Leaving toddler in car

[rabbitsdontlayeggs]

Please settle this disagreement for me and my DH!

Leaving toddler (20 months) in the car while you go and pay for petrol. Would you do it? I would not (unless I was using pay at the pump, then I wouldn't get her out as I'd be stood right next to the car) but DH says he would and has. I'm horrified that he's left her and have said I really don't want him to do that again, he thinks I am ridiculous and 'it's only for two minutes'.

Who is UR?

There is no reason why you can't plan ahead and buy petrol when your toddler is not with you/only go to stations with pay at pump facilities.

Didnt leave ours, we just both used a station that had pay at pump. I've never left them unattended in the car.

@Ttbb - RTFT. There are lots of places that don't have pay at pump.

Also, this is fucking bonkers. Nothing will happen if you leave your children in the car for 2 minutes while you pay. Absolutely nothing.

MN is mad.

Its just another personal choice as a parent you make, no need to throw over anxious at anyone or any of the other things there are risks with nearly everything in life & you just gotta do the best option for you & hope it turns out to be the right one, as I said I'm one who takes her children with her as I worked in one for 6 years & remember something happening to a friend when I was younger helps me make the choice I make to take them with me, as you all say the risks are minimal but being in a garage working where a man came onto the forecourt with a gun and armed place had to come & arrest the man these personal experiences are why i make the decision I do when anywhere with my DC, its the same for most choices we make in life I think personal opinion & experiences & what works best for you, op simply has a disagreement with dh on a parenting choice

He is reasonable op, you are not.

Granted I was astonished recently my dad revealed he got my 2.5 year old out of the car to pay petrol when he has to fill up and he’s looking after. Astonished because he definitely did not do such a thing with me or my younger sibling when we were little in the 90’s!

I leave her safely strapped in when filling up with petrol. Though would only use pay at pump stations when she was tiny.

Excuse my poorly written post. I’ve not been at the wine honest! I really should proof read

Shouldn't do it really... what if the car was stolen

This happens surprisingly often here; three or four times in the past year, just in my local area. For that reason, I wouldn't do it.

But if a man came onto the forecourt with a gun, surely to god the child would be safer in a locked car than in the shop at the mercy of an armed man walking in!!! Sure, the risks of either option are low, so it probably doesn't much matter, but trying to justify your taking them in with you as a safer option than leaving them in the car is where it starts breaking down, because by all rational accounting it is not.

Three or four times in your local area, in one year, a car was broken into and stolen in the two minutes it took for the owner to pay for their petrol?! No, really it wasn't.

Jigglytuff I agree. This is all bonkers as conkers.

Three or four times in your local area, in one year, a car was broken into and stolen in the two minutes it took for the owner to pay for their petrol?! No, really it wasn't.

If you say so.

He didn't enter the shop was just on forecourt & if he did fire the gun it could have blew the whole garage away so perhaps wouldn't of mattered at all where children were, ain't justifying my decition why I take them into garage just saying that's why I take them everywhere with me not just in the garage I like my DC near me in most situations just in case its not a anxious thing doesn't bother me or my children just choices I've always made with them if I can help it they near me as I'd rather with me than alone in any sitution

So at what age do you let them stay in the car when you are getting petrol? 18? 32? At what point does it become safe to let them out of your sight?

steff LOCKED cars?! Not cars with their keys still in, while the owner was distracted, which is the usual way thefts happen at petrol stations? You'd need a bloody speedy thief!

For me it hasn't happened yet I have a 9,3 & 3 month old so I know I'm going to struggle with this one after having my third if I find myself needing to fill up with all three of them with me, so far its always been done in the day time when older ones are at school/nursery, I think like most things with children its when you/child are ready no age as such for me but when I feel they are ready just like at a park my oldest can go the run of the park happened gradually but 3 year old I'm behind her & she's also learnt to always wait for me wherever we are doesn't effect our day to day at all, whatever your most comfiest with & works for you & this is what works for me & my dc

I never left my 20 month old twins in the car. Tried my best to get petrol when they were at nursery or at night when hubby was home, but if I needed to get petrol with them, did not leave them in the car

Why? And how do you manage to carry twins and pay for petrol? And again, why?

Putting the kids in the pram to go and get a trolley is bonkers. I’d think someone had a screw loose if I saw them doing that. Do you then have to push the trolley and pram one handed back to the car to put the pram back in?

It doesn’t make much sense to me, it’s not leave them or take them into the garage.
I’ve actually never taken them across a forecourt.
Just find a petrol station that has pay at the pump. Yes you might have to drive a bit out your way. Or if not wait till the evening (or whenever) and your partner is home then go fill up then.
And yes I’ve definitely heard on more than one occasion of cars being taken with kids in the back so why on earth would I EVER leave my child in the car unattended.

It doesn’t make much sense to me, it’s not leave them or take them into the garage

It is though. There is no pay at pump where I live, it isn't everywhere.

And yes I’ve definitely heard on more than one occasion of cars being taken with kids in the back so why on earth would I EVER leave my child in the car unattended

I definitely have heard on more than one occasion of kids being taken from their bedrooms while unattended, so I hope you sit and stare at them all night?
Same logic.

I pay at the pump...but, I think leaving older children in the car is even more risky....I'd be worried mine would take the handbrake off!

Me personally , I never left the kids, always unbuckled them, carried them into pay, and then took back out again. Always.

I always leave mine. Christ on a bike they are a liability to both themselves and me out of the car😅

Unlike Steff, in our local area, in our country in fact, I don't think there's ever been a reported case of someone jumping into a car with a child still inside to steal it.

Ah Jesus, there was one a month ago in the country. But the mum was actually at the car, just not in it, and it was a shopping centre. So.....what do you do to avoid that happening between putting the child in the car and getting in yourself? How are these thiefs getting the car started I'd like to know....

I leave mine, 2 and 4 in the car and always have. I think it's much safer for them than taking them across a forecourt. I work at petrol station and have never seen anything go wrong with parents doing this.

• There's cameras everywhere that staff can see, a kidnap is very unlikely.
• a car bumping the car isn't going to be at any speed if it does and much safer to be hit in a car seat than on the forecourt.
• what would they choke on? As long as they aren't eating and don't have any small toys they are fine.
• if they escape into the car your car alarm will go off or you'll see and can run out. Your only meters away and can see them.

I will wait for a pump that's directly in front of the shop or pull forward into spaces next to the shop so I can always see them. It takes me minutes to go pay alone, much longer with them!

I'd be well pissed off if I was behind a car waiting for a petrol pump and a woman/man came out and started faffing about and strapping a child back into the car seat. It's bad enough when someone comes out and spends ages putting their purse away, getting good their seat belt on, checking the mirror, slowly setting off... just get in the car and drive off FGS!