leaving baby alone in car

[monkeyfeet]

Last night I was walking through retail centre carpark with my son and saw a car with a baby asleep in a child seat in the back of the car. I had a look around there was no one about ant the car was a fair way from the shops so i tried doors they were locked. I didnt have my mobile phone on me so went into the nearest shop and told the manager to phone the police or make an announcement, so we went out again to get the registration and confirm the car was still there it was. Then we went back into the shop to phone I decided i would go back out and see if anyone showed up but by this time I saw the car driving away. All of this was over the course of about 15 mins no one had been keeping an eye on the car or they would have seen me trying to get in the store manager trying to get in and come over. It was freezing outside and the baby looked to be about 6 months old.

So the store manager decided not to ring the police as they had gone but when i got home I rang the non emergency line to make a report. Hopefully it was someone being thoughtless and not negligent and a visit from the polce could make them understand what is not appropriate.

But AIBU to report this to the police?

[seeker]

Oh how irresponsible of me. I forgot that the presence of a mother automatically protects children from spontaneous combustion. I really don;t kwo how babies survive the night a whole flight of stairs away fro their parents - it must be so dangerous for them......

[Caboodle]

Seeker, no need to be so narky. I thought we were having a reasonable discussion.

[whethergirl]

Am I right in thinking that leaving kids in cars was more commonplace years ago? I certainly spent some of my childhood in the back of a car waiting for my mum or dad. One time my dad had gone for what seemed like AGES and I started to get quite stressed - although I think it was more from boredom than anything else. But it may only have been 10 minutes, you know how kids' conception of timespans are always longer.

Another time me and my sis were waiting in the car for my mum and I was looking out of the window. My sister then stood on the electric window button (which was operated from in between the 2 front seats!) and I got my head stuck, luckily she stepped off when I started screaming. We still laugh about "that time you nearly decapitated me".

I personally wouldn't do it for any longer than a few minutes.

[ILoveItWhenYouCallMeBoo]

i think, correct me if i am wrong (it isn't unknown to happen ) but i think the spontaneous combustion was in realtion to the cars? not the babies.

[seeker]

"Seeker, no need to be so narky. I thought we were having a reasonable discussion."

No we're not. We appear to be saying that it's entirely reasonable to call the police if someone leaves a sleeping baby strapped into a car seat in a locked car for 10 minutes.

[ILoveItWhenYouCallMeBoo]

the thing is seeker, babies don't stay sleeping and 10 minutes for a baby who has woken alone is a loooong time.

[seeker]

Not to people who believe in controlled crying, it isn't!

[llareggub]

Well, I often leave my 2 under 5s in my car while I pop into the shop. I park right outside, go in, get one or two items, pay and get back into the car.

At no time am I further away from them than I am when they are in my living room and I am in our conservatory.

I also leave them in the car while I get petrol and pay for it, and I don't panic about it.

I wouldn't go into the supermarket, but in the scenario I describe above, I'm happy enough to do it.

[seeker]

I will call the police next time there is a controlled crying thread.

[ILoveItWhenYouCallMeBoo]

I'm not talking about the parents, I'm talking about the baby.

[ostracized]

I think it's the leaving the baby in the car out of sight which is the issue - it's one thing to be able to see your car with kids in and quite another not to I think - forgive me if someone has already said this, have not read all entries in thread

[JockTamsonsBairns]

In what way does seeing the car reduce the perceived risk to the child though?

[BuzzLightBeer]

I can prevent cars exploding with the power of my gaze, can't you?

[goodasgold]

OP I reported a couple of toddlers in a big four wheel drive outside the New Coss branch of Sainsbos about ten years ago, to the security man, and made him promise to watch the children until the owner came back. There the car was more likely to have been taken than the children though.

[JockTamsonsBairns]

Watch the children for what though? What is it that you thought may have happened to them?

[forgottenbabies]

Congratulations on being a thoughtful and caring human being, who would take the time to check on the baby and report the incident. YES, you should have checked the handles, and YES, if the doors were unlocked (or not) you should have stayed with the car (after contacting the store as you did, since you didn't have your mobile) until help arrived. It is never ok, not even for a minute and in view, to leave a young child alone in a vehicle. Anything can, and has, happened. Imagine the true story of a mom leaving her 6 yr old son in the car while she just ran in the shop in front of the car "for a minute" to pick up their lunch. Tragically, she watched as a criminal jumped in and pushed her son half way out of the car. Unfortunately, he was belted in, his belt became trapped in the closed door, and his mom watched him being dragged to his death. It is just not worth it. And in very mild weather conditions, children succumb to heat/cold much quicker than adults. Children have died after being left in a car when it was only 70 degrees outside. The inside temp rises dramatically and a child can die after only 15 minutes. Please visit kidsandcars.org, harrisonshope.org and forgetmenotusa.com for more information. You can also sign a petition on www.thepetitionsite.com/1/mandatory-child-sensor-alert-systems-for-all-new-vehilces/
to pass legislation that will demand car makers install child sensor alarms in all vehicles. The technology already exists. If you aren't living in the US, try similar legislation in your home country. Please help us save the children from a horrible death. 50 died last year from hyperthermia after being left in cars. Let's stop this!

[BuzzLightBeer]

[theevildead2]

YANBU to call the police. I wouldn't have tried the doors because of a possible car alarm though. That would have really upset the baby!


There is a footballer and his wife in the papers at the moment for leaving their kids in the car.

[theevildead2]

Seeker it was 15 minutes from the time the op noticed the child. Could have been any length of time before that.

[sofaqueenie]

YANBU at all

[cobbledtogether]

I left both my children in the car while I nipped into the shop yesterday.

[MollieO]

I've never left Ds alone in the car even when I can see it. Would never do so at a petrol station. People seem to forget that whilst they may be responsible and have a car that is roadworthy and well maintained, others parked near them may not. Just wouldn't take the risk. Also if a child is not old enough to be left alone at home I don't understand how leaving them alone inthe car is any different.

Of course it is harder if you are a lone parent and don't have another adult to share the care but in that case you just need to be organised.

[Teaandcakeplease]

I keep seeing it mentioned about electric windows, my car windows only work if the key is in the ignition and partially turned or the engine is on. Would someone really leave the keys in the ignition, the car unlocked and go into a shop? All whilst leaving their kids in the car? Or am I missing something. Wind down windows on old cars would terrify me with my 2 toddlers. I often have the windows childlocked in the back, so my children cannot open them themselves when the car is running.

I'm a lone parent and have 2 little ones aged 2 years and 3 years and providing the car is locked and I'm popping in to pay for petrol or something similar I do leave them in the car for a short while, firmly strapped into their car seats. I don't like taking them across a busy forecourt in a petrol station on my own.

I have left my boy when younger asleep in the locked car for a short while if the car is in view, rather than disturb him as well. Providing it's not Summer or too cold either. I found myself agreeing a little with Buzzlightbeer though. As a lone parent without any support from my family, as they're too busy or live too far away, I do my best to manage but I always have to take my children with me for shopping etc. I can never leave them at home and go somewhere obviously. So that is probably why I've left them in a locked car and dashed in sometimes, as I do not have the leisure to leave them at home with another adult ever to run an errand. So I have a lot of sympathy for others. I wouldn't want to leave them in a deserted retail car park for 15 mins or more though. I'd feel quite uncomfortable about that, too long and too far to watch them from the shop window whilst quickly paying for something. Just for the record though 9 times out of 10 they come with me into shops

[MollieO]

As for it being ok because it was ok to do years ago is frankly ridiculous. Would those of you who think that drive around without seat belts for their dcs? That is what happened when I was young. Only the front seats had seat belts so it was normal not to be strapped in.

[mamatomany]

In the summer holidays, a pair of children aged 12 and 10 ish were sat outside M&S with their dog waiting for their mum to finish the shopping.
This was a M&S food so not part of a huge shop, where the mum could have been 2 floors up or anything like that and somebody called the police to report her.
The police came and walked her back to her car giving her a right earful, so at what point can children in the eyes of the law and the public be left I wonder. I really couldn't see what that lady had done wrong.