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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think there is no excuse to leave a baby in a hot car?

60 replies

FIS2016 · 08/06/2016 19:03

Especially when there are two adults available!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-36482405

I don't understand why anyone would think this is acceptable. Poor baby.

OP posts:
NavyAndWhite · 08/06/2016 19:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JuxtapositionRecords · 08/06/2016 19:51

Obviously the fact it was hot adds to the worry of this incident but even it was freezing cold it is totally inappropriate to leave a baby in the car for 30 minutes! Assuming it could actually have been longer given the person who spotted him wouldn't have known how long he was in there + it was quite likely they called back to the car via tannoy I guess if the police came.

Buckinbronco · 08/06/2016 19:52

Yes. With their baton.

NeedACleverNN · 08/06/2016 19:53

The police will always advise you not to do it because it is technically criminal damage but really would you stand there waiting for the police to arrive whilst a baby is getting severely ill? I wouldn't

JapaneseSlipper · 08/06/2016 19:56

"Call 999 don't smash the window last thing baby needs is shards of glass over it"

Buckinbronco, car windows are not like windows in a house! That's why I asked if they can be broken. They are laminated. You break a window furthest from the baby, then open the door.

Wolfiefan given that time is of the essence in these situations, don't you think that there would be a legal process that would protect a good samaritan who saved a child's life?

bibbitybobbityyhat · 08/06/2016 19:59

Sadly many children have been forgotten and died in hot cars by non-neglectful parents. Same with dogs.

But the fact there were two parents involved means that pure forgetfulness is highly unlikely to be the case. I sincerely hope the baby does not go back to that household!

Buckinbronco · 08/06/2016 20:01

I don't think most people would have a clue how to judge whether the baby is ill seriously or not tbh needacleverNN. Can you imagine all the drama queens smashing up people's cars and the parents turning up 2 seconds later with their shopping and key?

ParisGellar · 08/06/2016 20:02

I absolutely would smash the glass. This is unforgivable behaviour on the parents' part.

NeedACleverNN · 08/06/2016 20:03

I think a baby in the sun in a car, crying away and getting over heated and sweaty is extremely distressed and needs help

I would be riddled with guilt if he had died and I could have saved him by acting 10 mins early

FIS2016 · 08/06/2016 20:03

I wouldn't judge someone who quickly popped into the shops on a non hot day. But half an hour! They could have been even longer. Can you imagine the state of the child if they had been longer.

OP posts:
BitOutOfPractice · 08/06/2016 20:13

There's no excuse for leaving a baby in a car that long at any time, let alone a hot day. And of course half an hour is how long he was in there before he was resvued. Fuck knows how long he's have been left otherwise Angry

gonetoseeamanaboutadog · 08/06/2016 20:14

No, there is no excuse. Ever. At all.

gonetoseeamanaboutadog · 08/06/2016 20:15

If it's hot. You're staking your baby's life on nothing happening to detain you.

Andrewofgg · 08/06/2016 20:21

These two are going to get press-lynched, aren't they?

Buckinbronco · 08/06/2016 20:23

I doubt they'll release their names until the trial and No one will remember it by then

Arborea · 08/06/2016 20:26

given that time is of the essence in these situations, don't you think that there would be a legal process that would protect a good samaritan who saved a child's life?

Yep, it's the doctrine of necessity.

mizuzu · 08/06/2016 20:47

there is no excuse, It is baking in my car i could not imagine leaving a child in that absolutely awful

YorkieDorkie · 08/06/2016 21:19

No excuse EVER!

I watched a programme last year where people were offered money to sit in a hot car for 10 minutes. No one managed more than 5. Babies and toddlers should NEVER be left. Not for 30, 20 or 10 minutes. There is absolutely no way of knowing how hot the car is or will get. Dispicable!

Same goes for poor pets.

BeBopTalulah · 08/06/2016 21:31

You have legal protection if you have to cause damage to property in order to save a life. Car windows would shatter completely into pieces that are not particularly sharp, not like pane glass which breaks into shards.

TheVillagePost · 08/06/2016 21:40

"Sadly many children have been forgotten and died in hot cars by non-neglectful parents. Same with dogs."

Are you serious? You mean neglectful, surely? What could possibly be non-neglectful about a parent who forgets their child? Sheer lunacy.

Ichta · 08/06/2016 21:46

I doubt they will be caring for a child much longer.

bibbitybobbityyhat · 08/06/2016 21:46

www.bundoo.com/articles/forgotten-baby-syndrome-why-parents-leave-children-in-hot-cars/

It is such a well known syndrome it has a name. In the UK we have fewer hot days and, fortunately, it does not happen so often!

It is a serious issue in hot countries and has sparked prevention campaigns (much like the campaign against SIDS here) so don't be writing it off as sheer lunacy!

Oysterbabe · 08/06/2016 21:47

No she meant non-neglectful. I read an incredibly moving article about it. I'll try and find it.

YouAreMyRain · 08/06/2016 21:55

The big difference is children being forgotten in a car and children being deliberately left.

One adult, child forgotten, mistake.

Two adults, child deliberately left, neglect.

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