Mother's co-sleeping warning after death of two-month-old son

A mother has warned other parents about the dangers of co-sleeping after her two-month-old son, Hugo Loughlin, died while sharing a bed with her and Hugo’s father.

Hugo’s mother, Stacey Costello, had taken him out of his cot for a feed on an unsettled night last August.

Afterwards, she placed him on top of a pillow in between herself and Hugo’s father, Matthew.

She drifted off, but woke to found her son unconscious hours later.

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He was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital’s emergency department near their home in Colne, Lancs.

The hospital managed to recover his heartbeat and the baby was taken into an intensive care unit at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Hugo was placed on life support but tragically died on August 22 last year.

An inquest into Hugo’s death concluded that he died of lack of oxygen and damage to the brain following cardiac arrest.

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Now, his mother wants to issue a stark warning about the dangers of co-sleeping.

“I can’t stress enough that parents should never co-sleep with their babies, no matter what the circumstances.

“It’s not worth the pain and heartache we feel every day we have to live without our beautiful special son.”

Giving evidence at the inquest, consultant paediatrician, Melanie Newbould, said: “This kind of death has a lot in common with sudden unexpected deaths in infancy, which can be related to unsafe sleeping, such as co-sleeping with an adult, and we know Hugo was doing that at the time he died.”

“But co-sleeping is not necessarily the cause as we don’t have evidence of this. But it can increase the likelihood of sudden unexpected death in infancy. However, the conclusion was made that his death was unascertained.”

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In order to minimise the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the NHS recommends placing your baby back to sleep in their cot for the first six months.

The health organisation body also says you shouldn’t share a bed with your baby if you’ve been drinking alcohol, taken drugs or if you’re a smoker.

Finally, it advises to never sleep with your baby on a sofa or an armchair.

You can seek more advice on co-sleeping with your baby from The Lullaby Trust.

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