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Ministry of Education New Zealand
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Important

New version effective 20 April 2026

This is the new version of the licensing criterion and associated guidance.

Criterion HS107 #

A procedure for monitoring children's sleep is displayed and implemented, and a record of children's sleep times is kept.

Documentation required (written or digital)#

  1. A procedure for monitoring children’s sleep. The procedure includes steps to ensure that children:  
    • do not have access to food or liquids while in bed; and
    • are checked for warmth, breathing, and general wellbeing at least every 5 to 10 minutes, or more frequently according to individual needs.
  2. A record of the time each child attending the service sleeps, and checks made by adults during that time.

Guidance#

How to show you are complying #

Your service must have a procedure for monitoring sleep.

This should explain what adults are responsible for when children sleep. It should say how adults check children’s warmth, breathing, and general wellbeing, and how often these checks are done. It should also outline situations where children need to be monitored more frequently.

This procedure must be displayed so all adults in the service providing education and care understand what to do, and parents know what to expect.

Recording keeping requirements

You must keep a record of each child’s sleep, and when adults checked them. These records must include:

  • the date
  • the names of all sleeping children
  • when each child went to sleep and woke up.

It’s useful to also record the name or signature of the adult who did each check.

Recording any relevant observations from sleep monitoring checks is not required. It can be helpful as reference points, especially if a child becomes unwell when sleeping or resting.

You can keep these records digitally or in writing – whatever works best for your service. Make sure they are easy to access when needed.

Keeping children safe when they sleep

Children should be safe while they sleep. This means some children will need to be monitored more frequently, depending on their age or individual health needs.

Children under the age of 1 are more at risk from sudden unexpected death of an infant (SUDI) than healthy older children. Sleep positioning is important.  

Advice on safe sleeping to reduce risk of SUDI is available on the Ministry of Health website.

SUDI – Ministry of Health