To leave my baby in the car by herself to sleep

[margaritaproblems]

It feels like I am but I don't know 🤷‍♀️
We live in a very quiet cul de sac. Baby is 6 months old and was asleep when we got back so we have let her finish her sleep alone in the car.

Context
We also have a bouncy 4 yo that keeps disturbing her naps so she will nap better away from her.

The car is on the driveway, in full view.

I have left the drivers door wide open so I can hear her if she cries, I have my front windows and door wide open too. I am sat with dd inside, but tv is off while she is colouring in so I can hear.

Although baby is in the car she is only actually about 10ft away from where I am sat.

I can't actually see baby, but I can hear if she cries, and I can't actually see her having all of her nap inside if she was inside anyway as she naps in her pram bassinet so it's not that different, but it feels so alien,
I think because we have only lived here around a year and I could never have done this where we lived before, but if iabu then I won't do it again.

Someone local to us pulled up and nipped back into their house for something, granted it was on a main road, they were gone about a minute. In that time someone came and stole their car. A massive police hunt got underway and thankfully the car was found only a few miles away abandoned, baby still inside unharmed. I don't think they noticed the baby when they drove off, it was sleeping in the back.

We live in a fairly quiet area (despite that incident), on a quiet estate my children are 2 and 3, if they fall asleep in the car we carry them inside, if they wake up they wake up, no way would we leave them in an open car on the drive. Crazy.

I used to do it all the time. Take sensible precautions. No problem.

@Beautiful3 ‘Kidnappings happen a lot’?

I’ve covered one accidental one in my twenty years as a journalist. That ended well.

Children are overwhelmingly ‘kidnapped’ by their own parents. Stranger kidnaps happen so rarely that you could probably name pretty much every child in this country that has been kidnapped during the past two decades.

Definitely not. I wouldn’t leave anything valuable on view in an unlocked car with the door open never mind my child.
We all decide on the level of acceptable risks for our babies and this is not necessary for me.

I did this with my DD

@JaniceBattersby the fact that it happened even once is too high a risk for me. Indeed it is all about where you put your risk line. People put it in different places but I would t call it ‘weird’. Just people put it in different places. And the OP asked the question and people are giving the answer and why. Doesn’t make people on mn weird or a strange place.

I’ve done this regularly with both of mine since they were little. We live rurally on a private lane. Always been absolutely fine. Only real concern is the temperature but I obviously don’t do it in summer or when it’s really cold without them being properly dressed.

I wouldn't take the risk. The car door is obviously open so the car could get stolen, let alone somebody taking your baby.

If you want to let baby sleep, why not take her indoors in her car seat and either take it upstairs to a quiet room or put her in the back garden with an extra blanket.

My sister used to do what you do and it would drive me nuts - she would come to visit me and leave her baby outside my house sleeping. It was in my driveway but my road is a busy (walking) route into town. So she would be relaxing on my sofa while I would be up the window craining my neck watching her baby!

Ignore the stuff about kidnappings - I mean, really...??? I used to do this all the time and it was a godsend, nobody wants to wake a sleeping baby. I used to drive around the block the long way to make sure they were asleep....

However, when mine was about 2 I had a friend who drove her car to work and left her dog inside with the window open, in the shade. She worked in an office in a sort of yard set up. Someone came in and said there was smoke coming from her bonnet - she ran out and rescued the dog but her car went up in flames. She was in bits although no-one was hurt. It was an electrical fault, they think - no warning or previous symptoms.

After that I always worried - if I'm indoors, even if I saw smoke would I have time run around and rescue my baby? I wish I'd never heard the story as it's probably really unlikely - but it put me off risking it for my second child!

Sorry..........

I wouldn't. But that's because DH's car caught fire on our driveway.

I personally wouldn't do it, i think it's quite irresponsible. Sure it'll be fine all those times untill it's not and something does happen.
Car heating up, happens even on an overcast day with doors open.
Kidnapping, as unlikely as that may be.
Animals getting in the car and sitting on baby/baby's face.
The length of time baby is in car seat - risk of positional asphyxiation.
Choking - you likely wouldn't hear the start of it before a full on choke if baby is in car, whereas you're more likely to hear it in house with a monitor on baby.
I'm sure there's more I could think of.

But i am a nervous parent and i do worry a LOT, i wouldn't be able to relax if DS was on his own in the car

Absolutely bloody unreasonable. positional asphyxiation is a thing

Are there really people random walking up and down residential streets looking for babies to kidnap? I know that sounds sarcastic, but I am also genuinely wondering if there are opportunist kidnappers around??

I used to leave mine sleeping in the car OP. They were fine.
I also used to put them in the garden in their prams and shockingly I also used to leave them in their prams / buggies outside shops.

I don't have a car but even if I did, I would never consider doing this. I don't believe you that you never take your eyes off the car for a second. What if one of your other children suddenly falls down the stairs or has an accident/emergency? It's just needless, pointless risk taking.

The idea gives me the heebie jeebies but intellectually I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. If it doesn’t bother you then go for it!

For safety`s sake buy a crooklock shut all doors but wind down all windows at least Two inches.

If you have baby in full view / are standing watching it at all times why are you asking if this is OK?

I think this is absolutely fine. You can hear her and see the car. If someone did try to kidnap her(so unlikely) then you'd see it happening and would obviously stop it. I wish I could do this, our drive is at the side of our house so if DS falls asleep, I just sit in the car on my phone but then I always need to go to the loo🙄

@JaniceBattersby that's why I called a PP weird.

If someone steals a car with a baby in it they dump the baby somewhere and make off with the car, if they don't abandon both.

Both happen so extremely rarely it makes the news.

No I wouldn’t. Car seats are not for sleeping, especially unsupervised. It’s as bad as letting your baby sleep in a bouncer, upstairs out of view.

You can’t hear your child suffering from asphyxiation.

Everything in life is a risk- correct, but in life we learn to reduce risks, like not allowing your 6 month old to sleep in their car seat, when you’re not travelling and aren’t even in the car with them.

Id only do the same if i was sat on the doorstep with a cuppa !

Pretty sure that's baby that age shouldn't be in a car seat for more than 30 minutes, or possibly an hour? So yes, YABU.

I have a 6 month old and there is no way I would ever do this, I would be worried sick! I’m shocked at how many people on here think this is ok.