A distraught mother woke up to find her eight-week old son lying dead next to her in bed, an inquest has heard.
Samantha Morley was unable to revive Frankie Morley-Hayward and, despite the efforts of paramedics and doctors, he was pronounced dead in hospital.
A post-mortem found the tragic baby had died from sudden unexpected causes which could not be explained – known as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
In a statement, Ms Morley said she had left Frankie with his father, Scott Hayward, babysitting at her home in Lechlade, Glos.
When she returned, Frankie was asleep and when he awoke she fed and changed him before putting him in her bed on a triangular shaped pillow designed to protect him and stop him from falling out of the bed.
Frankie normally woke at 1am and 5am for a feed but did not stir and at 7.30am she was unable to rouse him and he was cold to the touch.
She immediately called 999 and her mother.
He was taken to Great Western Hospital in Swindon, where efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead.
Ms Morley said it was not unusual for Frankie to sleep in her bed for a couple of hours after he woke for his 5am feed.
Dr Helen Price, a consultant paediatrician at the Great Western Hospital, said she was alerted after the ambulance carrying Frankie arrived at the emergency unit at 7.42am on February 10.
Resuscitation continued but failed and Dr Price said she explained to Frankie’s parents they were unable to save him.
As it was a sudden and unexpected death, the police were contacted in accordance with normal procedures.
Detective Sergeant Gavin Webb said there were no signs of vomit or blood, injuries and nothing to suggest the cause of death.
The house was properly heated and there were no grounds to suggest the baby had been neglected.
Pathologist Dr Colleen Bowker, who carried out a post mortem examination, said she could find no definite cause of death and attributed Frankie’s death to sudden unexplained death in infancy.
SIDS, also known as cot death, is rare in the UK with around 300 fatalities each year, according to the NHS.
Gloucestershire deputy coroner David Dooley described the death as a sad and tragic case.
He said that on the balance of probabilities, the evidence suggested that Frankie had died of natural causes, which remained unexplained.
Mr Dooley added: “I would like to record my condolences to the parents for their loss in this sad and tragic event.”
