Left my toddler in the car yesterday. Will I be in trouble?

[LivelyLion]

Yesterday, my 21 month old had just fallen asleep in the car as I was on my way home. I needed to call into the supermarket to get her some food, so parked in the closest possible parking space and ran in as quickly as I could and was gone for a couple of minutes tops.

When I returned, what seemed to be an employee was taking pictures of the car and rightfully gave me a telling off for leaving her in the car unattended. Now I can’t stop feeling guilty and can’t stop thinking about the consequences. Is this a social service matter or even a police matter if he passes those photos on? My child had woke by the time I got back which makes me feel worse and I feel like it makes the situation seem worse. What are the possible repercussions?

When you’ve put a child at risk like this?? Awe OP don’t worry, you’ll be fine 🙄 I don’t think so! OP was bloody stupid and she knows it! She’s not bothered about the safety of her child, just the repercussions of what she did! She knows it’s wrong and that’s why she worried! So, nope, no support here.

Ah the good old days where no crimes ever took place

I don't think you need people to tell you that this is wrong
It concerns me that the time you thought it was okay.

Why would parents on a parenting forum support neglect of a child ?

No harm done and it sounds like you won't do it again. I doubt that you will hear anything.

I mean it must have been longer than a couple of minutes if someone had time to notice, report it and then the assistant to come out and take photos. I'm a relaxed parent and have left my dd in the car when I've popped into the shop.. but at the same time it's always a shop where I can see the car all the time just in case and never in hot weather. I've sat in the car for a long time before now while dd napped before I've taken her into the supermarket. It was quite irresponsible of you OP but I doubt social services have time to contact you .. I'd prepare for it though just in case.

Ignoring the obvious overheating or being smashed.. What if someone had crashed into your parked car?
Absolutely terrible, neglectful decision. What on earth were you thinking?!

There's no way you'd be a couple of minutes at a supermarket. Next time wait or order online

I will often leave mine to pay for petrol. The risk of leaving her in a car where I can see her for approximately 1 minute seems less than the risk of carrying her across the forecourt in my eyes.

However I wouldn't leave her out of sight and especially not on a hot day. Cars can overheat so quickly and you never know if you're going to get delayed. I think you've probably learnt your lesson.

You’re rightly getting a telling off.

If you didn’t want the truth, you shouldn’t have posted on here.

It takes minutes for a child to die in an overheated car. It was 25 degrees here yesterday so that would have taken 5 minutes for it to be too hot inside a closed car.

Unfortunately, the reality is nothing will happen, Police won’t be interested so no one was actually hurt, social services are too busy so unlikely to get involved.

In other words, you’ve got away with it this time, but let that be a lesson to you.

What by lying and telling her it’s ok we all do it?

Honestly it's really nice to hear that supermarket workers care enough to do something about situations like this. I'd have thought they would have too much to do/not want to get involved.

If the hotel workers in the Madeleine McCann case had been the same, she probably would haven't disappeared.

“A couple of minutes, tops”

I think your risk assessment is off kilter OP. Next time you need to ‘just do something’ be realistic about the time it takes and what could affect that.

I have four kids and it didn't cross my mind to take them out the car when I as paying for petrol. If a baby was asleep I would leave them.
I obviously don't know the set up in the OPs situation but it might be similar.
I'm not saying it's ok (it's not Ok!) but I'm not sure it's that bad either.

This. I could leave DDog in the car with windows 1/4 open but I wouldn’t, ever in warm weather. Temperature rises so quickly inside a car. So many reports of babies and toddlers dying this year alone left in cars.
Please, please learn from this.

Does the OP live in America? I must have missed that bit of her post. 🤔

Is car jacking a thing where you live @theworldsmad, because it’s never happened near where I live? The crime rate here is very low and nobody carries handguns in their handbags.

Honestly, this thread is hilarious. 😆

What the fuck were you thinking?

Hopefully this has scared you enough not to do it again. Lots of things can happen in a couple of minutes and thank god this time it wasn’t anything more serious.

I get the temptation (2 under 2 here) but you can’t leave them in a car to go to the supermarket, even to pop in. The only time I leave mine in the car is paying for petrol where I can see them at all times and even then I’m a little on edge.

Where is everyone that their parked cars are getting crashed into in car parks? That’s not a normal concern.

This happened to a friend of mine, social services contacted her, then her son's school (I assume to check for nothing else untoward) and she had a visit from a social worker. Nothing else came of it but it'll be on their records.

The greater risk is death not kidnapping.. On a hot day the inside of a car gets very hot very quickly. Children and dogs can die in hot cars. It can happen surprisingly quickly. How about educating yourself before sneering at others.

Has the OP said where she lives?

It was wet and cool where I live, definitely not hot! I’d love it if temperatures reached 25°c. Average temp for the next 10 days is around 16°c and it’s pissing it down at the moment.

Also, it’s not hot where I live, max 16°c yesterday and wet

I was on the beach in a bikini and I got a tan yesterday on the east coast.

I think you've learnt your lesson. I'm not piling in to kick someone who's already down.

A lot of supposition on this thread. How many times does a car crash into a parked car at a petrol station?
How likely is it that someone will smash a car window and take a baby?
How often do young mums suddenly collapse in a shop?
The most likely thing to happen is that baby wakes up and is distressed.
So on that basis, it would have been better to take baby with you, but some of these suggestions are just ridiculous.