To leave a baby?

[newmun]

Theres a coop 2 min walk away from my house. Would you leave the baby at home and lock the door etc instead of taking buggy/carrier etc? Shop is literally 5 doors away.

Ps: I didnt do this as I was too chicken but wondered if anyone had?

Madmum - they were having a meal. Not comparable.

no way! you cannot be a mother!!

Oh come on! How many babies have been snatched from a suburban semi when their mother left for 2+mins to pop to the Shop?

If you had a medical event while you were home alone with the baby, you’d both be in danger.

Same as if you fell downstairs while looking after baby.

Odds are, it would be absolutely fine, op.

Fucking hell, I get nervous about going to the garage with my toddler inside. Sod going to the bloody Co op with a baby inside 😳 Um, no - basically, definitely would not do that.

@oldmums but dramatic no? OP said she didn't do it and was just asking a question. Calm down eh?

Nope nope nope not in a million years, I used to just carry my baby, I live 10 doors down from the corner shop, timed it takes 5 mins to get in, grab what I want and pay, still wouldnt do it in a million years

I would but I live in the middle of fecking nowhere with no neighbours and regularly have to go outside to chop logs, fill a wood basket or get something out of one of the outbuildings. Invariably it can take about 5 mins.

If my children are sleeping/ safe (nearly 2 and 6mo) I have no qualms about leaving them for a few mins while I nip out.

Yes, I would if door was locked & it was for a couple of minutes
You'd go into the garden (hanging out washing etc) or garage for longer than that.

No not to shops but I did to go to the laundry in my building (normal in us to have a central one rather than in each apartment) it was too much to juggle the basket, the baby and a toddler so I waited until dd2 was asleep and nipped across (same floor)

I'm just having a panic attack thinking about how I'm going to do stuff in the same building without her. I've invested in a baby monitor so I'll be able to leave her alone when I go to do the washing or have a shower but I wouldn't think about actually leaving the building, particularly if I didn't have the baby monitor! I'm not saying no one should but I would just use a wrap carrier if I wanted to make a quick trip to a shop instead of taking the pram/stroller.

@smartcarnotsosmartdriver. she asked a question i answers, simple not dramatic just my opinion. thought it may be a dad who posted lol

No way

Nah I can’t see what would be that urgent that you couldn’t wait until you could take the baby with you. The chance of anything happening is slim but not worth the risk at all

why???

Sorry phone went nuts and posted by mistake!
Anyway when I was a baby, my mother left me for literally three minutes to run down the country lane to get my father from his friends house, as there was an important phone call for him..
I was sound asleep when she left, she came back three minutes later, I had climbed out of my cot, crawled down the stairs into the kitchen cupboard, got tomato sauce and was covered in it on the sofa.. I had never been able to get out of my cot before and we didn't have a banister on the stairs..just a straight drop..
She never forgave herself for that. It all could of been so different!!

I would never ever leave my children. It's just so risky and unnecessary

We never did it but I remember wondering the same thing. It's not much different to having a shower or nipping into the garden to hang the washing out while the baby sleeps. A baby is probably at least as safe in a cot as they are in the pram on a pavement. But still, we never did it.

The chance of anything happening is slim but not worth the risk at all

There is also a slim chamce of various disasters happening if you take your baby with you to the shop.

@busybarbara you can see the car & the baby 😂

@ElfClimbingTree only on mumsnet would people say yes to leaving a baby alone

@ElfClimbingTree

That's true but u can say u was there to do all u could to protect baby..

@newmun imagine if for some CRAZY reason you passed out, got hit by a car, the shop got robbed and you got knocked out, ( I know like 1 in a million BUT) no one would know your baby is home alone until you come round and your already in route to hospital. Crazy to think that really isn't it, but is happens....

If something happens to you whilst out then the police and social care will be involved. You can be arrested for neglect. Don't be lazy, you are responsible for your baby, imagine if you slipped/ fell banged your head or became suddenly ill, how long would it be before someone got to your baby if you weren't able to tell them... doesn't bear thinking about.

I live in an upstairs flat with no parking directly outside so, if I had shopping to bring in, I would bring the baby in then go back out to get the shopping whenever he was napping - the car could easily be 5 doors down but it would literally be to the car and back so a few minutes. I didn’t consider it a massive risk, my baby was always asleep and safe when I left him.

imagine if for some CRAZY reason you passed out, got hit by a car, the shop got robbed and you got knocked out, ( I know like 1 in a million BUT) no one would know your baby is home alone until you come round and your already in route to hospital.

So in these scenarios, the baby can either (a) be with you (next to a passed out mum possibly by a road, runover, or the victim in a robbery) or (b) be at home, safe, but abandoned for a period?

Whilst b is unpleasant for a child, a)s more likely to kill them.

I wouldn't leave my child to go to the shop in this situation, but if I was runover, I'd 100/ rather my baby was in bed rather than being injured/killed with me.