Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Original poster

Paying for petrol - take baby or leave in car?

173 replies

OooOooTheMonkey · 23/06/2014 20:21

Not really an AIBU, more a question to get a general feel. Posting here for traffic really.

I usually use pay at pump but was reading a story about a woman (in the US) who left her baby in the car when paying for petrol (and presumably didn't lock the car) thieves stole her car, but they dropped the baby off in the car seat elsewhere where she was found by a jogger.

Do you a) leave your baby in your locked car to pay for petrol. Or b) take the baby in with you? What if the baby is sleeping do you take the whole car seat?

I guess there are other dangers other than theft - fire, explosions. What do you all do? Is there "official" advice?

OP posts:

Original poster

OooOooTheMonkey · 23/06/2014 20:50

Thanks all for your responses!

General consensus seems to be that it's ok to leave baby in the car and go in and pay as long as it's quick and not too hot. So I can go in and get my 8p off a litre on the Tesco clubcard points deal thingamy! Rather than wake sleeping DD or take her in the car seat which weighs a ton.

I know it's highly unlikely that the petrol station will explode or the car will get pinched but it crossed my mind after reading the article about the baby in the States.

Really I should just get DP to fill up my car so I never have to pay for petrol am never faced with this dilemma!

OP posts:

Writerwannabe83 · 23/06/2014 20:52

As a 'baby taker' (great term by the way) I don't know specifically why I would do it but I just know I couldn't leave him in the car. I wish I had a more detailed reason but I don't

zoemaguire · 23/06/2014 20:52

Yes! And also tell us how the risk is greater than the to me very obvious danger of them being run over on the forecourt. It is mindboggling to me why you'd take them with you rather than leave them safely in the car in line of sight.

zoemaguire · 23/06/2014 20:53

Yes! was to chaos' post.

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 23/06/2014 20:56

My hesitation to leaving dd in the car (which I do do!) Isnt anything to do with any harm coming to her whilst in the car for all if two minutes, its that I dont wamt her to feel abandoned

Totalpy pfb and she is 2 1/2 so understand what I say when I tell her where im going.

lettertoherms · 23/06/2014 20:57

In many parts of the US you would never leave a baby in a car without the car running, because they can heat up to lethal temps so quickly, it's not a risk worth taking if you get delayed.

It's also illegal in my state, if not others, to leave a child under 12 alone in a car.

That said, it's rare for pay at the pump to not be an option here, so you don't really end up with the dilemma. In the recent story in Florida, it wasn't at a petrol station, they were unloading some things at a church and when they popped inside with the things, thieves grabbed the car, then came back and left the baby in his carseat on the church porch once they realized he was there.

Writerwannabe83 · 23/06/2014 20:57

But babies won't be running around the forecourt so there is no risk of them bring run over.

Ok, a car may hit the adult carrying the car seat but that logic would mean the adults shouldn't get out the car on the dangerous forecourt either.

Most cars are only going about 5-10mph as they pull away from their pump so I can't imagine a driver not seeing and running down an adult carrying a car seat.

purplemurple1 · 23/06/2014 20:58

It has never even crossed my mind to take ds inside I even think I shopped (nearby shop) and OH brought petrol on the way home from the hospital and left him in the car while he paid.

mrsleomcgary · 23/06/2014 21:00

I lock the door (which I did even before I had the baby) and leave her in her car seat. If its busy I wait at the pump until the q dies down a bit then run in. I don't worry about anything happening to her in the car, more that she will get upset and I'm not there.

But if the baby is with me I will try to use a pay at pump if i possibly can but the only petrol station near me with one is usually a couple of pence more that the one without that's 2 seconds further down the road.

ICanHearYou · 23/06/2014 21:00

If it was hot I would just leave the windows open.

No way am I carting two children across a busy forecourt (where nobody seems to remember how to drive) and then into a shop filled with grabbable things.

PrincessBabyCat · 23/06/2014 21:01

many Americans leave their cars unlocked with the key in the ignition.

Just because one stupid American did that doesn't mean it's a thing over here. We have a higher crime rate than the UK, and you really think we leave our cars ripe for the picking?

TheCatsBollocks · 23/06/2014 21:02

I've got the keys.
They stay in the car. Where is the risk?
On the very few occasions that a child has been taken from a forecourt the keys were left in the ignition.

ComposHat · 23/06/2014 21:03

Ignore the guff about petrol tankers spontaneously combusting and in the case you are talking about, leaving the key in the ignition was the problem. Which is pretty stupid whichever way you slice it

Taking the child out the car seems far, far more dangerous. I always have my heart in my mouth when I see someone carrying a fractious baby across a busy petrol atation forecourt, trying to soothe the child and juggling the keys, wallet etc. All along cars are maneuvering around them. They must be far safer in the car (locked, strapped in and surrounded by airbags)
Ign
That sounds m

PrincessBabyCat · 23/06/2014 21:04

If it was hot I would just leave the windows open.

! I really hope your definition of hot isn't higher than 70 degrees. Otherwise you're gambling with your baby's life and safety.

lettertoherms · 23/06/2014 21:06

PBC, I think it depends on area. I would say that's true where I live, for something like popping into a petrol station where you can see the car the whole time.

Or for people like my dad, overnight in the driveway!

careeristbitchnigel · 23/06/2014 21:07

Depends on the heat if you're paying in the store. If it's really hot out, they can get sick very quickly if you get held up in line.

Jesus, how long are you taking to pay for fuel ? Lock car, walk to kiosk, maybe wait 5 minutes in queue and job done.

littlejohnnydory · 23/06/2014 21:10

We never leave them in the car (3 of them). I'm not particularly worried about the car being stolen, more that they'll take their seatbelt off and the car will get hit by another car. I don't think crossing the forecourt is any riskier than crossing the road. I do know a lot of people who leave them in the car though.

littlejohnnydory · 23/06/2014 21:12

Obviously a baby couldn't undo the car seat straps but at that age I was more concerned that they wouldn't like being left by themselves. I'd rather take them with me, but personal choice really.

PrincessBabyCat · 23/06/2014 21:12

lettertoherms I know that it's true for winters in people's driveways if they're in a nice neighborhood. But not in a public area like a gas station where anyone could steal your car.

Where I'm from you can't even leave your car locked and trust it won't get broken into. The only defense we have here is to just drive a shitty car.

indigo18 · 23/06/2014 21:12

In the car. Lock doors. FGS why would you unload babies for a few minutes trip to the pay place? you can watch car and run out if child abductor approaches. Spontaneous combustion very rare. People over think everything these days imo.

PrincessBabyCat · 23/06/2014 21:16

Jesus, how long are you taking to pay for fuel ? Lock car, walk to kiosk, maybe wait 5 minutes in queue and job done.

I could ask how dangerous your petrol stations are that taking your kids into the store is a life or death situation. no but seriously, I don't think I've ever had to worry about an idiot hitting my car while refueling

We sell lottery tickets at our stations. So some idiot could very well buy tickets scratch them right there, and hold up the line to cash them in. Or you could have an idiot digging through their purse for change. Anything could hold up the line.

Combine that with common temps being above 100 degrees (38* C) in summer and you have a lethal combination.

Billygoats · 23/06/2014 21:16

Always take dd in with me. Don't have a specific reason other than I feel wrong leaving her in the car alone.

BucketsnSpades · 23/06/2014 21:18

I faced this dilemma today, left DS(4) in the car while I paid, he set off the car alarm twice, and was generally being a pickle. I had a quick laugh about it with the petrol station attendant who told me that the rules were that I shouldn't bring him across the forecourt and he had to stay in the car regardless of how much mischief he was causing.

Original poster

OooOooTheMonkey · 23/06/2014 21:22

Buckets that's interesting are you in the UK?

OP posts:

starfishmummy · 23/06/2014 21:22

Fill up when I am on my own or when dh is there
Otherwise Ds comes in with me

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Swipe left for the next trending thread