There is growing discussion about sleep consultant training, qualifications, accreditation and regulation within the baby sleep industry. And rightly so.
At Little Dreams Consulting, we fully support the drive to raise professional standards and ensure sleep consultants are properly trained, competent and supported.
But one question we are sometimes asked is: Why isn’t the Little Dreams Sleep Consultant Training Course OCN Level 6 accredited?
We believe in being open and transparent, so let’s explain.
Is Little Dreams Sleep Consultant Training OCN Level 6 Accredited?
We explored OCN accreditation for our Sleep Consultant Training Course, but ultimately, it wasn’t financially viable for OCN to support the programme.
Introducing and accrediting a new programme requires significant investment, resources and ongoing commitment from an awarding organisation. Because we deliberately train relatively small numbers of sleep consultants each year, OCN explained that the numbers didn’t make commercial sense for them.
We completely understand and respect that decision. OCN is a business too, and it has to make decisions that work commercially.
However, this raises a much bigger question about how we assess quality and standards within the sleep consulting industry.
What does accreditation mean for sleep consultant training?
Accreditation provides external recognition that a training programme meets specified standards and requirements.
We recognise the value of external accreditation and believe that robust assessment of training is important.
However, we also believe that the quality of a sleep consultant training programme should be considered more broadly.
How comprehensive is the training? How are students assessed? What practical knowledge do they develop? What happens when they start working with families? And, importantly, what support is available once they qualify?
A certificate alone cannot tell the whole story.
Is sleep consultant training regulated?
Accreditation and regulation are two separate things.
Accreditation relates to the recognition and assessment of a particular course or qualification. Regulation is about establishing and maintaining standards across a profession or industry, including competence, professional conduct, accountability and ongoing development.
We fully support meaningful regulation within the sleep consulting industry.
We believe sleep consultants should be:
- Properly trained and equipped with the right knowledge, including safer sleep training.
- Competent and confident in supporting families.
- Given appropriate ongoing professional development.
- Supported through mentoring and supervision.
- Held accountable to high professional and ethical standards.
If we are serious about raising standards, there needs to be an appropriate framework that assesses not just the training itself, but the support and professional development that underpin it.
Little Dreams purposely keeps its training cohorts small!
At Little Dreams, we have never wanted to be a training provider focused on numbers.
Our cohorts are intentionally small because we believe the quality of training and support matters far more than how many consultants we qualify each year.
We want to know our consultants, understand their individual development needs and give them the time and attention they deserve.
Our approach is about much more than delivering a course, assessing assignments and issuing a certificate.
We want to:
- Build genuine relationships with our sleep consultants.
- Develop real competence, knowledge and confidence.
- Provide high-level training and ongoing professional development.
- Offer meaningful mentoring as consultants begin working with families.
- Be there to guide, support and work through challenges as they arise.
We believe the responsibility of a training provider shouldn’t end when a student completes their course. In many ways, that’s when the real learning begins.
Supporting consultants as they put their knowledge into practice, navigate complex family situations and develop their professional judgement is an incredibly important part of what we do.
This level of support takes time, commitment and investment. It’s also why we deliberately keep our numbers manageable.
We wouldn’t want to compromise that simply to train more people.
What should we look for in a good sleep consultant training course?
We believe anyone considering becoming a baby sleep consultant should look beyond the qualification or accreditation attached to a course, although we are the only UK course approved by the APSC.
Some important questions to ask a training provider include:
- How comprehensive is the training?
- How is knowledge and competence assessed?
- What practical experience or case-based learning is included?
- Is ongoing mentoring available after qualification?
- What happens when a consultant encounters a challenging family situation?
- Is there continued professional development?
- What professional and ethical standards are expected?
These questions help establish what a training provider offers beyond the initial qualification.
What does the future of sleep consultant regulation look like?
We want to see an industry where families can have confidence in the people they turn to for support, consultants are properly equipped to do their jobs, and training providers are held to meaningful standards.
But we also need an accreditation and regulatory framework that recognises quality in all its forms.
Ultimately, this isn’t just about whether a course carries a particular accreditation. It’s about what sits behind it. How thoroughly are consultants trained? What support do they receive? How is their competence developed? And who is there to guide them when they’re working with real families?
These are the questions we believe should be at the heart of any conversation about regulation.
At Little Dreams, we remain passionate about raising standards, protecting families and developing a network of highly skilled, confident and supported sleep consultants.
We want to see the whole industry move forward together.
If you’d like to discover what makes our award-winning, evidence-based franchise different, download our prospectus or get in touch to chat to us. We’d love to talk you through how we can help you build a business that’s designed for long-term success.
