Another baby has died in a hot car (Spain)

[comoatoupeira]

Another child has died in a horrific way after being accidentally left in a hot car.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/21/girl-dies-car-extreme-heat-spain

again, it was the father, distracted by work, who forgot to drop her off at nursery. I honesty don’t think this is a man/woman thing I think it is a work thing. In every one of this abominable stories it is someone being distracted by a work situation and they forget they haven’t dropped off the child. The article explains really well why it happens and how we need to make safeguards because we can’t rely on ourselves at all times.

distraction kills! Much more than malevolent intent.

AIBU to think that every single parent needs to read this article to realise it can happen to anyone and sometimes extreme stress and the power of habit can overcome us and cause the worst to happen
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/fatal-distraction-forgetting-a-child-in-thebackseat-of-a-car-is-a-horrifying-mistake-is-it-a-crime/2014/06/16/8ae0fe3a-f580-11e3-a3a5-42be35962a52_story.html

BE WARNED it is the most upsetting piece of writing I have ever read.

In my day, the trolls actually put some effort into their shitposts.

No

No.

I expect what you describe has happened. But when babies die in hot cars, it is not usually what you describe at all. Read the Washington Post article if you want to learn more.

It happens to mothers and fathers. Educated, normal, loving people. Read the article.

There was one case in the US where the dad had done it several times, I think he was generally abusive to his wife and kids anyway and the toddler did die while he was watching porn. I'm not sure it was deliberate so much as deliberately reckless.

I would say most of these deaths are accidents though.

You don't get it because you're lucky enough never to have made the same mistake.

Add sleep deprivation in to the mix and you may function completely differently. I once drove through to the next town and I got so distracted with a million things on my mind that I completely forgot I had my daughter in the back, she made a random noise at some point and it shocked me so much that it terrified me, the fact that I'd "forgotten" her just seemed so alien, she's the most important thing in my life but she wouldn't usually have been with me at that point in the day and my mind had somehow convinced me she wasn't there. I've never forgotten that feeling and it made me realise that it could easily happen to any one of us, we're just lucky it hasn't.

Gosh this is awful! However it is yet another thing in modern lives for people to get anxious about!

There was a father in Arizona who left a sleeping child in the car and was watching porn in the house, baby died after being out there for 3 hours.

He took his own life afterwards if I recall.

I'm not 'lucky'. Dgp used to look after our dc when we were at work. Yes I'd be in 'workmode' as a pp said but dc still cross your mind. You don't think solely about your job for 10hrs. At some point on a break or whatever you do think of other things and then you'd think shit where are my kids today surely.

I've never been that distracted that I've left my kids and forgotten about them for hours. That is not luck it is normal behaviour.

I let my dog outside for 5 minutes in the garden the other day, came back in, got distracted, then started hoovering, as I went to hoover his bed suddenly though OMG he's still outside, only 15 minutes had passed, and he was fine, but I can imagine how this parent drove to work on autopilot and forgot.
It's tragic and really can happen to anyone

This is why I think we shouldn’t actively worry about it.

there are only a few weeks a year that this could possibly happen in the uk and parents are anxious enough without adding this to the mental to do list. I have to say I find some of the suggestions to deal with this “worry” -like practising with a teddy bear- quite disturbing.

(I can’t be certain, but I’ve never actually heard of a case of a baby left in a car overheating in the uk, although there was one a few years ago were mum left the handbrake off and baby and car rolled into a river)

Yes and these parents usually do think about their DC during the work day, fully convinced that they dropped them off at nursery or wherever.

In their mind their child is in nursery or wherever they are supposed to be. It's not a parent deliberately leaving their children at home alone while they go out. There's no deliberate decision to neglect their children.

The point is that you behave "normally" 99.9% of the time, but very very occasionally you don't, there's a glitch, something changes, something goes wrong. Very very rarely a 'freak' accident happens. And when that happens to a tiny person physically restrained, it's just unbearable. That's why it's worth doing everything possible to prevent the 'freak' accident.

exactly

Bit that's a dog left outside for a few mins? Leaving a dc for hours is not the same. No it could not happen to anyone.

Is this something you read want to admit to in public.

It’s not. I read it.

Those who are saying it's less of risk in the UK, maybe fair enough, but who cares? Surely we care just as much for children in Spain, in the US, anywhere, as for children in the UK? I don't know how this information can be better got out there but I just made a MN post to do a tiny thing. If it reaches anyone, especially stressed out workers, who statistically are more often Dads, then I think that's a good thing. I think everyone should share it with anyone they know who has a stressful job and a too big mental load.

Ok well done you're better than most people. 🍪

What do you mean?

Don't shame this person, they are proving that it can happen to anyone. That's the whole point and that's how we can stop this happening.

Yes. It. Could. To think otherwise is arrogant and naive.

All she said was she drove her kid to work instead of stopping to drop off at nursery. What do you think the “public” are going to do about that confession?!

Why would you want to shame people? Surely it's good to make people realise it could happen to them and to try and take steps to prevent it rather than pretending it never happened.