Is it a MN crime to leave your sleeping baby in the garden, if you can't see them ?

[Oblomov]

I was on my PN thread the other day. And one of my lovely ladies told me that :
"There is a general feeling on here that leaving them out in the garden where you can't see them is a BAD thing though"
So is this a MN crime then ?
Becasue if I return from the school run and ds2 has dropped off, I pop him in the garden with the back door open. And the upstairs window open. And so I can hear him, if he makes a minor murmur. And I wander round the house, kitchen , upstairs, putting washing away. And I can not see him.
And I beleive this is o.k.
If someone had the sole intention of stealing him they would have to deliberately jump over my 6 foot wooden fence. Now this is of course A RISK. But I have considered it.
My mil swears that letting babies sleep outside is good for them.
There is risk. And then there is 'risk'. Are we not all becoming a bit too risk scared ?

Cheers for posts.So where are all the crimers ? Those that think it is some sort of sin ? Not enough bollocks to come out to play today (in the cat/fox infested, rainy back garden ) ?
Just being devils advocate, incase you hadn't noticed. If its such a MN crime, where are all the objections ?

when my first baby was about 6 weeks old i'd been on my first solo trip to town,it was hideous, was accosted by an entire family who were 'chucking her cheeks' whilst i was trying to my first 'public breast feed in a cafe' (grandad very nearly came into contact with my nipple as he squeezed her little cheeks) got home, harassed and stuff,dragged all the bags in-had run in to sort the burglar alarm out and then made a cup of tea,about 20 mins later there was a knock at the door and it was one of my grandma's old friends who was passing and had seen the baby,fast asleep,in her car seat,in the snow,on the driveway next to the car.

it was clear that she'd been there for some time as there was quite a dusting of snow on her...then had a tortuous twenty minute converstaion where she asked if i was coping...baby is fine...

I used to put my ds's outside the back door with a net over them. A fox will be too scared to go anywhere near a baby. I did once find my cat lying on top of ds2 though.

LOL at grandad nearly coming into contact with your nipple! By town do you mean Stretford Arndale? (nosy)

Personally I wouldn't do it but I know that I am nuttily over protective. I can't help it though. I won't even leave my 6 and almost 3 year old in the car while I go into the garage to pay for petrol, even when the car is in full sight, what if someone crashed into the car, what if the engine overheated and burst into flame, what if I fainted and no-one knew my dc were in the car, what if ds took the handbrake off, what if one of them got twisted up in the seatbelt, what if one of them found a sweet I didn't know about and choked on it, what if my usually placid and gentle minature schnauzer suddenly went mad and attacked one of the dc??????

I am exhausted by my imaginings. I am like it about everything though, give me an example of any slightly neglectful behaviour and I will come up with a million things that could go wrong. I think I need help.

My aunty when she had her first child took him out shopping when he was a few weeks old. Carried all the shopping back, unpacked it, sat down and had a cup of tea. My Mum went to visit her sister (aunty) and the new arrival, chat for about 20 minutes. Mum says "well where is he then?". Still outside the shop thats where! Apparently this was very common back then.

My aunty when she had her first child took him out shopping when he was a few weeks old. Carried all the shopping back, unpacked it, sat down and had a cup of tea. My Mum went to visit her sister (aunty) and the new arrival, chat for about 20 minutes. Mum says "well where is he then?". Still outside the shop thats where! Apparently this was very common back then.

no, do you remember meng and ecker? the little cafe at the back of the hidden gem from st annes square to king street? there...
i do live in less than spitting distance of the arndale though-breastfeeding very much frowned upon there though,unless you top them up with a sausage roll/bag of crisps aftewards...

Not that overprotective sunfleurs, I wouldn't leave a DC who is big enough to get out of their carseat in the car unattended and I wouldn't leave a child/baby of any age (under say 10) in a car that wasn't on my property.

For some reason I think my boundary line is impenetrable .

can't believe this is a debate!

er possibly is a crime but shouldn't be

you can buy catnets for prams

as long as pram is in the shade and that the garden is secure then i dont see the harm

i have left my dc asleep in pram in garden or car on drive by playroom

if anyone came up our drive,before they arrived at the gate into garden, the dog would hear and be the doggy doorbell

I have left all my DCs out in the garden sleeping, the only time i dont leave them out is if it's very hot or heavy rain oh and if there was a bizzard . Our garden is over looked but if i turn the pram to face the house you cant see that there is a baby in it iyswim.

'Obviously wouldn't do this in summer though' - not without a bowl of water and the window open a couple inches.

Has anybody ever actually heard of a baby who was suffocated by a cat? Or someone who had their eye put put by an unbrella? Or someone who drowned because they went swimming less than two hours after eating? Or...or..or...or.....

OF COURSE it's all right to leave a baby sleeping in the garden!

I'm sure it probably is OP but I've done it before now!!

DS often falls alseep in the car but I just tend to grab the laptop & sit in the car chatting on MN working whilst he sleeps (only because I have a VERY irritating neighbour who would knock on my door to tell me DS is in the car & was I aware if I didn't sit with him )

if you have a silvercross with those fab all over super duper thick raincovers..... they can be out come rain or hail

left mine out back.. out front... and used to leave them in car nip in for cup of tea. and sit with tea and biscuits and newspaper by the window.... and when exp would come in i would say i couldn't move or i wouldn't be able to see sleeping lo's

My sibling and I used to be left in the pram out on the street for most of the day - it was a terraced house with no garden, and door straight onto the street...everyone did it in our neighbourhood.

Also spent a good part of my childhood sitting in the car with the engine running whilst my dad ran in to the bookies...after instructing me to not let the parking warden give us a ticket (how was I supposed to stop him?)

From the above, either we should be reassured that there are not paedos waiting on every corner, or I should be worried that my parents were doing their very best to optimise the possibility that they might get rid of me .

anyone else remember being sat in the car outside the pub drinking warm coke through straws made of paper (you'd get a third of the way through the bottle before straw collapsed and was just useless mushy paper)
then,after a few hours of dad being in the pub with mum/aunts/uncles being driven home?
not in car seats-shudders...

seeker my Dad was sat on by a cat when he was asleep after a night shift, he thought that it was me or my sister messing about apparently (neither of us a furry btw)

Op its fine to leave Babies outside sleeping even when you can't see them.
Has anyone actually heard of a Baby being taken from outside a shop, house etc?
My pram got stolen from outside a shop when I was a Baby, I was left in a cardboard box along with the shopping from underneath.

In Finland where I live it is advised that all babies sleep outside during the day. Babies are left to sleep outside on balconies, garden, shops, cafes etc even down to temperatures as low as minus 10 and in snow storms (obviously baby is really well wrapped up). My little girl will only sleep outside during the day and has done so through two winters. Sleeping outside is great.

yes - I think its a crime, not ashamed to say. If it makes anyone feel better, my brother called me a nutter when I asked him to supervise my 5 year old in the garden. I wouldnt leave a baby in the garden..... Notice the almost apologetic tone of posters who say they don't agree with leaving babies alone in a car or the street! I live in London and I can't believe seeing prams left outside shops in fume choked streets - I'm sure that the likelihood of someone stealing the child is rare, doesn't mean it's OK to leave someone so vulnerable unwatched. Sorry

How sanctimonious I sound. My parents also said that I was being paranoid - but even the rats round here are cocky...

a five year old in a garden is a bit different to a sleeping new born in a pram.honest,azzae, chill a bit,if you are really that anxious it's probably quite hard to enjoy time with your child/children.