Do you leave kids in car whilst paying for fuel?

Mine are adults, but I can just imagine the fun I would have had taking, for example, a newborn, 3 year old twins, a non verbal autistic 5 year old and an 8 year old out of the car whenever I got petrol. Held all their hands, while carrying a car seat, paid while still holding hands, carrying seat, struggled back across the forecourt and herded them into the car and got them all strapped in while a queue formed behind me. What larks that would have been!

So yes, I left them in the car, always, even when I only had one child. I don't know anyone who took their kids in with them.

I wouldn't leave young children in the car. I always used to either drive further away to pay at pump or just wait and one of us would go out in the evening without them in the car at all.

I can’t imagine any parent would be held back by a petrol station attendant from rescuing their child.

I never did but seems to be fashionable these days on SM to claim how dangerous it is not to …

Good luck stopping me...

Yes- I explained this in a post below my original post, if you bothered to read the full thread.

Yes I always leave them in the car.

I wouldn't. I took them every time when younger. I don't leave my 4 year old still. Only just started leaving my 8 year old if I'm at a close pump and no pay at pump is available.

Purely because if something happened on the forecourt, they likely wouldn't let you leave the building to go and get them. My 8 year old can get out the car by himself if anything was to happen.

Which it doesnt

whilst it is not strictly illegal to leave a child in the car alone the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 states it is illegal to leave a child unattended if it places them at risk or harm

Only if you have it in the car surely?

Yes, it's possible, and annoyingbwhen they do it. But at least you can try and tell them to stop or pull over. And theyblay be less likely to try since you are driving.

I always left hhem but at the time it was considered controversial. Competitive parents said that if you were not willing to take them in it meant you didn't deserve to be a parent. Things aren't so silly now.

I would take in a child who could unbuckle, id be worried about escape or fiddling with the car iand releasing the breaks or even just layingnin the horn.

My point was more if they can do that while you pop and pay for petrol then surely they can also do it while you’re driving - therefore it’s not safe?

My three year old was in that very awkward phase where they could get out of their car seat but couldn’t be trusted to make wise decisions. Perhaps you were blessed with less nimble or wiser three year olds.
No judgement just sharing what I did and why.

I know you said you can't pay at pump, but that's what I do so as to not leave them in the car , or get petrol when both adults are there so there's one in the car, or an adult alone.

If your toddler can cause havoc and feed your baby from their car seat then they can’t be very securely strapped in.

So I feel extremely stupid now, but for some reason I actually thought it was illegal to leave them in the car! I am so relieved to hear I can actually go in without the faff of taking my 2 year old in with me. I always wished I could just quickly pop in and pay, as long as I can see the car the whole time

Never given much thought to getting small children out of a car?
I think perhaps some of you have short memories if your children are older. I have 3 under 5 and none of them can climb into the car by themselves so everyone cannot simply get into the car at the same time, is physically impossible so yes they are standing beside the car at either end of the journey waiting on siblings getting in or out.
As is the case for pretty much anyone else I’ve ever seen putting young children into a car.

I definitely took mine in at that age. A toddler can cause havoc in minutes or feed baby something etc…

Yes I did until my child got anxiety about being left anywhere at about age 3 so I took her. It would be a total nightmare if you had multiple kids and newborns, I would not take them!

I’ve seen lots of judgemental posts on previous threads saying it’s totally irresponsible though! In case you get car jacked or there’s a massive fire.

Do you not have child locks on your car?

The risks of leaving children in a car alone-

someone tries to steal the car- highly unlikely at a petrol station due to high traffic levels and cameras.

child knocks hand brake off - forecourts are usually flat so unlikely to be a issue.

explosion/fire - doesn’t make much difference where you are in that scenario

parent becomes ill/dies - very obvious which car they own and can quickly be checked

car accident - again highly unlikely at a petrol station due to layout/ cars driving slowly.

Often there’s large windows so cars can
be seen anyway. But it’s not the same as leaving kids on a random road.

Nobody has their eyes on their children all the time.

Do you have your eyes on your children 24/7 at home? After all that's where most accidents occur.

I still think they are safer in the car than dragging them across a forecort