Getting specialist help
The three NHS tiers, the organisations that help, and what you are entitled to.
The short version
- You can ask for a carer's assessment at any time, in every UK nation. You do not need permission, or to be at breaking point.
- Councils must provide short breaks, including sitting services at home and overnight short breaks. An overnight break is a service, not a favour.
- Start at tier one: health visitor, 0 to 19 team or school nurse. You can usually self-refer. Tiers two and three need a professional referral.
- Freephone: Cerebra's sleep advice service 0800 328 1159, and Contact, for families with disabled children, 0808 808 3555, self-referral, ages 0 to 25.
- Sleep practitioner is not a protected title. There is no UK register, so ask anyone you pay privately what training they hold.
The rest of this page explains where this comes from. You do not have to read it tonight.
About 3 minutes to read
Specialist help
| Tier | Who | How you get there |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Health visitor, 0 to 19 team, school nurse | You can usually refer yourself. Start here. |
| Tier 2 | Community paediatrics, CAMHS sleep clinic | A professional has to refer you. |
| Tier 3 | Specialist sleep medicine, such as the Sheffield Children's Sleep Service or the Great Ormond Street respiratory sleep unit | Professional referral only. Great Ormond Street: "We do not accept referrals directly from families." |
"Sleep practitioner" is not a protected title
There is no statutory register of sleep practitioners or sleep counsellors in the UK, and no national directory. Ask your health visitor, school nurse or paediatrician whether the local service has one, check your council's SEND Local Offer (those listings go out of date), or apply to the organisations below. If you are paying someone privately, ask what training they hold.
Cerebra Sleep Advice Service
Freephone. Also 01267 244200, charged at your normal rate, and sleep@cerebra.org.uk
Guides free You or a professional can refer. Needs a referral form and two weeks of sleep diaries, and there is a waiting list. The cost of the one-to-one service is not stated on their site, so ask.
The Sleep Charity: National Sleep Helpline
Monday to Thursday 9am to 11am, and Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 7pm to 9pm. Closed bank holidays. An 03 number is charged like a landline call, not free.
Ages 12 months and over; under 12 months they point you to Cry-sis. Free SEND advice sheets. Their free one-to-one services are commissioned only in Doncaster, North Yorkshire and Barnsley.
Sleep Action (Scotland)
No phone line. Email sleepsupport@sleepaction.org, or see sleepaction.org
Free Scotland only, ages 18 months to 18 years. "We do not require a referral." Under 18 months they refer on to BASIS. They do not use cry-it-out approaches.
Contact, for families with disabled children
Monday to Friday 9.30am to 5pm, opening at 10.15am on Tuesdays. Freephone.
Free Self-referral, UK-wide, ages 0 to 25. Sleep is explicitly within the helpline's scope, and they also advise on benefits.
What you are entitled to
- A carer's assessment Contact states it clearly: "All parent carers in all the UK nations have a right to ask for an assessment of their needs at any time." You do not need permission, and you do not need to be at breaking point.
- Short breaks Councils must provide short breaks and publish what is available, including sitting services in your own home and overnight short breaks, with direct payments so you can arrange support yourself. If you are parenting alone, this is the most important line on the page: an overnight break is the only realistic way to get a full night's sleep, and it is a service, not a favour.
- Disability Living Allowance and night-time care Night is normally taken as about 11pm to 7am. The middle rate of the care component needs either prolonged help, meaning at least 20 minutes, or repeated help, meaning at least twice, or supervision at frequent intervals, meaning more than twice. The highest rate requires both daytime and night-time care needs.
- Use the sleep diary twice The diary you are keeping for the clinician is also evidence for a claim: it records how often you got up, what you did and how long it took, which is exactly what the night-time condition asks about. Keep copies.
- Check which benefit applies where you live Disability Living Allowance for children applies in England and Wales, Northern Ireland runs its own version, and Scotland has replaced it with Child Disability Payment.
Equipment grants exist too. Newlife funds equipment including beds for postural or medical need, but a nominated professional must support the application and funding is not guaranteed. Family Fund covers beds and bedding subject to an income test and a support-needs test. Both change their criteria, so check first. And our looking after you page is about your own sleep, which is not an afterthought either.
Where this comes from
- Cerebra, Sleep: A Guide for Parents (version 4, October 2025), the five-pathway model, assessment, sequencing, timescales, rewards rule and quotes.
- Cerebra, Sensory Processing: A Guide for Parents (2024), sensory prevalence, the UK diagnosis position, evidence limits and the avoidance point. Also Cerebra, Pain: A Guide for Parents.
- NICE CG170, autism in under 19s, the assessment list, the snoring and breathing referral, the two-week record and the conditions on medication.
- NICE NG62, cerebral palsy in under 25s, causes of sleep disturbance, pain assessment, the order of management and sleep positioning systems. Plain-English version: pain, discomfort, distress and disturbed sleep.
- NICE CG145, spasticity in under 19s, 24-hour postural management, overnight orthoses, and the equipment and training entitlements. NICE NG1 on reflux and neurodisability.
- The Paediatric Pain Profile, a free tool for assessing pain in a child who cannot describe it.
- National Autistic Society, sleep guidance for parents, the sensory audit, social stories, visual timetables and causes.
- Horwood et al. 2019, Sleep Health; Nadeem et al. 2025, Sleep Medicine; Newman, O'Regan and Hensey 2006, DMCN, prevalence in cerebral palsy and the visual impairment association.
- Scott et al. 2013 (ALSPAC), UK sleep data for children with ADHD. Review of sleep-disordered breathing in neurodisability, atypical presentation.
- Down's Syndrome Medical Interest Group sleep pages (updated November 2024) and the Down's Syndrome Association, for prevalence, mechanism, screening advice and the line about being taken seriously. Hill et al. 2016, Sleep Medicine, UK study of 188 children. British Thoracic Society 2023 guideline, on oximetry and questionnaires.
- Blake et al., Cochrane review of sleep positioning systems (2015).
- NHS Borders weighted blanket guidance and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust advice on weighted products, the two services that disagree. Lullaby Trust clear-cot advice for babies under 12 months.
- NHS, about melatonin; PrescQIPP bulletin 318; Medicines for Children, melatonin for sleep disorders. British National Formulary for Children, for ADHD medication side effects and rebound. NICE NG87 for ADHD review requirements.
- Scope, keeping a sleep diary. Contact, Disability Living Allowance, night-time care conditions and carer's assessment rights.
- Sheffield Children's Sleep Service and the Great Ormond Street respiratory sleep unit, for how tier 3 referrals work. Newlife equipment grants and Family Fund eligibility.
Last checked 1 August 2026. This page is general information, not medical advice. If you are worried about your child, speak to your health visitor or GP.