Baby Died After Crawling Under Duvet To Snuggle With Her Mum

Baby Died After Crawling Under Duvet To Snuggle With Her Mum

A toddler died after crawling under a duvet to be close to her sleeping mum.

Sienna-Louise Burns-Hainesborough, aged 15 months, died from sudden childhood death syndrome, a coroner said.

Her mum, Kirsty, 24, got the whole family to sleep downstairs in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, because she was worried about some trouble in the street earlier in the day.

She put Sienna and her sister Lily to sleep on one sofa with their father Christopher, 30, while she slept on another, the inquest at Cleethorpes Town Hall was told.

But in the morning Kirsty found Sienna's lifeless body at her feet under the duvet after the child snuggled in with her during the night.

Christopher said the family decided to sleep downstairs in the living room on January 5 last year after some troublemakers had come to the door.

He said he had fallen asleep on one sofa, with Sienna-Louise and her sister Lily sleeping at either end. Kirsty was asleep under a duvet on the other sofa.

In the early hours of January 6, Christopher awoke and could not see Sienna-Louise at his side.

On checking the other sofa, he found her under a duvet at her mother's feet. Emergency services were called to the home but they were unable to revive the infant.

Both parents told the inquest they were aware of advice, given by health visitors, about the dangers of co-sleeping with children.

A post-mortem examination concluded the young girl died from sudden childhood death syndrome.

Detective Sergeant John Shepherd said the infant had made her own way from one sofa onto the sofa occupied by her mum.

Grimsby and North Lincolnshire Coroner Paul Kelly said: "She made her own way to the sofa on which her mother was sleeping and burrowed her way under the bedclothes."

He concluded the infant died from unexpected death in childhood in which accidental co-sleeping was a contributory factor.

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