Updated medicine guidance to help reduce co-sleeping risks

An important update to national medicines guidance that will help more families receive potentially life-saving safer sleep advice.

Someone's hand holding a paper pharmacy bag containing a prescription.

We’re pleased to share that guidance on medicines that can cause drowsiness has been strengthened this week, to highlight the risks of co-sleeping while drowsy to parents and carers.

Parent holding her baby who is wearing a nappy, sitting on the floor talking to another lady, who is leaning on the cot.

Supporting safer sleep in pharmacies

The updated guidance means that when medicines that may cause drowsiness are dispensed, pharmacists are now encouraged to consider whether the person receiving the medication cares for a baby under 12 months. If they do, they can offer clear advice about safer sleep and the risks associated with co-sleeping in certain circumstances.

This includes new wording within standard cautionary guidance, which now advises that:

Patients who are parents or carers of babies aged up to 12 months should be counselled on the risks of co-sleeping (sleeping with a baby on a bed, sofa, chair, etc.) and directed to trusted safer sleep information.

Importantly, this guidance signposts families and carers to The Lullaby Trust for further information on safer sleep and co-sleeping.

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

Why this matters

We know that co-sleeping can be significantly more dangerous in certain situations, including when an adult has taken medication that causes drowsiness. These medicines can reduce awareness and responsiveness, increasing the risk of accidents and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

This update reflects growing evidence identified by Child Death Overview Panels (CDOPs) across the country, which highlighted cases where co-sleeping alongside drowsiness-inducing medication was a contributing risk factor.

This change creates more opportunities for families to receive consistent, evidence-based advice.

We are grateful to all of the organisations and teams involved in making this change possible. The British National Formulary (BNF), the British National Formulary for Children (BNFC), the National Child Mortality Database (NCMD), NHS England and Child Death Overview Panels (CDOPs) all over the country.

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.

Our advice to families

At The Lullaby Trust, we advise that the safest place for a baby to sleep is in their own clear, flat sleep space, such as a cot or Moses basket, in the same room as you for at least the first six months.

Learn ore about safer co-sleeping

Learn more

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.

Sleeping position

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.

Co-sleeping

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.

Baby is laying down smiling and giggling, grasping their hands together. They have light skin and wear a white babygrow.

Baby sleeping products

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.