would you leave your baby in a locked car?

[Friendlygirl]

have left my baby sleeping in my locked car while I dashed into the supermarket to buy a couple of things. Would any of you do that? Is it even l;egal? It worried me but I would rather do that than wake them up and sometimes I just have to get sometyhing from the shop for tea.

id rather my baby wake up than someone smash into my car, a pedophile smash a window and grab the baby, my baby choke on something... the list is endless.

Incidents dealt with by Bradford street wardens have included:-
A case where three children, aged three, four and six, were left alone in a car parked in Bradford city centre while the father went shopping. A member of the public in a café raised the alarm after the father returned after an hour and put a further three hours on the parking metre.

An incident in which a young boy and a baby girl were left in a car at a local retail park on a particularly hot day. The boy was sounding the horn and the baby was drenched in sweat and apparently asleep. When the mother was eventually located in one of the shops and returned to the car the baby was very hot and difficult to rouse, although she did not need hospital treatment.

An incident in which a father left a young girl in an unlocked car while he went to make a quick phone call. Fortunately a community warden was watching and managed to rescue the child as she climbed out of the car and walked into the road.

The initiative will involve community and street wardens handing out leaflets to parents and carers of young children highlighting the dangers of leaving children alone in cars for any length of time.

The child safety initiative has the backing of West Yorkshire Police and Bradford Council. Detective Superintendent Mick Hopwood of the Child and Public Protection Unit, said: "It's unacceptable to leave young children alone in cars and could be seen as neglectful. It's a parent's responsibility to safeguard their children."

Im glad the NSPCC and Social Services exist.

Statistically, what's more likely: a paedophile smashing a car window and grabbing your baby whilst you are in the supermarket, or your baby being killed in a crash during your drive to the supermarket?

I'd say the latter, yet we (nearly) all drive and don't think twice about it. Why?

Blimey, babies die eating grapes, but I'm still going to feed them to mine this lunchtime.

Life is risky. Its just our perception of risk that varies.

you can minimise the risks though.

more babies probably die falling down stairs than stab themselves... lets block the stairs and give them a knive to play with then.

Jesus Pablo, you can get statistics to say anything you like and I guess that as grapes are such a choking hazard you won't be leaving your child alone to eat them? Why then leave them alone in a car? Fullofwoe said it all - it's not worth it, don't leave them.

Yes, you can minimise risk. But what annoys me is a society that devotes so much time and effort worrying about a few children left in cars, whilst at the same time allowing Coco Pops to be advertised on Children's ITV, in the full knowledge that child obesity will result in the premature death of not a handful of children, but tens of thousands. Or time and money being spent on Jeremy Clarkson going on and on about how terrible speed cameras are on prime-time telly, in the full knowledge that hundreds of children will die this year as a result of speeding. Fullowhoe gets an investigation by Social Services because of potential danger to a child, but if she'd instead been caught speeding - an act that causes children to die all the time - she get nothing more that a little fine and 3 points on her licence.

I just don't think we've got our risk analysis right, that's all.

Message withdrawn

Well, OK, but I once took my dd into the shop with me (note, did NOT leave her in the car). She was in a trolley. I put the brake on, started loading up the car with the bags, and turned back to see dd rolling across the car park straight in front of an oncoming car. Luckily a man grabbed the trolley for me. Everyone a shaking wreck except dd who thought it was great. Should have put her in the car while I loaded the shopping, then left her while returning the trolley....

It seems to happen so frequently that, as a society, I don't think we do spend much time worry about leaving children in cars. To me it is just something I would never do. And hundreds of children will die in road accidents this year? Can you back that up with some facts and figures please because it sounds like an exaggeration.

"And hundreds of children will die in road accidents this year? Can you back that up with some facts and figures please because it sounds like an exaggeration."

Not so much exaggeration, as wild guess. However, a quick Google search points to www.rospa.com/factsheets/child_accidents.pdf which shows road casualty rates in 2004 as 166 deaths, 3739 serious incidents and 27,095 slight incidents. Which is still a lot.

Too many isn't it? I think I am a much safer and more aware driver since having dd, but so many people (esp women on the school run in 4x4's it seems) drive with no regard for their childrens safety.

Is this a joke thread posted to cause a stir and see how many responses it gets back ?

I cannot believe anyone is comfortable leaving a child, sleeping or otherwise, locked in a car, out of sight at the mercy of anything.

Just the pure fact that you cannot see your child in a public place is enough to make any responsible mother panic as far as I'm concerned.

What if your child woke up & couldn't see where mummy was and got upset. Freak incidents happen that are out of anyone's control, as unlikely as that may seem they do happen.

I just wouldn't do it and think it's negligent and irresponsible.
Take heed of Anniebears link.

I find it shocking that anyone would even contemplate leaving their child alone in a car.

you leave your baby/child in the car, WHY? to make your life easier (what a load of shite). so its not about their safety? why have the hassle of taking them out of the car getting them into the trolley/buggey and wheeling them round to get 3 items. A grandmother was arrested for leaving a 1yr old in the car (in this weather) for 15mins whilst she was in the supermarket and thankfully she was arrested for it. If you have a child you take the responsibility that comes with it

Good for you TheLadyVanishes. I'm just not like you, I'm afraid. I take risks with my child's safety all the time just to make my life easier.

Although I'd never leave my child in the car whilst I went to the supermarket, I do occasionaly feed him non-organic food (increased risk of cancer), bottle-feed him (increased risk of excema), take him into smoking pubs (secondary cancer), leave him alone in the garden whilst I open a bottle of wine (increased risk of accident), drink more than one glass of wine (increased risk of me having/causing an accident), take him in the car to the shops (big increased risk of accident), drive above the speed limit (bing increased risk of accident), live in a house next to a main road (increased risk of accident), live in a town (increased pollution), occasionaly feed him junk food (increased risk of obesity in later life), have BBQ's (increased risk of food poisoning). All of this just to make my life easier. Its selfish, I know. But I do it. I've thought about the risk, and I accept the risk.

taken my post a little out of context i think, i was commenting on leaving a baby/child in a car and nothing else

FWIW pablopatito, I agree with you!

Life is all about making risk assessments - and often our perception of risk is way above the actual risk: to the extent that the thing you are doing to avoid a risk may actually carry a higher risk than the risk you are "avoiding".

Sory but I do leave my children in the car

• when I go to pay for petrol
• if I have to drop a repeat prescription at surgery (ie put a bit of paper in a box)
• at the time, when I was dropping DS1 at nursery and DS2 was staying with me (as go to the door, say good bye and come back). I don't think it is a problem BECAUSE in all these instances, the time is short and I had sight of the car at all time. I wouldn't do it to go to the supermarket (too easy to choose the 'slowest till'). It's all a problem of proportion. Oh, I wouldn't actually leave them if they were sleeping because I think they wou;d be very woried if they happen to wake up.

I know that it is not exactly the same, but surely people let their children out of their sight in their own homes? My children are in the next room as I type this.
The risk of accidents in the home is extremely high, but where do you draw the line?

I just think its a dangerous game when people start accusing people of being selfish, or irresponsible, just because they have a different attitude to a certain risk than others.

My parents left me in the car as a child whilst they went to the pub. And yet my mother goes on and on a me for not having safety locks on my kitchen cupboards. We just have different risk assessments. I'd never say I was a more responsible parent than my my own parents, just because I'd never personally leave my children in the car.

I also used to leave ds in the car while I paid for petrol.

And I once left him in the car as a very young baby while I ran into a corner shop for something. Can't remember what it was for now, but do remember deciding that it wasn't worth the hassle of trying to get him out of the car (was in a two door car at the time which it was very difficult to get him in and out of the back seat of) and he was asleep - and that I would be (and was) in and out in under a minute - watching through the door the whole time.

We don't know the details of fullofwhoe's case, but it does sound like an overreaction on the part of the "authorities". I think in my case, if I had a heavy box to get, I would also have left a child in the car, as trying to manage a gurning toddler, with no free hands, would be a nightmare - and if it really were only going to have been a couple of minutes, would have made that judgement call.

I know I am going to get majorly slated for this, but........ here goes anyway!
I find the messages posted by people with large families quite annoying when they go on about how it is easier to leave them in the car etc etc
Before anyone starts, I also have 4 children and have never left any of them in the car for even a minute on their own.
I'm not trying to be all "holier than thou" but I just feel that if they are that much of an inconvenience, or you can't manage, then perhaps you shouldn;t have had that many children in the first place.
After all it's not their fault you decided to have so many!!
Even so, I just think that leaving children in the car is horrible!