Grieving mother warns of soft toy danger in cots

A mother whose baby daughter suffocated in her sleep under a large teddy bear has launched a campaign to prevent the same thing happening to another child.

Dexy Leigh Walsh’s 18-month-old daughter Connie Rose died in her sleep in the room she shared with her five-year-old sister at the family home in Dundee.

Ms Walsh has now set up a Facebook page warning other parents about the dangers of leaving toys on children’s beds.

She said she had stuffed the side of her daughter’s bed with teddy bears in an attempt to stop her falling between the mattress and the wall and hitting her head.

She wrote on Facebook: “On March 6 8.01am 2018 my life changed. I woke up to get my oldest ready for school to find my youngest baby had passed away.

“I have been blaming myself as she passed away due to suffocation as I had packed down the side of her bed with teddies and placed a big one on top of the smaller teddies to stop her from falling down the side of her bed, and she did exactly that but as it was all teddy bears she went under the massive teddy and fell asleep with the angels.

“All I think about now is what if I just left it empty she would still be here maybe with just a small bump on her head. It’s all what ifs now.

“But I want every parent to see and be aware of this. Let them fall – don’t try to stuff small places up with soft things, just leave it empty.

“She had a bed guard at one side and the smallest gap from her wall to her bed and that’s where I had put all her teddies – my biggest regret in life.”

The Scottish Cot Death Trust advises against putting pillows, duvets, bumpers or soft toys in cots due to the risk of suffocation.