Does anyone leave their child in the car when shopping?

[opinionsrus]

Just wanted to know what the "proper" situation is with this as there seems to be no guidlines.

Is it ok to leave a baby in the car if fast asleep?

Is it ok to leave toddler in the car if happy?

Not including summer months when it is boiling of course, when you wouldn't or you make sure windows left open (which would present another risk as sm could get in).

Is there a "rule" that its ok to pop in to the local shop for milk, say, but not elsewhere (to leave in large supermarket car park), I don't mean to do an hours shopping, just for a couple of bits?

Just out of interest. Is it just your own judgement? My DS comes with me, but just wondered if it is supposedly ok to leave them too???

so that is at least 3 ofus that were left in cars (sundays) with crisps and lemonade /coke as kids! I knew i wasnt the only one.

lol, we used to sit in the beer garden of one pub occasionally in the summer, with the obligatory lemonade and crisps.

And later we even made it to the children's room in another pub, just once in a while.

this is interesting. yesterday we were parked oppostie a butchers who were selling pork sandwiches. i really wanted one and thought the cars virtually outside the shop what could possibly happen. i didn't cos i worried about what everyone walking passed 6 month old asleep in the car would think - they wouldn't know i was only across the road. maybe i should have ..

forgot to say, greensleeves, I think your parents were definitely at fault and neglectful for leaving you and your siblings for a three hours' stint in a car while they were shopping at Homebase. I just hope the wonderful DIY results in your home were worth it.

the fact is that in terms of safety, on any analysis it is far far riskier to drive with your children than to leave them in a parked car.
or to have them in a cycle seat.
but we don't say to parents - fgs how neglectful to have your children as passengers in a car! don't you know they oculd be killed or injured in a road accident! stay at home and don't put your kids at risk
because we are illogical and useless at assessing risk

opinions, re the law - there are no laws specifying how long or where you can and cannot leave your children. It all depends on whether it could be termed neglect which is why situations like these ones could be a bit of a grey area.

I'm sure I've posted this before, but my lovely old neighbour told me that in the 1960s when her children were babies, she lived in central London and it was perfectly normal to leave babies in prams outside shops. One day she went to the bank on Marylebone High Street, leaving the baby outside as usual. However, her husband, who was an actor and at home, was also out for a stroll to buy a newspaper. Spotting his daughter in her pram, he thought it would be a lovely idea to wheel her round the block. Neighbour emerges and has huge panic attack! She never quite forgave him, I suspect. They did divorce later on...