Flowers, notes left for Vic toddler

Flowers and messages have been left along the banks of a Melbourne creek where a toddler was found dead.

"RIP, sweetheart," one note reads.

"So very sorry for your family. Our heart breaks with them," says another note.

The little body of Sanaya Sahib was found in Darebin Creek just before 3am on Sunday, 17 hours after her mother says the 15-month-old was snatched from her pram at nearby Olympic Park in Heidelberg West.

Sofina Nikat, 22, told police a shoeless man smelling of alcohol pushed her to the ground, grabbed Sanaya and ran off with her about 10am on Saturday.

Ms Nikat said she never saw the face of the man, who she described as being of African appearance, between 20 and 30 years old and about 1.8m tall.

The toddler's body was found in the creek by a family of four, who once lost a child who was later found, and wanted to help.