Claire Verity, the controversial baby guru, and the Channel 4 series in which she helps couples to get their babies into a strict routine have been severely criticised by doctors.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health yesterday took the unusual step of issuing a statement voicing its alarm at some methods screened on Bringing up Baby, singling out for particular criticism Ms Verity’s recommendation that babies sleep alone in a separate room.

The Times reported this week that Ms Verity had been asked to stay away from the baby show at Earls Court later this month after the threat of protests by mothers horrified by her methods.

Ms Verity charges parents £1,000 a day and promises that babies will sleep through the night within a month if her instructions are followed.

In the series, Ms Verity advocates the methods practised by thousands of mothers in the 1950s, including separate sleeping arrangements for babies from the day that they are born. This contradicts all the recent advice to mothers to minimise cot death.

“The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) is very concerned about some of the child-rearing practices portrayed on the Channel 4 programme Bringing up Baby, and in particular sleeping arrangements,” the statement read.

“There is good evidence about the best sleeping arrangements to minimise cot death and the programme fails to makes this clear. We strongly advise viewers who are considering any of the methods shown in the programme to read the Department of Health’s guidance on reducing the risk of cot death.” This criticism was swiftly followed by a complaint from the Association for Infant Mental Health (AIMH). It called on the broadcast industry regulator, Ofcom, to introduce compulsory standards and an ethical review process for TV and radio programmes that look at baby care.

Ofcom has received more than 250 complaints after Ms Verity appeared on the show promoting the rigid techniques of Truby King, a New Zealand doctor whose uncompromising routines included leaving babies outside on their own to “air”.

AIMH said social experiments by health professionals had to satisfy ethics committees that they were both useful and harmless. “Yet a TV company can make a series described as settling ‘the right way to care for babies’ by recruiting six pairs of pregnant parents and mentoring them to follow one of three historical methods. Twelve parents and their seven babies could not usefully contribute to [the] childcare debate and the show is clearly harmful to those taking part as the weeping mother and shocked father . . . made clear,” it said.

The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths has also issued a warning to Channel 4 that its advice was putting babies’ lives at risk.

Channel 4 said last night that a paediatrician had been involved in the series and had said all the methods used were responsible. “This history programme makes it abundantly clear it is comparing parenting styles from the past. Wherever appropriate, the programme points to current medical advice, including specifically on the subject of the advised sleeping arrangements to minimise cot death. A number of leading childcare professionals were consulted, including an eminent paediatrician who is satisfied the series is responsible.” The channel said that couples in the series had continued to practise Ms Verity’s methods when filming ended and were happy with the results.

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