To leave 2 under 2 in the house while I walk to get dc no 3 from childminder 5 doors down the road

[threeisacharm18]

Quick pulse - as the title says I have 2 under 2 at home with me now. Dc No 1 is school age and gets picked up by the childminder who lives 5 doors from us.

Should I pack up the 2 babies in a pushchair to walk 2 mins up the road to get dc 1 or risk it and leave them in the bouncer while I run up the road to get dc no 3?

I would definitely take them with you. What if something happened to you on the way and you couldn’t get back to them?Yes it’s a short distance, but unexpected accidents/events can happen.

I wish people would stop using the argument that you might get hit by a car so you should really take them. Just think about that. What chance would a 1 and 2 year old have is they are hit by a car. If they are safely in their cots and settled, they are much safer at home in that circumstance. Even if you were killed outright, it would not take long for your NOK to be contacted or the childminder to hear the sirens and discover it is you and you don't have the other 2 with you so the alarm would be raised in no time. We are talking about 5 doors away not a shopping trip.
I would not leave in a bouncer though.
I have already said this on this thread but when I had to collect my oldest from preschool, it was genuinely more dangerous to take the other 2 with me. They always slept after lunch and I was genuinely away for no longer than 5 minutes. They were nearly killed crossing the road with me one time. Hit and run that involved a court case, so it is not a made up risk...It actually happened.
I really think people's decisions are more based on how they think others will judge them than actual risk

What so they will never leave the house now because of outside risks when supervised by an adult??

I am not saying that, just saying that what if I am hit by a car is a very strange argument.
Every decision involves a risk assessment which is why most parents choose to leave children in car when paying for fuel because it is genuinely more dangerous to drag several small kids across a busy forecourt then leave them in the car for a few minutes. However if car was out of sight completely you would probably decide to take them with you.
There is very little harm that is likely to occur to a baby asleep in a cot or playing happily in a play pen in the period of time it would take you to collect a child from 5 doors away. If you fail to turn up because you have been mown down by a car or collapsed of a heart attack the childminder would probably notice fairly quickly and raise alarm. You could even phone first and say please have child ready at door as need to be quick. It really takes no longer than going to toilet.

👏 👏 👏

Finally someone with a bit of sense on this thread!

1. you at home with your baby = low risk, you can intervene quickly if need be

1. baby in home, you in garden, slightly higher risk: harm might come to you or the baby, risk of delay acceptably low

1. baby in home, you out and about with N other people. chance of harm to baby in 5 minutes = low, chance of harm to you = low, chance of being unexpectedly delayed by harm to you or any of the N people you pass in the street = unacceptably high. Risk to baby of you being delayed by 20 minutes due to [insert any number of unexpected events that happen daily[ = unacceptably high.

Why is there a high risk of delay walking 5 doors down street, particularly if you have phoned childminder and requested child is ready.
You literally do not have to stop for anything and could be there and back in less than 5 minutes. There is very little that could happen in 5 minutes to a safely located baby at home. Leave door unlocked if worried about being locked out. The point is that you plan this, you don't do it on a whim. BAbies need to be in safe place and settled, cold needs to be ready and handed over promptly, don't leave anything on cooker, don't leave cigarette smouldering on sofa, don't leave child playing with scissors or having a tantrum at the front door.
You can mitigate risk and this is not a high risk activity, it really is not!

depends on the size of the houses and gardens, surely? My point is there is a material difference between leaving the kid while you have a shower / are in your own garden, which is the increased likelihood of delay from the presence of other people. I agree on the face of it that 5 doors is not much in a typical urban street, but if there are people about then you're multiplying potential delaying scenarios to a point that I (and lots of other people, clearly[ find unacceptable.

You literally do not have to stop for anything and could be there and back in less than 5 minutes.

So you see someone who has just been mugged / an old lady falling over and breaking her arm / a dog being run over and just walk past?

For me it's about balancing risk and potential outcome. If I did do this and something happened, the consequences could be really bad. And then I would have to live with the knowledge it could have been avoided. So I don't do it.

If any of those scenarios happened you would have to take a view as to how much you could help. Dialling 999 and asking someone else to support because you need to get back to young kids would be acceptable. How much actual support would you be able to actually give to any of those scenarios if you have 3 young children with you. You could also be running home, dialling 999 and scooping up your 2 babies within minutes, to return and offer whatever support you felt you needed to in the very unlikely event that an old lady gets mugged between your house and 5 doors down, if there really was no one else around who could help

I’m sorry but I completely disagree! Everyone knows the difference between a normal baby cry and a distressed baby cry - if you went to the loo you would be able to hear that distressed cry (or the other child calling for help) - if you are 5 doors away you would not be able hear that distressed cry. And I disagree about the petrol forecourt also - a stationery car is just as likely to be hit with a child in as a pedestrian(s) would be. The bottom line is that you just do not leave a child or children alone at home without any adult supervision - anything could happen, children are far too precious to put at risk!

Can you really not see that the risk of harm to a child hit directly by a car on a garage forecourt is far far far greater than being strapped safely in a car seat when the car is hit.

Not just a potential accident though is it - what about if the car gets stolen whilst the baby is inside - like I mentioned before, I have actually seen this happen!

Not just a potential accident though is it - what about if the car gets stolen whilst the baby is inside - like I mentioned before, I have actually seen this happen!

I thought it was a kidnap! I actually think this is about as unlikely as rocking horse shit!

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Sorry for delay in replying I have been looking after my 4 children, it’s tiring work sometimes as my youngest are toddlers but I would really love another one for no other reason than to add to our lovely little family - I’m 45 now so probably won’t happen which I’m absolutely fine with but lately I have been thinking about going back to university to study midwifery when my youngest start school and don’t need me so much. (My eldest are already at school and are becoming more independent now - even toileting themselves!!) I’m already a paediatric RGN but I haven’t worked in a permanent job for 5 years because my babies are so young and I could never leave them alone in the house of course as that would be neglectful, but I do NHS bank work of a weekend when my Husband is able to take care of our 4 children - sorry I digress oh yes it is of a weekend that I fill my car with petrol on the the way to work, and once I saw a car be stolen off the petrol forecourt with a small child inside (kidnapped) whilst the mother went inside the shop to pay for her petrol - no word of a lie, it actually happened but of course some people won’t believe it as they don’t see the danger in this scenario. Sorry I seem to have told everyone my life story here - Im sure nobody is interested in the details of my life - only my stalkers but it is a Sunday night and they are probably too busy colour co-ordinating their dogs to match their sofas!! 🙄🙄🙄

You have seriously left your child 10000’s of times in the car alone? You don’t see this as an issue? It’s a wonder that you weren’t reported to social services. Your poor children.

@Wonder8 yep every time I paid for petrol, you think social services would've been interested?

They can't deal with abuse cases, let alone people leaving their child in the car to pay for petrol.

Most petrol stations are now pay at pump, so hopefully all that pressure is off SS.

What a stupid thing to say. Of course they wouldn't give a shit. You're in the shop for a minute. It's fine

Exactly, I wonder how some people make it through life.

Social services intervening when someone left their child to pay for petrol, like they can't see the car etc.

To leave your children 10000 times alone would be a concern yes. I’m not SS but a teacher and it would definitely be a safeguarding issue as far as I’m concerned

Shocking! Anything could happen! I can’t believe anybody would do this and think it is ok

@Wonder8 but then there’s CCTV at garage forecourts aren’t there! 🙄 so if you fell over whilst rushing to pay for your fuel, someone would see you.