Baby girl suffocated in her sleep after teddy bear fell on top of her

The mother of a toddler has revealed the moment she discovered her baby girl had been suffocated in her sleep by a stuffed toy at the side of her bed.

Dexy Leigh Walsh, 23, found 18-month-old Connie Rose’s body in her bed with the giant teddy on top of her. Dexy said she had stuffed a narrow gap between Connie Rose’s bed and the wall with soft toys to stop her from falling off the bed. But when she went to check on her, she found her underneath the 3ft-tall teddy and not breathing.

Efforts were made to revive the child but she was eventually pronounced dead by paramedics at their home in Dundee.

Dexy told MailOnline:

It was just a normal school morning. I went through to the girls’ room to waken them up and get Dior ready for school. When I opened the door all I could see of my little girl was her legs sticking out from under the teddy. She was lying face facing up in the bed but with the big teddy on top of her. She wasn’t breathing.

I immediately started CPR on her while someone phoned for an ambulance. I was speaking to the ambulance people as I tried to bring her around. My mum who lives closely arrived and she took over. When the paramedics came they tried as well but it was too late. My little girl had gone.

Grieving her daughter's death, Dexy said:

I just think now that if I had taken away all the soft toys out of the bed at night, she may have fallen out. She may have only hurt herself. Maybe a broken arm but she would still be with us.

Connie Rose was buried on March 21, with family members releasing pink balloons into the sky in her memory. Dexy has now started a campaign urging parents not to leave cuddly toys in young children’s beds overnight.