The parents of baby Oliver Steeper, who died after choking on his food at nursery, have welcomed new safer eating measures for nurseries after a three-year campaign.

Nine-month-old Oliver, known as Oli, died in September 2021 after choking on a meal of chopped pasta Bolognaise which he was fed by staff at Jelly Beans Nursery in Ashford, Kent. Oli was eating only pureed and appropriate finger food at home.

The Department for Education has published its response to the consultation on safeguarding measures in the EYFS, which ran between 22 April and 17 June 2024. New safeguarding measures will be introduced from September 2025, including a new section on safer eating which states that early years childcare providers must:

• Talk to parents about the stage of weaning their child is at without making assumptions about age
• Obtain information about special dietary requirements, preferences, food allergies and intolerances and have ongoing discussions with parents/carers to develop allergy action plans
• Prepare food in a way to prevent choking
• Ensure children are always within sight and hearing of a member of staff whilst eating
• Make sure there is always a member of staff in the room with a valid paediatric first aid certificate while children are eating (not just on the premises)
• Ensure all staff are aware of the symptoms and treatments for allergies and anaphylaxis
• Keep a record of all choking incidents

Lewis Steeper, Oli’s father, said: “These adjustments, effective from September 2025, aim to enhance the safety of our young children in early years settings. The investigations conducted after Oliver’s death revealed certain issues that needed to be addressed. This update from the Department of Education will rectify those issues and improve the safety of childcare settings for everyone.”

Other safeguarding changes include an explicit  requirement for  providers to obtain references before employing a new member of staff, a requirement for providers’ safeguarding policies to include information on safer recruitment procedures, a requirement to follow up on absences in a timely manner and a requirement for staff safeguarding training to be renewed every two years.