.

New research released today shows that while 95% of parents and carers say they feel confident about baby sleep safety, just 5% were able to correctly identify all safer sleep setups when shown a range of different sleep environments and products. Despite this high confidence, 51% of parents and carers say their baby sleeps in at least one product that goes against safer sleep guidance, including swings, bouncy chairs, pods or nests.

The survey of 1,000 UK parents found that items that don’t follow safer sleep guidelines are present in the vast majority of baby sleep spaces. Nine in ten parents report including items such as teddy bears, cuddly toys, a blanket or throw on top of the mattress, pillows, cot bumpers and sleep positioners. Many parents believe these items are comforting or harmless, highlighting how easily unsafe practices can become normalised through clever marketing. 

The research also points to the influence of marketing on parental decision-making. More than half of parents say they use products that are unsuitable for sleep, many of which are promoted using reassuring language such as “comforting” or “breathable”. These descriptions can give parents a false sense of security, even when products do not align with safer sleep guidance. 

This year’s campaign focuses on the “baby necessities”, helping families cut through confusion by understanding which items are genuinely needed for safer sleep and which products can be safely left on the shelf. The campaign also aims to reassure parents that creating a safer sleep space does not require lots of products or expensive equipment.