Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

What do you do with baby when filling up in garage

185 replies

R3b3kah · 26/11/2018 11:44

Do you leave baby in locked car? Take baby in with you?

My Bank card never works at pump, so I have no choice but to go in.
I’m quite a new driver and I’ve not had to fill up on my own when I’ve got little one in the car with me.
What do others do?

OP posts:
masterandmargarita · 26/11/2018 21:27

I nearly got run over in a garage forecourt whilst carrying a kid. Leave in car.

TealTurnip · 26/11/2018 21:34

I fill up when DC are at home with someone else, or when someone else is in the car. Or as a last resort I use a different petrol station so I can pay at the pump.

Freshprincess · 26/11/2018 21:38

Mine are teens and neither of them have ever stepped foot inside a petrol station. Wrangling a couple of toddlers across a garage forecourt is madness.

Lazypuppy · 26/11/2018 21:39

Leave her in the car

GunpowderGelatine · 26/11/2018 21:40

If I can't pay at the pump I leave the kids in the car. Far more dangerous lugging them across the forecourt!

llangennith · 26/11/2018 21:43

Does anybody really take their baby in with them when they go to pay for fuel?😳

llangennith · 26/11/2018 21:43

Does anybody really take their baby in with them when they go to pay for fuel?😳

llangennith · 26/11/2018 21:44

Don't you just hate it when MN says it hasn't loaded your post and then posts it twice🙄

Llanali · 26/11/2018 21:50

What I really hate, is sanctimonious snidey posts about “my children are 100% my priority” s though the rest of us don’t feel the same.

I leave mine in the car. She’s safely secured, in a modern car with impact protection, visible at all times and under constant CCTV.

Why would I remove her from the impact protection, expose her to the fumes and risk of being run over, and take her in front of a selection of shiny sweeties?!!

anniehm · 26/11/2018 21:56

Sort out your card and pay at the pump or buy petrol when not alone

Vampiratequeen · 26/11/2018 21:58

I would leave baby in the car. You can usually see how long the queue is, if it was really busy and I knew I would be more than 5 minutes I would get him out, but generally it is just a 2 minute job, so I leave him.

QuilliamCakespeare · 26/11/2018 22:11

@llangennith that is literally what this entire thread is about. If you read it, you'll find a few people that do. I am one of them. But if people would rather leave their kids in the car, that's fine too. I know lots of friends who do.

I really don't get this emerging obsession with fumes though. It's a passing whiff of petrol, not a headfirst dip into a vat of sulphuric acid! It also sounds like some of you use petrol stations where people are driving around like it's the dodgems at the fair. Any adult who is capable of crossing a road is surely equally capable of carrying a car seat and baby 10 metres across a forecourt?

Aquilla · 26/11/2018 22:12

Leave in car. I used to purposefully use a station with a nice big window.

whiteroseredrose · 26/11/2018 22:28

Like Fannyfanacker where possible I'd leave them with DH or DM then go alone. Or pay at pump.

Otherwise I took mine in with me. The petrol station near DGM's was one where a car was stolen with baby in the back while mum paid. I think they dumped baby in car seat by the side of the road. Terrifying.

llangennith · 26/11/2018 22:51

QuilliamCakespeare I wasn't being argumentative but I have never seen anyone take their baby in to pay nor do I know anyone who ever has.

Woooman · 26/11/2018 23:03

An acquaintance of mine has 7 children, the four youngest are all below the age of 4. Imagine marching the whole tribe, including 2 in car seats, across the forecourt. Utterly ludicrous.

SuperMumTum · 27/11/2018 19:34

Weigh up the risks that you expose your children to every day: in the car (accidents, breakdowns etc) at home (electrical fires, falling down stairs) crossing the road, at school/nursery, on holiday and add "leaving them in a stationary car in full view and under CCTV for 2 minutes" to the list and make up your own mind. I know what I do but some other parents would definitely call me reckless for some of the risks I take.

nellieellie · 27/11/2018 19:40

I never had DCs with me when I got petrol.

Mesoavocado · 27/11/2018 20:39

Most modern cars you can switch off internal alarm so I can still lock DS in car and he can’t set alarm off. Safe all round

maddiemookins16mum · 27/11/2018 20:41

Leave in car (and buy chocolate buttons when paying 🤣🤣).

cadburyegg · 27/11/2018 20:42

I can’t manage a baby and 3 year old on a petrol forecourt safely so they are left in the (locked) car if I can’t do pay at pump.

Greggers2017 · 27/11/2018 20:51

Seen people slip over and my sister even had her foot run over on a forecourt. Never seen anyone in a car injured. Common sense really. I'm sure you're not supposed to have anyone under the age of 16 on a forecourt anyway 🤷‍♀️

woodhill · 27/11/2018 20:57

Always left in car, 3 under 4 but tbh may have got OH to fill up where possible as we shared the car then.

Craft1905 · 27/11/2018 21:08

It's basically a game of pick which risks you are most comfortable with

Well it shouldn't be. It should be about exposing them to the lowest risk, even if you find that uncomfortable.

The risk of injury or death in taking your kids out of the car across a slippery forecourt with cars moving about is far higher than any small risk involved in leaving them in the car.

Twotome · 27/11/2018 21:10

I've never left mine in the car. Always take them in with me if im on my own and dont have a pay at pump option.