Baby left alone in car

[ChickenGator]

I was on my way to pick up my son from school when I walked passed a car with a baby inside.

I did a double take and noticed he was on his own and felt uneasy walking off and leaving him there.

So I waited there for a couple of minutes to see if anyone came, maybe they'd rushed back in the house to get something.
The car was parked on the street and I knew in front of a house with a driveway with another car in the driveway.

After another minute or so I knew I was going to be late to pick up my son, so I built up the courage to knock on the door.

She answered pretty quick and I asked is that your car on the street and she said yes to which I replied I was just checking because there's a child alone in there.

She then gets a bit annoyed and says I know I'm checking on him which seemed weird since I had been hanging around a while and the windows at the front on the house were covered by blinds

So I said ok and starting walking back down the drive to which she then calls me rude.
I turned back and said I was genuinely concerned for the child and by the way he's awake and walked off.

When I walked back home after collecting my son the child was no longer in the car.

Am I mad for thinking this is crazy. I remember when mine were that age? Transferring them out of the seat would always wake them but I'd never considered leaving them on their own in the car. Many times I sat in the car whilst they slept.
The car wasn't even in the drive it was on the street! I've been thinking about it all evening.
It's a quiet residential street but still...

I don’t know why anyone would do this

I completely do. My DD frequently has her one nap of the day in the car parked somewhere. I do mostly stay with her but I’m absolutely not adverse to leaving her for a few minutes on my drive, in a car park or similar so I can go to a toilet, mostly. The school run pick up doesn’t take that long, so I am not sure why there were so many concerned parents!

Mine are older now, but I have been known to chill
in the front seat of the car in our driveway with a book until they woke up.

There would have been lots of concerned parents because leaving a baby unattended in a car, even for a few minutes, is a fucking stupid thing to do.

Quoting the OP is less annoying than starting pointless arguments about people quoting the OP.

It's not necessary to be so grumpy about it!

Agreed. These comments derail the thread far more than the annoying quoting of the OP.

On your drive is one thing. In a car park? You're an idiot if you actually did that.

I only ever leave mine in the car to sprint inside for something I’ve forgotten. I regularly get home to a sleeping baby and I just sit in the car on my phone until he wakes up. It’s just not worth the risk.

It is not illegal? It is not advised and police will get involved if a child is in danger, but I don't think there is a specific crime of 'leaving a child alone in a car' - although happy to be corrected if you have details.

There are catch all laws about neglect etc.

That still doesn’t make it safe enough to leave a baby unattended in a car!

My babies have all been awful sleepers and often the only peace I get in the day is when the baby has fallen asleep in the car. I sit in the car with a book or sometimes have a little car nap myself 🤣 on occasion I have run into the house to make a hot drink but I park right by my kitchen window so the car is never out of my sight, and then I sit back in the car again.

@verycloakanddaggers it says in the UK it is an offence. Where I am it’s a crime though.

What is 'it'?

A specific offence? I didn't know that. I'm happy to be updated, if you have details.

Of course it's not illegal.

People really seem to struggle with the idea of risk assessment these days. Just because something bad could happen it doesn't mean we never do it. So there are some small risks to leaving your child unattended in a parked car for a few minutes - overheating, getting cold, abduction. Some of these can be mitigated for, some are very very unlikely.

There are risks to everything you do. Children die in car accidents, they are mauled by dogs, they get groomed by paedophiles on line but we still get in cars every day with our kids, keep dogs as pets in our homes and give our 11 year olds phones. We risk assess situations and take steps to reduce harm. We don't ban all children from travelling in cars because they could be killed by a drunk driver.

Well it's very unsafe babies shouldn't be left A) unsupervised and B) leaving a child sleeping in a car seat unsupervised is negligent I'm assuming it was a small baby ? The risk of positional asphyxiation alone . I've heard people say if there baby is asleep in the car when they get home they leave them there and it's just so dangerous I don't understand people putting there children in danger like that

Maybe she had put the baby monitor in there? I wonder if the parents were Scandinavian, where babies are regularly left in their prams outside shops, cafes and restaurants. Or put in the garden to sleep outside in the pram... I read of a Scandinavian mother being told off by police in New York after leaving her baby outside a cafe!

The irony @RockyFowlboa - there is more space taken up by smug fuckers telling you not to quote to OP as it “takes up space” than there was by you quoting it in the first place,

It’s not a sheet of paper, folks. It’s not going to run out of space for your pearls of wisdom.

I don't know why anyone would risk this. It's better that they wake up than get stolen or die in the car and honestly, if you always take them in they don't really wake up as they're used to it.

I leave mine on the drive (we live up a private dead end and can hear people/vehicles coming in advance). I wouldn’t leave them on the street or school run but I’m happy on the drive and confused by some of this scare mongering. Again I wouldn’t in warm or cold weather, and I leave a window slightly down so I can listen out and regularly check on them. I don’t see the risk of as being any worse than sat in the front seat of the car…as you can’t see them properly then and suffocation is silent.

albeit mine always woke as babies when the car stopped so this is more of a toddler arrangement.

In my bold house with on street parking I would just sit in the car too. In my current house with a drive a cul de sac I would leave the car windows open and the front door and sit in the kitchen with a cup of tea and a clear view. It doesn't sound like she was really able to keep an eye on the baby so I think you did the right thing.

Hopefully at -10 you would have been well
wrapped up for the weather. It isn’t safe to do this in a car seat and the car will cool very quickly when they’ve stopped compared to the temp inside the car when driving.

Surely if they’d get asphyxiated in the car on the drive then they would while you’re actually driving? It’s a wonder anyone gets anything done in this country it really is…

I leave my DC asleep in the car on the driveway all the time. The car is locked, and I have a clear line of sight the entire time, never more than 20 steps away.
I'm not sure why on the street directly outside the house is much different. Seems like a reasonable risk assessment to me.

This! How are people sooo annoyed by having to scroll down a tiny bit further 😆😆😆

I leave my baby in the car outside school if she’s asleep and do a 1-2 minute drop off of my son. I can’t see what is so awful about 1-2 mins

i also have left both babies sleeping in the car on the drive and go out regularly to check. My mum friends also do this. Sometimes I go inside and make a cup of tea and go back out with the tea and sit in the car.

I wouldn’t do this on cold or hot days. But if it’s you know 12-18 degrees outside I don’t see the big deal. I’m going out every few mins.

i also leave my baby asleep in my front garden in the shade in the summer and watch through the window as i cook or wash up