A heartbroken mother has spoken out about waking up next to her dead baby boy to warn other parents.

Amanda Saucedo woke in the middle of the night to find her son Ben ‘fussing’ in his co-sleeper and lifted him into her bed so she could feed him.

She peacefully drifted off to sleep but by the time she woke around 8am, quickly realised something was horribly wrong, reports Daily Mail.

Her 30-day-old son lay lifeless in her bed surrounded by a pool of blood.

‘I looked at my sweet Ben, all cuddled up to me as he loved to do. But something wasn’t right,’ she told the Scientific Parent.

‘His face was pale and his nostril was stuck halfway down.

‘I sat up and I realized there was a pool of blood next to Ben. I thought to myself, ”No. No. This isn’t happening”.’

In that single moment, the devastated mother realised her baby boy would never wake up again.

‘I call this my hell day,’ she said.

‘It is the worst story to tell. And it never seems to get easier.’

Ms Saucedo said she was speaking out about her ‘nightmare’ so other parents realised the dangers of sharing a bed with their babies.

She said her healthy baby boy unexpectedly passed away in his sleep and a subsequent autopsy found no proof that he was suffocated or smothered.

‘While there was never anything found in his autopsy to prove that he suffocated, nor was his airway blocked when I found him, his death was ruled an accidental asphyxiation.’

In the two years since Ben’s death on 19 November, 2014, Ms Saucedo has battled the overwhelming emotions of guilt and grief.

She has started the Benny Bears organisation and dedicates herself to spreading the message of safe sleeping for parents with young children.

‘Since Ben’s death, I feel it is my duty to promote safe sleep knowledge to parents,’ she said.

‘Never knowing if my baby would still be alive had he been sleeping alone is something I will take to the grave with me.

‘If Ben had died while I was practicing the ABCs of safe sleep, I feel my life wouldn’t constantly be filled with doubt and guilt.’

In September a Mother was hcarged with criminal homicide in the death of her two-month-old son after he suffocated while co-sleeping.

SIDS and Kids recommend how to Sleep your Baby Safely:

1. Sleep baby on the back from birth, not on the tummy or side

2. Sleep baby with head and face uncovered

3. Keep baby smoke free before birth and after

4. Provide a safe sleeping environment night and day

5. Sleep baby in their own safe sleeping place in the same room as an adult caregiver for the first six to twelve months

How can I make co-sleeping safe? via Babycenter
Make sure your mattress is firm
Keep the bedding light and minimal
Never sleep on a sofa with your baby
Keep your baby warm, not hot, and dress him lightly for sleep
Don’t let your baby and toddler sleep next to each other in bed.

When is co-sleeping not safe?
Because of the increased risk of cot death, you shouldn’t co-sleep if:

•You or your partner smoke.
•Your baby was premature or had a low birth weight.
•You or your partner have been drinking alcohol, or have taken medication or drugs. This may affect your memory and you could forget that your baby is in your bed and roll over onto him. You may also sleep so soundly that you are unaware that you’ve rolled on to him.
•You are extremely tired, or have a sleep disorder, such as sleep apnoea. You may be in such a deep sleep that you don’t wake up if you roll onto your baby.

Red Nose recently said, annually, 3,200 families experience the sudden and unexpected death of a baby or child.

New guidelines for SIDS recently stated that infants should sleep in the same bedroom as their parents for at least the first six months of their lives.

The new guidelines also encourage skin-to-skin contact as soon as possible after birth to help prevent SIDS.

They emphasize the importance of placing infants on their back for EVERY sleep, naptime or night time, at home, at grandma’s, at day care and placing babies in a crib or bassinet with a firm mattress, without pillows, soft/loose blankets, bumper pads, or other soft objects, in mother’s/parent’s room close to her bed.

Recently a Mum issued a warning to all parents, to be aware of the dangers of baby cot inserts, following baby girls death, and another Mums desperate plea after ‘Dangerous’ cot linked to death of her baby.

Related story – SIDS breakthrough – do they finally have the answer?

Share your comments below.

Image via Benny bears