Childcare sleep and rest requirements: regulations 84A to 84D, the policy, the risk assessment and the checks

Last reviewed: 29 October 2026. Checked against the Education and Care Services National Regulations, reprint current as at 12 August 2026.

Sleep is the part of the day with the highest consequence for the fewest educators present. The 2023 amendments turned what had been a single regulation into a policy standard, a mandatory annual risk assessment and a bassinet ban, and regulators have treated sleep records as a priority since. This page sets out each regulation, what the policy has to contain, what the risk assessment must consider, what current safe sleeping guidance expects, and the records an officer asks for.

Regulation 84A: the duty

Reasonable steps to ensure the sleep and rest needs of children are met, having regard to the ages, developmental stages and individual needs of the children. The duty sits on the approved provider (84A(1)), the nominated supervisor (84A(2)) and each family day care educator (84A(3)) separately, each with a $3,300 penalty, and a compliance direction may be issued. Individual needs is the phrase regulators rely on: a blanket rest time where every child lies on a mat for an hour regardless of need is the classic finding.

Regulation 84B: what the sleep and rest policy must address

1. How children will be protected from any risks identified in the regulation 84C risk assessment.
2. How the sleep and rest needs of children are met, including how ages, developmental stages and individual needs are considered.
3. How the health care needs of individual children are met.
4. How requests from families about a child’s sleep and rest and cultural preferences are considered.
5. Supervision and monitoring during sleep and rest, including the method and frequency of checking the safety, health and wellbeing of children, and the documentation of sleep and rest periods.
6. How the service’s practices are consistent with current health guidelines on best practice for safe sleep.
7. The induction, training and knowledge of staff in relation to best practice for children’s sleep and rest.
8. The location and arrangement of sleep and rest areas and how this meets children’s needs.
9. Safety and suitability of cots, bedding and bedding equipment for the ages and stages of the children using them.
10. Management of potential hazards in sleep and rest areas and on a child during sleep (clothing, cords, teething necklaces, dummies on chains).
11. Management of the physical safety and suitability of sleep environments, including temperature, lighting and ventilation.
12. For family day care providing overnight care, management of the risks of overnight care at each residence or venue.

Regulation 84C: the annual risk assessment

Conducted at least every 12 months and as soon as practicable after becoming aware of any circumstance that may affect children’s safety, health or wellbeing during sleep (penalty $6,600). It must consider: the number, ages and developmental stages of the children; their sleep and rest needs including health needs, cultural preferences and family requests; the suitability of staffing arrangements to supervise and monitor sleep; the knowledge and training of the staff who supervise sleep; the location of sleep areas and the arrangement of cots and beds; the safety and suitability of cots, beds and bedding; hazards in sleep areas and on the child; the physical environment including temperature, lighting and ventilation; and, for overnight family day care, the risks of overnight care. The policy must be updated as soon as practicable afterwards (84C(3)) and a record of each assessment kept (84C(4)). See the risk assessment guide for a structure.

Regulation 84D: no bassinets

A bassinet must not be on the premises at any time children are being educated and cared for, whether the service is centre-based or family day care, with the duty on the approved provider, the nominated supervisor and the family day care educator (penalty $6,600 each). The reason is the bassinet’s depth and side structure, which do not meet the cot standard. Cots must comply with the Australian standard for household cots (AS/NZS 2172) and portable cots with AS/NZS 2195, which Red Nose and regulators treat as the benchmark for safety and suitability under 84B(i).

What current safe sleeping guidance expects

Regulation 84B(f) requires consistency with current health guidelines. In Australia that is Red Nose’s safe sleeping recommendations, which regulators and ACECQA refer to. The practices assessors look for:

• Babies placed on their back to sleep, from birth, every sleep, and left on their back if they roll themselves.
• Head and face uncovered: no doonas, pillows, cot bumpers, soft toys or lambswool in a cot for children under 12 months; sleeping bags with fitted neck and armholes and no hood.
• A safe cot, a firm flat mattress that fits, and nothing that could cover the face or trap the child.
• No sleeping in prams, car seats, bouncers, swings or rockers; a child who falls asleep in one is moved to a cot or mattress.
• Smoke-free environment.
• Physical checks of sleeping children at the frequency the policy sets, with the child’s breathing, colour and position observed, not a glance through a window.
• Direct supervision of sleeping infants where the risk assessment says so, and a sleep room educator who is counted as working directly with children only while present and engaged (regulation 122).

The records an authorised officer asks for

• The sleep and rest policy with the twelve 84B matters, the date it was last reviewed against the risk assessment.
• The regulation 84C risk assessment within the last 12 months and the record that the policy was updated afterwards.
• Sleep check records showing the time of each check, who did it and what was observed, for the day of the visit and sample days; records with identical intervals filled in at the end of the session are the common finding.
• Family requests about sleep and how they were handled, including a written request for a practice that departs from the guidelines and the service’s documented response.
• Staff induction and training records on safe sleep (84B(g)).
• What they see: cot condition and labelling, what is in the cot, how the room is arranged for sightlines, temperature and ventilation, and whether checks happen at the stated interval during the visit.

Where sleep practice goes wrong

• A policy that states checks every 10 minutes and a room where the educator steps out to help with lunch.
• A family’s request for a baby to sleep on their front or with a blanket followed without a documented risk assessment and medical advice.
• Cots pushed together so an educator cannot reach every child, or a cot with a missing slat.
• Preschool children required to lie on mats for the whole rest period with no quiet alternative, which is the 84A individual-needs finding.
• A sleep room so dark that colour and breathing cannot be observed on a check.

Frequently asked questions

This page is a research summary, not legal or compliance advice. Element and regulation wording is reproduced from the current reprint of the National Regulations; confirm the position with your regulatory authority before relying on it for a compliance decision.