To forget I have a baby for five (ten max) minutes in Sainsbury's

[Oscalito]

I was racing around Sainsbury's with my buggy, got to checkout, unloaded basket, raced off and got a few more things to reach £30 so I could use a money-off voucher they'd sent me, when I looked down and realised I'd somehow misplaced my buggy.

Sprinted around shop fearing the worst and was confronted in fruit and veg by a woman employee who told me very loudly they were just about to call social services and the police (and still might) and 'I should be very ?'

... at which point I interrupted and said 'I haven't slept in five months'. Slight exaggeration but definitely didn't get much sleep last night and DH has been around so have gotten used to having someone else looking out for baby over the last few days.

She said 'Don't speak to me like that madame' and I said 'I already feel bad enough' and left (this time with baby, obviously). A small crowd had gathered at this point. It could have turned quite nasty - she was ferocious - but I got out of there ASAP.

Was this a bit of an overreaction on her part? Or am I just too blase? I was panicking and fearing the worst as I ran around the shop, but when I saw the baby was OK I was just relieved. I am usually really careful, just slipped up once (won't do it again). Surely I'm not the first....?

Strikeup I am having images of you and your DH meeting again in the shops and saying [gnome from Shrek style] 'Where's the baby?'

I pressed post too early as I was being harassed by said dd!

We found her with a shopkeeper at the safari park in the toyshop, she had been given a free cuddly penguin (now named pam) and thought it was great [chmm], was colouring in with a security guard at folly farm, with a lovely lady at the museum, and she is getting to be on first name terms with the staff on customer services at ASDA!

ugh - have just returned from a trip to sainsbury's. Manic with people and their small babies and children screaming and shouting and extremely frazzled adults, looking dishevelled and scruffy. Why do parents insist on losing their dignity in public places like this? particularly in the days of online shopping.

what on earth were you doing going shopping during a time when it would obviously be full of kids? Go when they're all in bed, you silly.

Perhaps theinet ought to stick to online shopping and then wouldn't be faced with the modern horrors of parents, children and babies in those dreadfully uncivilised places we are forced to frequent in order to feed ourselves. Shocking really - perhaps we should all have NGs attached, then we'd never have to go out until said spawn reach an 'acceptable' age with social manners in tact.

oh and what do you expect if you go to Sainsburys? Go to Fortnum and Mason and you'll find the other customers much better dressed, I assure you.

Just not on riot days!!!

Feel dreadful for you. I once took a phone call in a shop and shoved the dress I was looking at under one arm...hanger and all. I got caught up in the conversation and ended up walking out of the shop with the hanger/dress still under one arm!! I was chased out by the staff who retrieved the outfit. I was so embarrassed. I'm no shoplifter. You're no child neglecter either.

theinet if you hadn't run away from your mummy she wouldn't have had to rush about looking for you whilst looking a bit frazzled. I agree about the screaming though, you really ought to stop doing that sweetie. That's why mummy looks so stressed all the time.

I left son outside a branch of Boots happily sleeping.
Could not understand why dog kept pulling on his lead as I walked home with the shopping.

It happens - make sure those biscuits are chocolate and recollect your sense of humour !!

My in-laws moved house and forgot their PFB.

They were almost at their new house, following the removal van, car packed up with various last minute bits and bobs when they realised they had forgotten their baby.

Rushed back, and there she was in her pram on the pavement.

When DS was a few weeks old I took DD1 to school, DD2 ran off to play. After I had watched DD1 go into to school I started walking towards preschool. After I had crossed the road I looked down at my wrist and noticed DD2's lunch box but had left her in the playground at school! As I was walking towards the gate a naay whose charge went to the same preschool had dd2 and said she had suspected I had forgotten her in my tired state - no judging just understanding of a tired mother!

I used to be a holiday Rep O/S. Someone left their baby on the back seat of a coach once at 4am.

I realised as I checked the coach as we'd started heading home and returned to the hotal 5 minutes later - to reunite the baby with the mum who thought the baby was with her DH. She was mortified, kept apologising etc. I did say I want to say 'These things happen, but I wasn't sure they did - often' It made her laugh and relax a little and as I was their hotel rep and we had a laugh about it for 2 weeks.

OP YANBU, the Sainbos employee sounded a little accusational.

Hope your OK now (and dc obviously!)

urgh

theinet you comments make me laugh! I recon you are just posting for effect - you silly person.

Thankfully my baby seems blissfully happy being pushed round the supermarket with lots of stimulating shapes, colours and lights. My toddler also really enjoys helping me - finding and fetching things. We also love our sit down and chat together over a cup of frothy milk at the supermarket cafe. Nice enjoyable little treat.

Really easy to forget anything with baby sleep deprivation! It was just an accident.

come on, i'm just having a laugh! xxx

I nearly left my ds in hospital after I'd had him. It was a one off never repeated so YANBU.

Sleep deprivation does this to you. Why would they need to call SS - they could have made an announcement. I think an individual staff member was way over the top and not very helpful. This happens to all of us. Please don't be upset by it.

thanks mossi (and everyone else, bar the obvious)

I think I'll complain tomorrow, given how common this sort of thing is, and how normal, sane people react to it.

PS Dolldaggabuzzbuzz that is fair enough. I was so stunned after having DS I stood in front of the cot for ages, wondering if I needed to ask the midwife before I picked him up. So you can sort of see where I'm at now, with 5 months of sleep deprivation on top. He doesn't mind though :)

DH's granddad left DH's newborn uncle asleep on a riverbank once. They'd been fishing, he thought the baby would enjoy the fresh air and then totally forgot him.

By the time he got home, got screamed at, and raced back to the riverbank the baby was awake and being cared for by another fisherman.

Apparently they had a bit of a laugh about it all. It seems to be easily done. I haven't left LO in a shop but I did once forget that I was pushing a pram and not a trolley and dropped a few things in there with him before I remembered.

YANBU. The woman was rude and over dramatic.

My dh lost my dd (age 2) whilst she was asleep in a buggy in tescos. He panicked massively - went to customer services - the shop did a lock down - all exits closed - until they found her. He had left her in the meat section and gone on to vegetables. It wasn't even a case of her running off. He just forgot. They were extremely kind, given his level of distress. But this is what should happen. Lack of sleep does terrible things to you. He hasn't done this ever since though.

At DS's school everyone was rushing round looking for a 3yr old the other day at pick up time, the sibling of a year 1 child. His mum ran home to see if he might have wandered back by himself and found him sitting watching cbeebies - she'd forgotten to take him out in the first place.

My mum left me outside a shop and went home and I'm fine (it was in the old days though).