Our investigation also uncovered potentially harmful advice from Lisa Clegg, known online to her nearly 100,000 Instagram followers as the “Blissful Baby Expert”.
Our undercover reporter presented the same scenario that had been discussed with Scott-Wright.
Clegg charged £200 for an initial 50-minute phone call and a month of ongoing support via email and text messages.
Although she did not promote front sleeping and acknowledged her qualifications are not medical, she did advise other practices that go against NHS safer-sleep guidance.
She suggested placing a muslin and rolled-up towels in a newborn’s crib, saying any fabric should be kept “well away” from the baby’s face.
A “rolled-up” towel either side of the newborn’s waist “under her arms” while asleep, said Clegg, would make the baby “feel like she’s still squished” in the mother’s arms.
Later in the call Clegg mentioned them again: The towels will also “keep her in position as well, so she can’t roll”.
Multiple parents had shared photos with us which, they said, Clegg had sent them as guides of how to do this. The images showed babies with towels and multiple muslins surrounding the infants’ heads and faces.
We asked Clegg for visual examples during our call with her, and she later sent photos showing two young babies in their cots, with loose items surrounding them, including close to their faces.
One infant was sleeping on its side wedged between two rolls of fabric with another behind its head – this is “how one parent did it”, said Clegg. The other photo appeared to show a tiny baby on its back surrounded by five pieces of fabric.