AN eight-month-old boy drowned in the bath after coming out of his baby seat, an inquest heard.

Joseph Cradock was found face-down in the water after his mum, Sophie Henry, briefly went out onto the landing to get her nightdress.

Joseph, who was in the bath with his three-year-old brother Jacob, had been placed into a baby bath seat when he was first put into the tub, his mother said.

Ms Henry told an inquest at Blackburn Town Hall that she had been in the bath with Joseph on May 28 before she got out and her middle son Jacob got in. She said: “I was feeling hot and dizzy so I wrapped myself in a towel and got some cold water from the tap.

“I stepped out onto the landing to get my nightdress. I had my back to the bath but wasn’t far away.

“When I turned around the first thing I noticed was that the bath chair was empty.”

Ms Henry, of Spring Vale, Darwen, then rushed into the bathroom and found Joseph face down in the bath. She has now vowed to raise awareness about the potential danger of bath seats.

Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph after the inquest, she said: “I was only a few feet away when this happened and now my life has changed forever.

“I’m going to do everything I can to raise awareness about these bath seats. I hope and pray no other parent has to go through this.”

The inquest heard how she began mouth-to-mouth on her youngest son as her mother called for an ambulance.

Despite the best efforts of paramedics and doctors, Joseph was pronounced dead at the Royal Blackburn Hospital a short while later.

Forensic pathologist Naomi Carter said that a post-mortem confirmed the cause of death as drowning.

Detective Inspector Warren Atkinson, who investigated Joseph’s death, said tests on the baby seat revealed that it had been properly secured in the bath, but added that when water was in the tub the suckers came away easily.

He added: “It was clear he was a much-loved baby and that he was growing up in a warm, homely environment.”

Joseph’s dad Ben Cradock also paid tribute to his ‘perfect little boy’. He said: “To me and Sophie, he was the most perfect little boy in the world. He was so loved by his mummy and daddy, his brothers and all of his friends and family.

“This was a horrible accident and the loss of him in our lives will never become easier. I plead that people reading this will just stop and think when they have their children around water.

“Make sure you are prepared and don’t run the risk of leaving them, even for a second. I hope that Joseph’s story will make others realise how devastatingly life-changing it could be if they did.”

Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner Richard Taylor said: “It must be very difficult to sit here and relive all of this, and I have sympathy for you all."