Left baby in car for a minute

[LifeOnAmber]

I need some advice.

Earlier today we were at a retail park. I was in the shop whilst my husband stayed in the car as the 15 month old was asleep and the 4 year old didn't wanna go in.

I forgot to take my purse. So he brought it into the shop whilst the kids were in the car.

Our car was directly outside the shop. Well not immediate but the second row. But it was in the eye line.

My husband popped in, handed over and went back. It took less than a minute.

When he went back out, a very cross lady was on the phone and with a face like there are abandoned children. He obviously said they are mine. She showed disapproval.

Then he hears her reading out our number plate to someone on the phone and that the parent is here. I guess she called the police?

Basically did we break the law or is it negligence? What can we expect?

Perhaps learn not to leave your children alone in a car and have common sense to leave the shop to get your purse before judging people on their spelling ability.
what a nasty person you are

Kids also die in their beds, in the play park, on their sofas, at school, on the pavement, on the road, in the house, in the garden, on aeroplanes. There are risks everywhere.

I have been alive for 51 years in a busy city and never once seen a car on fire.

Risks need to be assessed. It was probably more risky taking the kids out of the car into the car park.

I am glad all is well OP. It has reminded me of my Dad leaving me alone in a play park in Clapham in 1962. I think I was about 5. He'd left me there before and I had really enjoyed it, but for some reason this time I thought he'd forgotten me. I left the park and ran across the road in front of a mounted policeman. I'm 68 now and I can still remember how angry he was. So lucky not to be killed. My Dad must have seen because I remember he was there very quickly. It was years later that I remembered using the toilets in the park, and there weren't doors. I remember a man watching me - perhaps that is why I left the park. Thankfully times have changed!

This. Common sense! Honestly sounds like a non issue and the lady was a bit keen, but equally no harm done either way.

This country is madness. Period

Def sounds like over a minute - yes he should have got the kids out of can’t see them

and can’t see them inside a shop esp as wouldn’t have known where you were inside

plus if he could have seen the kids he would have seen the woman

so yes he was wrong

no nothing is likely to happen going further

were you happy @LifeOnAmber with dh leaving your young kids alone out of sight ?

Actually this happened to me and yes the police came around later - and made me wake up my kids to prove they were alive. I was just so mortified. It was chucking it down and I didn’t have the heart to drag them from the car for a pint of milk - lesson learned!

Wait, do you literally mean you are the person who called the police on the OP's DH?? I've been waiting so many years for this to happen on a MN thread!!

If she pulled up,
Saw there were children,
Couldn't spot an adult,
Got her phone out, made a call, and either the call was answered by 101 which isn't immediate, or immediately had the call answered by 999, but got through that it was police she wanted, and explained the situation before he got back, it wasn't really half as quick as you seem to think...

If someone was going to take one of your kids, how far away would they have got in that time?

How come 20 years ago this would have fazed no one?
(i wouldn’t leave my kids in the car even if i felt it was safe to do so.)

Take the child with them, usually

No-one, ever.....

Obviously not the same case as police turned up, if it even happened (the "cannot remember where" hints that it didn't)

@LifeOnAmber Half of mumsnet thinks if you leave children unattended for 1 - 2 mins, the town paedophile will magically make an appearance somehow and steal your children.

Maybe the woman was pretending to be on the phone to the police to give OP a shock and make her worry so much she would never do it again?

You drove your children in a car?! Have you no idea how dangerous those things are?! Over 133,000 traffic accidents and 1600 fatalities on Britain’s roads in 2023, shame on you for putting your kids lives at such risk!

But seriously, leaving your kids alone for a minute whether in the car or in front of the telly is not a criminal offence, stop stressing.

You're the only one that mentioned a paedophile.

I would never be able to leave my kids alone in the car. It must have been longer than a minute. I agree with PP you should have gone back to the car.

Hands up all those people who have kids and have never left them unattended, not for a second. Not even so you could go to the toilet by yourself in your own home. Or down to the bottom of the garden to put something in the bin. Or been in another room busy doing things while both kids were elsewhere in the house.

@LifeOnAmber I think you should be grateful someone cared enough to call police. Anything could have happened leaving your children unattended and in danger. A passerby has no way of knowing how long the children have been alone.

This happened to me two summers ago. I wanted a take away stir-fry. I managed to find parking about 50ft away facing the shop. I waited until the shop was empty then rushed straight in and gave my order saying my baby is in the car I'm right over there and will watch from the car for it. No worries. Near my car I saw two guys, one says, What the fuck?! The other pulling out his phone. I said, Hi, It's my car. I'm right here. They were visibly pissed off. I explained then thanked them for caring enough to stop.
Imagine the unimaginable: you pop away for a minute, but faint, hit your head and pass out leaving your poor kids in the car. You'd hope someone would notice them and help.
It's worth remembering kids bodies don't regulate for temp like adults and get hot when they sleep as well.

Well that’s scared the shit out of me! I left my 3 year old in his car seat to nap on the drive for half hour whilst I pottered round the front garden today. How does that happen!

I'm surprised that we're well into page 4 and nobody has mentioned that it's quite normal in Scandinavia to leave your baby unattended in a pram outside a shop for quite a lot longer than two minutes.

Apple Pay!

How warm was it? Children do overheat quickly and die in cars. If the lady pulled up she wouldn't know how long the kids had been left in the car and how long do people expect her to hang around waiting for someone to return to the car? She had her own children with her and no doubt had her own plans for the day.
If I was the woman I would have done the same thing but I live in Australia where it isn't considered acceptable to leave children unattended in cars at all due to the heat risk.

Are you seriously correcting someone else's spelling (although you are wrong) when you have repeatedly used 'wanna' 🙄