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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you report a kid in the boot?

76 replies

Bigoldsnitch · 30/12/2025 14:58

Just curious! My neighbour is reliably putting her kids in the car and one (8 ish) laying just in the boot under some coats.

I was discussing this with friends about how common it used to be. I haven't yet reported it, a friend told me I should. Weirdly I'd probably be more likely to do it if it was a baby without a car seat.

Its a weird line I know. What would you do? Would you be reporting it to police or social?

OP posts:
Bankiebabe · 30/12/2025 18:16

Extremely dangerous and illegal if someone crashes into back of her car child could be severely injured or killed

TY78910 · 30/12/2025 18:16

I wonder if you’re my neighbour 😂 I swear I saw a woman up the road do the same on the school run!!

CinnamonBuns67 · 30/12/2025 18:21

Yes I wouldn't be able to live with myself if they'd got into an accident and I knew I could potentially have prevented that child being in that boot by reporting it. I'd report to the police and social and I'd ring police urgently when I next saw the parent take kids out in the car to let them know it was happening then an there so they could catch them at it.

Politicians247UnderwearExtinguishingService · 30/12/2025 18:27

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 30/12/2025 15:51

What one needs is a 'Baby in the Boot' sticker.

Show quote history

I've seen a few cars in my time with 'hilarious' stickers saying 'Mother in Law in boot', but I presume they were supposed to be somehow funny and not actually true.

snoochieboochies27746 · 30/12/2025 18:29

@BigoldsnitchREPORT IT! You would be being negligible to not do so. Imagine if something happened to that child and you could have easily prevented it.

Politicians247UnderwearExtinguishingService · 30/12/2025 18:30

Natsku · 30/12/2025 16:55

I used to love riding in the boot when I was a kid but there's a good reason people don't do it any more, it's just not safe. So unless she's driving a volvo from the 90s (those are built like tanks), I'd report it.

I had an old 'tank' Volvo estate when I was at uni and once we had 9 people inside on an impulsive trip to the beach - but those were very different times.

Salome61 · 30/12/2025 18:31

That poor kid doesn't stand much chance in life with a mother like that. I'd report.

Natsku · 30/12/2025 18:35

Politicians247UnderwearExtinguishingService · 30/12/2025 18:30

I had an old 'tank' Volvo estate when I was at uni and once we had 9 people inside on an impulsive trip to the beach - but those were very different times.

Show quote history

We were a family of 7 and we all fit into it, me and one brother sat in the boot (but we did have special seats with seatbelts at that time, unlike when we had a Lada and sitting in the boot meant rolling about). My mum crashed into a police car once and the police car was a complete write off but our Volvo barely had a dent.

Iocanepowder · 30/12/2025 18:41

Yes i would absolutely report. Hopefully they don’t get rear ended in the meantime!

SpringIsSprung1 · 30/12/2025 20:00

FUCKING NANNY STATE. leave her alone, she is probably struggling as it is with life. Its going to be an uninsured driver that would more than likely cause any accident. Police Interceptors anyone!

InveterateWineDrinker · 30/12/2025 20:03

SpringIsSprung1 · 30/12/2025 20:00

FUCKING NANNY STATE. leave her alone, she is probably struggling as it is with life. Its going to be an uninsured driver that would more than likely cause any accident. Police Interceptors anyone!

No.
No, no, no.

This is a village raising a child, not a nanny state.

SpringIsSprung1 · 30/12/2025 20:05

Sorry, went off in a rage there but im sure the OP will do everything they can to see that her kids are safe. If we got all the illegals off the road, they would be a much safer place.
PS I am struggling to find apostrophys on this laptop.

TheNightingalesStarling · 30/12/2025 20:06

SpringIsSprung1 · 30/12/2025 20:00

FUCKING NANNY STATE. leave her alone, she is probably struggling as it is with life. Its going to be an uninsured driver that would more than likely cause any accident. Police Interceptors anyone!

Yep. Seat belts are just a controller mechanism of the state. Not the potential difference between life and death when a drunk driver hits their car for example.

WarmGreyHare · 30/12/2025 20:06

Report

WarmGreyHare · 30/12/2025 20:08

SpringIsSprung1 · 30/12/2025 20:00

FUCKING NANNY STATE. leave her alone, she is probably struggling as it is with life. Its going to be an uninsured driver that would more than likely cause any accident. Police Interceptors anyone!

And how would her being rear ended by an uninsured driver help anything if her child was crushed in the boot? I don't think the fact that the accident wasn't someone else fault would be much consolation for a dead child really.

SpringIsSprung1 · 30/12/2025 20:08

Report what! I have a right to freedom of speech!

YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan · 30/12/2025 20:09

I have a hatchback and put my dog in the boot. He has a restraint to keep him secure in the event of an accident.

I can't imagine putting an unrestrained child in the boot.

SpringIsSprung1 · 30/12/2025 20:11

Maybe im after a Utopian State, must have been dreaming😂

ThePerfectWeekend · 30/12/2025 20:12

I put YABU for not already reporting it.

Foodylicious · 30/12/2025 20:12

Maybe report by 101 online?

nocoolnamesleft · 30/12/2025 20:12

I would report it. Because I generally consider dead kids to be a bad thing.

PotatoPolly · 30/12/2025 20:14

Loveapineapplepizzame · 30/12/2025 15:36

If they are doing it regularly then yes I would report it - however I am unsure of whether this would be a police or social services matter but most likely both.

To put it another way, if you do nothing about it and they are in an accident and that child is injured (or worse) as a result of their positioning in the boot - could you live with that? An 8 year old could not possibly fathom the dangers of what they are doing - will just trust their mum.

If you are reporting, I would urge you to get some evidence of it too, a photo or video.

I have in the past reported drug dealing in my area - by a family who lived just 3 doors away - who made the silly mistake of doing it at the end of my driveway obviously a few times. He couldn’t have cared less that this was in front of children. He also quite brazenly once walked down the street with a large block of drugs he had collected from another neighbour. Police requested me to gather evidence (photos, registration plates, times etc) and were in contact regularly. Weeks later, the house (and the aforementioned other neighbours house) were raided and they found thousands of pounds worth of drugs. The guy who lived a few doors down served time for it - literally years. Deserved it. Our street had been a complete hotbed of various drug users coming up and down the street at all times. I was soooo glad to move out of that house!

This is the big point for me- if anything happened and I hadn’t done my best to prevent it I couldn’t live with myself.
Also, it could be the additional piece in a safeguarding puzzle that makes the difference.

momamia12 · 30/12/2025 20:20

she knows it’s wrong if she’s hiding under coats. You can report anonymously

FeelingFineNow · 30/12/2025 20:33

How strange, I was talking to my dd on the phone today as she walked home from work.
She commented that she could see several police cars and a large group of people ahead of her. When she got closer she said the police had pulled the car over because it was overcrowded with two children being transported in the boot.
I was then telling her that this had been perfectly acceptable back in the day. She was horrified.
But yes, I would report. Just because it used to be common doesn't make it right.

Anonanonanonagain · 30/12/2025 20:39

Are they putting the kid in the boot with a coat over them for punishment? Or when they are driving around?
Either way its a ridiculously endangering thing to do.