Putting fuel in the car with kids in tow!

[rainbowheart]

This scenario has caused a strong discussion between me and my husband..

What do you do with your baby when you put fuel in the car?

So to give some context.. my husband borrowed my car yesterday and when I went to go out this morning it had no fuel in it.. so off I go to the petrol station to find the pay at pump wasn't working.. so I drove to another station and theirs wasn't working either! The petrol station was busy, I could see that there was a que inside and it's a really hot day.. so I fill up, wake my sleeping 8 month old and take him in with me to pay. He's crying from being woken, I have a sprained ankle so the whole hassle of it annoyed me.

I moan to my husband about the situation and he's says I'm being dramatic and I should of just left him in the car when I go to pay. I argue that it was hot out and I know there's a que inside so I didn't want to just leave him in the car! I couldn't fill up later as I had to go pick him up from work and didn't have enough fuel to get there. I'm annoyed with him for leaving me no fuel.. I just think it's rude to take someone's car and return it empty.

But speaking to people they seem to think he's right and I could if just left the baby in the car.. just interested to see what other people do with their little ones it they have to go inside to pay for fuel.

@Phimma what exactly is a mobile phone going to do to a petrol fume?!

There are no under 16s allowed in the forecourt at our nearest filling station. If you get your DC out of the car the lady in the kiosk gets on the tannoy and tells you to put them back in the car, if you want to bring them in the shop with you then you have to fill up, pull around to one of the parking bays alongside the pavement and then go in and pay.

Utter ballache.

Mine stay in the car, much safer for them to be in there than on the forecourt and stops them pestering me for sweets at the till.

As mentioned upthread BP and Shell now have apps where you can pay so the mobile phones triggering an explosion threat must not be an issue

With all the fumes and mobile phones, isn't it dangerous?

What is dangerous about mobile phones? (And there'll still be mobile phones and fumes if you take them out of the car)

Yes I would leave in the car, but my eyes are fixed on the car at all times

Statistically aren't your "precious"
kids much more at risk being carried across the forecourt and into the shop than being left in the car?

Always always took mine in with me. I never left my kids alone in the car.

@Venger why is it dangerous for me to carry my baby in her car seat into the shop? Surely the same risk as just me walking across?

I don’t think any statistics exist that show that taking your kid with you inside to pay is more dangerous than leaving them alone in the car.
I do know that while I have never ever seen a news report of a kid run over in a forecourt of a petrol station, every few years I do actually see a news report of a car stolen with kids inside, or kids kidnapped from unattended cars.

If he’s asleep or settled, I leave him. If he’s already angry, I take him in as I’d imagine abandoning a screaming baby is frowned upon. One of the petrol stations I use very frequently is often used by police and ambulances (in a convenient location and is an M&S so good for lunch breaks) and no one has ever said that I shouldn’t leave him.

I try to use pay at pump but on the odd occasion I cant I take them in with me. The only time I didn't was after I'd been having a conversation with my DM and dsis and they laughed at me for taking them in, so I thought maybe I was being a bit precious and left them in the car the next time. Dd set the alarm off and I hadn't had the car long so I didn't know how to disable it 🙄

Only on MN do people take them in with them

I saw it happen IRL once. Woman with a baby and a toddler. You'd have thought she was crossing a battlefield the way she had the baby held under her chin while ducking to drag the toddler across the forecourt while holding his/her hand.

Re: mobile phones - there is a theory that they can cause a spark which would ignite petrol fumes and blow the entire forecourt sky high. But no evidence that such an event has ever happened, which it would have if there was a risk, considering the billions of people with billions of phones and billions of petrol station visits each year.

^Statistically aren't your "precious"
kids much more at risk being carried across the forecourt and into the shop than being left in the car^

Yup, if you are going to get run over on the forecourt, best that they are with you so they get run over too.

I always take mine in...

You should have sent him a message that you can't pick him up because no petrol. Selfish git

Iv never taken any of my kids in to pay. 9 times out of 10 I do pay at pump or fill up when I'm on my own but those rare times I get caught short and they are with me I'll leave them in the car.

Lock your car by turning the key in the lock instead of pressing the remote control in order to keep the movement sensor off, otherwise if a child or dog moves inside the alarm will blare and scare them. You’re in view all the time, nobody can steal your car as it’s locked, can’t see there being a problem.

I used to leave my son in the car until I returned to the car after paying and he had vomited and was choking on it. He was two, so could hold his head up etc. After that always took him in with me, I don’t have a car now, which is much easier.

why is it dangerous for me to carry my baby in her car seat into the shop? Surely the same risk as just me walking across?

Leaving your car at the pump and taking her with you means walking across the forecourt with her. Pulling into one of the parking bays means you have to walk along a short pavement that leads to the shop. Pavement is safer for children than forecourt which is why they have the rule of no under 16s on the forecourt and parking in a bay if you want to bring the DC in with you.

@BarbaraofSeville the theory has long since been disproved. They're now more worried about idiots using their phones and not concentrating on what they're doing and pouring petrol all over the floor. Much more likely!

Not all petrol stations have separate parking bays, or even pay at pump. Sometimes you have no choice except to walk across the forecourt.

Never taken mine in, ever. I don't even lock the car tbh.

You'd be hugely unlucky to have someone decide to steal your car in the 45 secs it takes to pay, in a place full of cctv and other people, and then get to your car, see two small children in there, and STILL decide to steal it.

Don't see a problem usually as you can see the car from the kiosk usually but I wouldn't have in high temperatures. It gets so hot without AC in just 5 mins.

@PennyGold if any of those things happen in your local petrol stations then I would suggest you choose different ones.

I thought I was an anxious person. Then I joined MN.

I pay at the pump if possible otherwise I leave them in the car