Newborn & Infant Sleep Certificate - Level 3

Your starting point: how the course works, and where to get support.

Your map for the course: what each module covers and how long it takes.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

When a parent asks about sleeping through, find out what they mean and what they need before you offer an answer.

What responsive care really means, why babies wake for many reasons, and the five things you can offer a family.

Where you fit alongside other professionals, working within your competence, and the SETTLE framework for thinking a situation through.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

Sleep matters, but frequent waking is not automatically a problem. Look at the baby, their feeding and health, and the adults too.

Two systems shape when a baby is ready to sleep: sleep pressure and the body clock. They give you a framework, not a timetable.

Newborn sleep can be noisy and busy. A stir is not a waking, and a 40 minute nap does not prove a baby failed to link sleep cycles.

Tired cues are not specific and wake windows are not deadlines. Use both alongside everything else you know about the baby.

The broad direction of sleep development across the first year, why it is not a straight line, and when a change needs a closer look.

Regressions, "sleep breeds sleep", bad habits, never waking a sleeping baby: the useful idea in each, and where it is stretched.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

Two principles for this module: safer sleep is part of your professional standard, and fear is not the tool. Then what SIDS means.

On their back, in their own firm, flat, clear sleep space, in the same room as you. The one picture to remember from this module.

What the evidence says about breastfeeding and SIDS, and how to plan room sharing before your first night, not at midnight.

Nests, swings, car seats, slings and monitors: how to tell useful awake equipment from a safe place to sleep, and what to offer instead.

Bedsharing is not one single thing. What the research does and does not tell us, and how to ask families what really happens at night.

How to raise safer sleep as a guest in a family's home: before the first sleep, kindly, clearly, and without turning it into a debate.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

There is no single technique that works for every baby. Four principles to help you choose what to offer, and when.

Before changing how a baby is settled, look at light, temperature, sound, feeding and the shape of the day. One small change at a time.

Sleep shaping means ordinary, everyday care that supports a baby's developing rhythm. It is not a programme for sleeping through.

A repertoire of soothing options, from quiet presence to holding and movement, plus seated settling and its safety limits.

Pair a familiar settling experience with one or two comforting cues, so the baby has more than one recognisable way into sleep.

When a family asks for a change, start with their goal, add a familiar cue, and keep the original comfort available.

When a family says something has to change, understand the difficulty first. A settling technique is only one possible answer.

Why babies often wake on the way into the cot, how to make the transfer gentler, and when a contact nap is the workable option.

Responding at night when you are unsure about a feed, thinking through early waking, and why this course does not teach cry-based methods.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

Formula, feeding to sleep and comfort feeding: what the evidence says, and how to answer the 3am formula question kindly.

Night feeding is normal. How to agree a feeding plan before your shift, and why night weaning is an individual feeding decision.

Milk production responds to milk removal. How to support a family's overnight plan without undermining the breastfeeding they want.

Watching cues, inviting the teat, slowing the flow and respecting fullness: how to give a calm, responsive bottle feed overnight.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

What sleep hygiene means for babies, what a bedtime routine is for, and why simple and repeatable is better than perfect.

How a routine grows with the baby: familiar cues, a wider settling repertoire, small choices, a gentle wind down and screens.

Bedtime happens between two people. How to ease the pressure on parents, and how to change a routine they can no longer keep up.

How long settling usually takes, how to tell a baby is asleep before a transfer, and the wider sleep hygiene around it.

Bedtime in real homes: siblings, small spaces, working parents and culture, and how to leave a routine the family can keep.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

What naps actually do, why averages are not prescriptions, and how to tell whether a baby is getting enough daytime sleep.

Wake windows are descriptions, not biological appointments. How to use timing, cues and small experiments without worshipping the chart.

Short naps, extending naps, contact naps, capping naps and false starts: what to look at, and how to keep contact naps safe.

The direction of nap development is predictable; the timetable is not. How to recognise a nap transition and let it happen gradually.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

Development changes the context for sleep, but it is one lens, not the answer to every change. Three questions to ask when sleep changes.

Birth to around six months: rough landmarks not deadlines, drooling versus teething, more waking, and what to pass on to the family.

Separation anxiety, honest goodbyes, comfort objects and new skills in the cot: sleep in the second half of the first year.

A short look beyond the first year: moving from two naps to one, growing independence, separation, and when to look more closely.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

What attachment is, why a clingy baby is seeking safety rather than manipulating anyone, and why babies can attach to more than one carer.

The difference between bonding and attachment, why there is no missed bonding window, and how to help parents read their baby.

Why babies need adults to help them calm, what the self-soothing research actually shows, and why we do not need to overstate the science.

Babies may become fond of you, and that is fine. How to build the family's confidence, and what to do if a parent does not feel bonded.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

Before trying to fix sleep, ask whether something else could be making this baby uncomfortable. Recognise, reassure, refer.

Most babies who bring milk up are well and growing. How to tell a happy spitter from a baby who needs a proper assessment.

Colic describes a pattern of crying in a healthy baby. You do not need a cure to help: support the baby and the exhausted adults.

Food allergy is real, but not every wakeful baby has one. What a convincing picture looks like, and why you never start elimination diets.

Tongue tie, head shape and noisy breathing: what to notice, what to pass on, and why good observation does not need a diagnosis.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

Illness, pain and teething can turn sleep upside down. Notice the change, look at the whole baby, and put comfort first.

When sleep can wait: the changes in alertness, breathing, colour, feeding and temperature that mean a baby needs medical help.

When a baby is poorly: do more if they need more, keep what comforts them, keep safer sleep, and pause any sleep changes.

After illness, sleep may not bounce back straight away. Check the child is truly better, see what is left, and change things gently.

Start here. What this module covers, and what you will be able to do by the end.

Knowing your limits is part of being good at your job: recognise, respond appropriately, and refer when it needs other expertise.

How to raise a concern: describe what you saw, stay calm, write it down, and stay involved after you refer.

Answer "Can you get my baby sleeping through?" again, then compare it with your first recording. What has changed?

For nannies: how this course transfers to long-term care, from seeing the long game to working well alongside parents.

Your Level 3 assignment: the four-family case study, the documents you need, and how to submit your work.

Complete your end of course feedback and evaluation.