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.

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

Where that isng an option, I leave them in the car

People who say "this is an MN thing" are probably the same people who forget that MN has users all over the world and that in different countries, people do different things. That's why you see people "only on MN" doing things differently. Probably the same type of people who snark at others over in the baby names thread about names being made up if they aren't English.

In parts of the world the unprecedented temperatures we had last week are the norm for several months of the year Australia. In my state if Australia you are not allowed to leave kids in a car on a petrol station forecourt. This is also true, I believe, in some states in the US.

I now live in the UK and tend to bring them in with me out of habit as a result. My toddler is really not in "more danger" crossing the forecourt as I would carry him, obviously, not let him weave randomly amongst cars

Even the most busiest petrol stations don't take much more than 5 minutes to pay in.

I presume you put him back in the car and drove where you needed to be so what's the difference in him being in the car for 5 minutes at the petrol and being in the car on the journey home? If you had air con on it won't heat up with it off that quick whilst being at the petrol station.

I was once in a petrol station that got held up. I leave my kids in the car.

Leave in the car. I have teens and I don't think either of them have ever been inside a petrol station.

I get why you were a bit more anxious though.

People who say "this is an MN thing" are probably the same people who forget that MN has users all over the world and that in different countries, people do different things

I’m also non uk and to be fair, mn is predominantly a uk site and if you’re not in the uk and you want advice it’s worth specifying. Similarly I appreciate that in many circumstances my perspective would not be relevant so I don’t post.

I always left in car with windows slightly down.

Leave in car, but not at night.

I always leave ds in the car. I don't know anyone who takes kids with them to pay.
It's far safer to leave them where they are!

Normal weather leave in car hot as hades bring with

@soulrunner oh I totally agree with you and I wouldn't post in that context for that reason but this has come up so often with people just generally asking "do you leave them in car or take them in" and every single time people are mocked for being excessively anxious or just straight-up disbelieved if they say they take them in. A lot of the time people in other countries dont realise that the things they do are specific to their country so will just answer the question.

I go to a pay at the pump but I'm your case I would leave them sleep in the car and lock the car as you can see the pump from where you are

A lot of the time people in other countries dont realise that the things they do are specific to their country so will just answer the question.

Well then they’re the ones that are making assumptions aren’t they, not the average mumsnetter. I manage not to come on and say ‘why don’t you just get the guy to pump your gas’?

I wouldn't leave s baby in the car but from 3 years onwards I always leave in the car it's much easier. For the baby I would have just carried the baby car seat in so he does t wake. It's a faff I know. I do leave my 1 year old if my elder daughters 10 years or 12 years are there.

I always pay at pump but if they were out of order or when I lived in an area with no pay at pump stations I always took my daughter in with me. I think you are right. Especially as it was hot the window cracked open in a stationary car would not have been enough.

Anyone mentioned about the possibility of car exploding on forecourt. That's usual on threads like this

I use the BP app to pay. You don't take the phone out of the car, you unlock the pump from the phone, leave it in the car, fill up, and then check the pump has locked and the app then debits your bank account

My kids are older now, I use it to stop myself from buying utter rubbish to binge on in the shop 😳

Leave in the car. My local station is very annoying though in that the sweets are piled so high you can't see the cars.

When they get mobile the risk in having them run off across the forecourt is def higher than the risk of something happening to them in the car

However we've recently stopped going to petrol stations as got an electric car that we charge at home. Highly recommended!