To worry about this child asleep in car

[StrangeMusic]

There's a child about 2years old asleep in a car (in car seat) on road near my work (quietish residential street). I've been here about 10 minutes and no one has come back for him. Might be overreacting but would never leave my son asleep in car for more than a minute or two. Don't know what to do, should I report it?? Just concerned maybe he's been forgotten about, after reading some stories where this happened, and worried for the little thing

Look, it was clearly fine, but as I said, I needed to get back to work and a) didn't really have time to hang around for ages or keep popping back to check and b) wasn't keen to go door knocking and potentially get abuse - most of the houses are converted flats anyway so where would I start??

I didn't think the kid was going to get eaten alive by scorpions or taken by a paedophile lurking in the bushes, but thought it was possible he could wake up and get distressed or had been forgotten about.

It was a naice car and a naice road, but that isn't really the point

Im guessing she would have said "AND its boiling temperature here in OZ too!"

Just guessing.

though frankly I wouldn't leave a child asleep in a car out of earshot for the sole reason that they would wake at some point and it might be when I wasn't looking, and then they would get upset.

Is that not serious enough then to think it's unwise to do this?

Obviously 999 is a bit strong unless it is hot, or the child is crying, or the car's on fire etc.

I think on a UK-based website, the OP may have been sensible to let us know if she was in Death Valley or Antartica.

I would hate someone to read the caustic responses here and figure that leaving a child in a car at any time of year was absolutely fine. It's not.

This Hence my 'you should be fucking ashamed of yourselves' comment.

Pato, we were not commenting on the wisdom or not (some may say it is cruel to wake a sleeping child who will then not go back to sleep and be miserable for the rest of the day). But anyway, we were commenting on those who said OP should call 999 - as that being a little extreme in these circumstances.

Not going to link to the mock up vid of a child dying in a car...that was awful.

anyone want to see that? It's available on google somewhere

Also just to add, most residents have parking permits but this car had a pay and display ticket, which made me think it was possibly not someone actually living in one of the houses

yy merry, of course

I was just concerned that the general impression to someone reading the thread was one of total cynicism

and that could be dangerous, in a way, well I for one take a lot of my social/parenting cues from the MN consensus.

Google suggests that it happens to 37 children a year. As of a year ago, 450 children have died in the US since 1998 from being accidentally left in the car.

I'm merely providing statistics. Not sure what I would have done in the op's situation. Probably hung around for a few minutes just to reassure myself that somebody was there and keeping an eye. While there is little danger of adverse weather causing problems atm, the tiny tiny risk of a 2yo child being accidentally left and suffering the distress of this means I would just make sure somebody was around. Plus, I live in a residential street. People park in it and go to work all the time so I wouldn't necessarily assume it was somebody who lived there.

DH is a copper and he's been called out twice to children left in cars afaik.

I agree Pato.

I've reported the thread for that reason.

KeepingUpWithTheJonses Fri 08-Nov-13 14:42:14

The point is though Ducks you don't actually know where the op is do you? Or what the climate and weather is like there.

The point is, we do.

She said in the OP she was at/near work.

She's nipped out in her lunch hour, because the post was sent between 1 and 2 pm UK Time.
It's raining.

All three of these indicate she is extremely likely to be in the UK.

Not Death Valley, not Antarctica

Clapham

There, you can all have a good laugh

GOING OUT BACK LATR

OP you are marvellous and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Pato. Hello. That is the point. It is ok to leave a child in the car in November when you are watching out of the window. Just because it is not ok in August, all day, doesn't mean it is never ok.

It is ok to drive on the motorway, just not ok to do it when your kids are not strapped into a carseat. Why does it have to be all or nothing? I could bore you with many examples where the extreme is not ok, but doing it in a controlled way is fine.

and so are you showy

I know Merry just what I said before - the thread needs balancing.

PatoBanton

I would hate someone to read the caustic responses here and figure that leaving a child in a car at any time of year was absolutely fine. It's not.

What has been noticeably absent from a chunk of the posters in this thread is the application of simple common sense.

It is obvious to anyone with an ounce of common that there's a world of difference between a 2-year old asleep in a car in the UK in November and a newborn baby screaming its lungs out in a convertible in the Serengeti in July.

But the over-reactors treated the two situations identically.

Common sense. Shame that it isn't.

Er...the message time is not relevant. My post will say XX time as I am posting on a UK based forum.

It is actually nearly 4pm where I am...didn't realise you could tell that from my post!

Strange I think you did the right thing, after taking sensible precautions, as did the Police, by how they reacted. I would have done similar myself.

StrangeMusic, you are a kind person.

Pay no attention to the mean girls.

You were the one who had to make a decision, not them.

BUT if you insist on going south of the river, you really only have yourself to blame . . .

I just googled "child dies in hot car" and can't find any in the UK. I don't live under a rock, but I do live in the middle of nowhere, is that the same thing?

Honestly, calling 999 for a peacefully sleeping child in a car on a residential street in the UK in November does seem rather OTT to me.

Keeping, the post was sent at 1:54pm and OP mentioned she had come back from lunch, so pretty obvious it's roughly the same time zone.