'Tragic accident': Olivia-Leigh Picton, eight months, accidentally hanged herself when she became trapped between the ladder and mattress of her bunk bed An eight-month-old baby accidentally 'hanged' herself when she became wedged between a mattress and ladder while wriggling in her bunk bed.Olivia-Leigh Picton had been sleeping in the bottom bunk for two months after a health visitor said she should be given her own room.Her parents fitted a bed brace to ensure Olivia-Leigh didn’t fall out of the bottom bunk, but the little girl somehow managed to wriggle between the bars of the ladder leading to the top bunk and got stuck against the mattress.The freak incident just days before Christmas last year left Olivia-Leigh suspended from the bed by her neck.She was found by her father as he was getting his other daughter ready for nursery. Olivia-Leigh was rushed to hospital by ambulance but was pronounced dead despite attempts to revive her.At an inquest in Burnley, Lancashire, Olivia-Leigh’s devastated parents Katie Ross, 23, and David Picton, 24, warned other parents not to put young children in their own beds - especially bunk beds because of the dangers.
The hearing was told Olivia-Leigh had been given her own room as the couple’s eldest daughter Ella-Mae, aged three, had difficulty sleeping properly when she was not in the same bedroom as her parents. The couple did not want Olivia-Leigh to have the same habits as her sister so they decided to put her in her own room in the bottom bunk. Safety precautions: Olivia-Leigh Picton's mother Katie Ross and father David Picton had secured a bed brace to prevent the eight-month-old from falling out Miss Ross told the inquest: 'I didn’t put Ella-Mae in her own bed and she got too attached to us. Olivia to be different and she was. She was in bed every night for 7pm and woke up a happy child.' Sound sleeper: Olivia-Leigh Picton had been sleeping in the bed for two months without a problem ahead of the incident She added that the intention was to have both girls sleeping together once they were in a routine. added: 'I spoke to my health visitor about it and she had a rule about
putting them in their own room at six months. 'I asked her advice and that’s when we came up with the bed brace so she couldn’t fall out.'One of them attaches underneath the mattress and fastens at the other side of the frame and sticks up at the end to stop her from falling.'She had slept in the bunk for about two months. She had been doing really well and went down easily and found it better to fall asleep in that bed than the travel cot.'The inquest was told that the pillow was always put at the opposite end to the ladders and the bed was pushed up to the wall. night before her death on December 17, Olivia-Leigh was put to bed as usual at 7pm and 'went down fine'. She was found trapped in the bed at 8am the following morning.BABY BEDDING GUIDELINES The Lullaby Trust recommends babies sleep in a crib, a carry cot or a Moses basket in the same room as the parents for the first six months.It also urges parents not to sleep in the same bed as their baby if they smoke, drink or take drugs or are extremely tired, if their baby was born prematurely or was of low birth-weight.
NHS guidelines suggest a firm mattress that fits the cot snugly without leaving spaces around the edges, so babies cannot trap their head and suffocate.The NHS also recommends light blankets, ruling out pillows and duvets as unsafe for babies younger than a year old due to the risk of suffocation.Guidelines also say cots must be sturdy with gaps in the bars no wider than 2.5 inches.Mumsnet warns bedding to be avoided includes memory foam mattresses, water beds, feather beds, soft mattresses, bean-bags or bead-filled pillows and, according to the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, sheepskin rugs are a risk factor as soon as babies starts trying to roll on to their front.The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) says that when a child begins to climb out of its cot, this is usually a sign that he or she is ready to sleep in a bed. Anything from 18 months onwards is about the right age to consider the transition.RoSPA also warns that bunk beds can pose a hazard to children under six years of age where entrapment (becoming wedged or trapped in the bed) can lead to strangulation, suffocation and injury to the neck or spine.
Ross added: 'She was a very good child and she hardly cried. feed herself and we would give her her bottle and she used to fall back to sleep and have a nap.'She added: 'She obviously never ended'I want something that may change the age of putting kids in their own beds and spread the word about bed braces because they can be dangerous.'Mr Picton added: 'Just don’t put a child in a bed when young.'Pathologist Dr Naomi Carter said the cause of death was from suspension of the neck and that there hadn’t been any underlying natural disease owing to herShe said: 'There was a number of external minor marks to the neck and shoulder, but very mild and were entirely consistent to where Olivia was found to be in a collapsed'My opinion is that death was due to suspension by the neck.'Olivia was previously well, she was essentially found wedged between the mattress with her body hanging over, essentially she was suspended by the neck.'Dr Carter added that there was nothing to suggest the child was being neglected.'In my opinion, with the history I was given, the appropriate cause of death was suspension by the neck.'East Lancashire Coroner Richard Taylor recorded a verdict of accidental death and told Olivia-Leigh’s parents said: 'There’s nothing I can say that can make this any better at all.
'You were doing what you thought at the time was right, in hindsight that wasn’t necessarily, but you can’t apportion any blame. That was a judgement that you made.'The appropriate verdict is one of accidental death. This was nothing more, nothing less than a tragic accident.'BOYD SPECIALTY SLEEP is a manufacturer and importer of specialty sleep products, including high end Latex and Memory Foam Mattresses, Waterbeds, Air Beds and a wide variety of accessories. The company was founded in 1977 by Dennis Boyd, an entrepreneur that firmly believes in the health benefits of a quality night's sleep. What started as one retail location in Columbia, Missouri, has grown to what exists today as the Boyd Group, with separate but related companies: The Bedroom Store, Boyd Specialty Sleep and Blue Magic. The Bedroom Store is the retail arm of the company with 6 locations in the St. Louis, MO metro area. The Boyd Group has been recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of America’s 500 fastest growing privately held businesses five different years, a distinction held by a select few companies.
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