Is it ever acceptable to..

[moomin35]

...leave your baby in the car if you are going to be 5 minutes max. ie. paying at a petrol station, parking directly outside & popping into a shop etc?

[Lucked]

Yes. Not everyone would do it but it is acceptable.

[nilbyname]

Yes. Do it all the time

Now a million MNs will come
Along and tell you how their at blew up, slipped down the road, was car jacked, or both have you and it's NOT WORTH THE RISK

[TheNumberfaker]

Petrol station yes but you'll get loads of noes too!

[SweetsForMySweet]

There is no right answer to this question!

[morethanpotatoprints]

I never found it acceptable but plenty people do.
its personal choice init.

[Sparklingbrook]

No your baby will get stolen or your car will definitely roll off down the street or set on fire. FACT.

[Nevercan]

Yes I would. Again personal choice.

[plinth]

Yes, to me it's acceptable but every parent must do what they feel comfortable with.

[plinth]

My mum used to leave my severely disabled brother in the car as a car-thief deterrent. She reasoned that even if they didn't spot him in the back and nicked the car anyway, they'd soon return both brother and car once they realised

[PenguinsHatchedAnEgg]

I would at a petrol station. I wouldn't at a shop unless I could see the car at all times the way you can at a petrol station.

[MrsCakesPrecognition]

Yes I would and did.

[WiggleGinger]

Petrol station yes! Doors locked obvs!

Shop? No

[plinth]

Hmm see I wouldn't lock the doors at a petrol station in case there was a fire or something and someone had to drag DS out....

[fairylightsintheloft]

Petrol station and local village shop with big plate window yes. Supermarket, even for a single item, no - it always takes longer than you think. I also used to leave DD asleep in her car seat when I picked DS up from pre-school. Car was parked on a quiet lane with only other parents around. I always legged it in and out but if I'd woken her (and it would have done), the rest of the day would have been a write off.

[WarmTunaRolls]

Oh yes I think it's fine, I do that with my DS all the time! He is a right little grizzled so sometimes I have to leave him in the car while I do the food shop.
But yeah I completely understand why some mothers wouldn't leave their child alone, too many nasty men about these days.

[slightlyinsane]

Absolutely have done it with all of mine. Supermarkets no unless I have all 5 kids with me then yes, a 2 min runinto a shop turns into at least 40 to get them out then back in. However our supermarket has p&c parking at the door.

[slithytove]

Petrol yes shop no unless it's the equivalent of a petrol station shop. Supermarket never.

[ophiotaurus]

Petrol yes

Supermarket no

[workingtitle]

Petrol, yes (leaving car unlocked and in sight). Anywhere else, probably not.

[EmmanuelWoganberry]

I wouldn’t dream of leaving my baby on a petrol station forecourt. But I don’t have a car.

[DeadSirius]

From my perspective in the US, no, never. It takes minutes for a car to heat to fatal temperatures on a hot day. Accidents happen every year. The risk can be so great that it's just not acceptable anytime.

[freedom2post]

I wouldn't leave my baby on a petrol forecourt either - I would leave them strapped into their car seat inside a car on a petrol forecourt.

Much more dangerous to cross the forecourt with them IMHO.

I notice the poster who said doesn't have a car, wonder how keen they would be to wake a a leering baby and carry them across a busy petrol station in reality

[freedom2post]

Sleeping not leering

[17leftfeet]

I used to do it when they were small and I could see the car

I remember one particularly lovely lady screaming at me for leaving my sleeping 2 year old and 6 month old in the car outside the door of the bakers for all of 2 minutes -that was a highlight I must say

[PinkAndBlueBedtimeBears]

I do, my dp doesn't.. It's personal choice and we both think the other is wrong
I leave dd and ds in the car when I'm paying for petrol, there is no way I can safely get an 18mo and a newborn across a forecourt and the double buggy would seem like overkill!
The only other place I leave them in the car is if I'm running into a corner shop style place, where there is likely to only be a queue of 1-2 people, if there's a bigger queue/ a lot of people in the shop I either leave it and ask dp to pick it up on his way home from work, or il go and get both out.. normally the former..