petrol station dilemma

[JayTree]

Ok - I would appreciate a few thoughts on this one please.Today I was out in the car with my dd for a long journey. She yelled and screamed for ages before finally settling down for a nap. It was at this point that I realised I was almost out of petrol, miles away from home and any "pay at the pump" stations. So I pulled into one I had never used before and filled up. I then had to decide whether or not to lock the doors and leave my dd sleeping in the warm car (cold and rainy out) or wake her up and take her in with me and deal with the inevitable yelling all over again. I am amazed that I hadn?t had to think about this before now but somehow always avoided the problem one way or another. I have read so many articles about cars stolen at the pump with babies in them etc. and found it a bit of a tricky one. When I got home I talked it through with dh and was surprised to find that we disagreed strongly about the appropriate course of action. What do you do?

where can I get a fire extinguisher, have always wanted one?

Lil, firepoint do all sizes of Fire Extinguishers. How are you?, haven't heard from you for a while, and how is the wee one?

Just been talking to dp about this. Jodee is right - there is a miniscule risk of the car catching fire (though it's far more likely while travelling) - but of course a much greater risk that your child will be run over in the forecourt.

Glad I don't live in California. (but I do have a fire extinguisher in the car - it came from Halfords or somewhere like that)

B&Q, Homebase, most diy stores have fire extinguishers.

My Dad used to leave us in, Mum would say take us out!

I honestly had never given this topic a thought before! Never managed to plan ahead to fill the car up when the kids weren't with me and really never gave it a second thought to leave them in it, while I dashed in and paid the bill - knowing that I could see them all the time. I have to admit that I also leave them in the car at our parking building in town, while I go to the machine to pay for a ticket. Trying to take baby in stroller and 4year old dd through the parking building avoiding cars, worried me more than leaving them for a minute! It works for me but then I do live in a medium sized town and I am a New Zealander and I find we are more relaxed about this sort of thing for some reason

I also leave my two in the car while getting petrol. It seems to me there is far greater risk getting children out in such situations with petrol, cars and so on. I always lock the doors though and try to be quick.

I am (please god its still there) now expecting my 3rd and wondering what to do about dropping DS at nursery. When DD was tiny and asleep I used to leave her in the car (its a country road in a tiny village and I was always quick). Now she asks to come in too but once I have 3 how on earth could I get them all out. By the time I'd got them both strapped in again it would almost be time to come back for my DS.

These are difficult descisions and hard to make. I think you have to evaluate every situation and remember that sometimes the biggest risks aren't always the most obvious ones!

I always leave my 3 (9, 5 and 11 months) in the car when I pay for petrol - the car is always locked and my eldest knows that she should never open the car for anyone if they asked her to but would know how to open it if anything bad happened.

My 9 year old likes to get her baby sister out of the car seat and I am sure that in any bad situation she would be able to cope with gettingher out, although I NEVER let them out of my sight, even when in the petrol station.

V interesting thread. I was actually sent the following Health and Safety brief a few days ago. Makes interesting reading.

MOBILE PHONES IN PETROL STATIONS
--------

The Incidents

We have received an alert passed to us from the Health and Safety Executive about a number of incidents concerning the use of Mobile Phones in Petrol Stations.

Shell have apparently issued a warning about mobile phones -
They have reported 3 incidents recently where mobile phones have ignited fumes whilst being answered / ringing during fuel operations:

· A phone was placed on the boot lid during refueling, it rang and the ensuing fire destroyed the car and the pump.

· An individual suffered burns to the face when fumes ignited as he answered a call during fuelling.

· An individual suffered burns to the thigh and groin as fumes ignited when the phone, which was in his pocket, rang during fuelling.
Details:

It is a misconception that Mobile Phones can't ignite fuel/flames. It is believed that the more modern phones (those that light up when either switched on or when they ring) have enough energy released to provide the spark for ignition.

Recommendations:

¨ Mobile phones should not be used in filling stations

¨ Mobile phones should be turned off before exiting the vehicle when stopping in a filling station

I used to work in a petrol station and the attendants are not supposed to authorise the pumps ( that means let the petrol come out of the nozzle) if there is a mobile is use on the forecourt. On the original subject, when I first started there and we had our fire lecture we were taught about the fumes that replace the petrol in your tank as the petrol is used by the engine. As you refill with petrol the fumes have to go somewhere and they can't get out the way that you are putting petrol in, so they tend to leak out into the car. I have never put petrol in my car with my children still in the car after knowing this, but its easy for me as none of them are babies, not sure what I would have done if they had been, you can't fill up with petrol whist holding a baby? And then again (aren't I a proper little Job's comforter,?) It's not really safe to have young children out of the car on a forecourt.
My sister in law never learned how to put petrol in a car, so her husbvand always used to go and do it for her at night!!!!!

Are you sure she never "learned" ? (I must have missed the training course, just made it up as I went along the first time). Or was she being canny, like dh who's never "learned" how to operate many of the gadgets in our house. Including the sun roof on the car - yes, really, he didn't know how to close it when it had been opened by one of the girls!

First time I did it , I misread the pounds bit for gallons (yes I am that old!) and thought I had put £10 in when in fact I had put 10 gallons in, I had to get my Dad to come with money! Bless him.

My mum did that once, too - unfortunately, she was disabled, and the only way she could get money was to drive to a cash point. They just had to trust that she would come back. I was always glad I wasn't in the car for that embarrasing episode. Although of course I actively enjoy embarrassing my own children!

Perhaps, after reading this, I won't bother filling up with petrol ever again. It will do DH good to have one permanent job for a change.

Lilibet - at least you're not so old that petrol cost less than a pound a gallon!!

My mum always used to say "If thou never learns 'ow, thou never 'as it to do"!

LOL, Katherine - I hope your mum's saying doesn't apply to children learning to wipe their own bottom!!!! (still struggling with my six yr old and bottom wiping)

I usually take my baby out of the car and into the garage to pay. However if I can park right next to the kiosk and there isn't a que I will quickly nip in. The only time when she was asleep and I didn't want to disturb her I gave my money to the lady at the next pump and asked her to pay for me.

This thread has made me worry about putting petrol in the car while my mobile's in the front. I'm still not really worried about leaving ds in the car while I pay (although dp said if the car got nicked they'd soon bring him back again ) but might start turning my mobile off I think. Thanks for that Health and Safety info mima.

I thought all garages already have signs telling you to turn off your mobile phone?? At least, they do round our way, in the UK! The mobile/petrol/fire thing isn't a new story at all.

I am evil mother!! I have always left the kids in the car at the petrol station. I also sometimes leave them when I pop into our local shop. I do live in a village, and everyone seems to do this. It wouldn't have occured to me to do anything different. Friends of ours if their kids are asleep in the car, leave them in the car to sleep (window open in the shade) within earshot. I left the baby in the car for about an hour the other day, locked and parked in a private car park (window open) and I checked very few minutes. I knew that she needed sleep as she had fought it off for most of the previous night and she was much better for the nap and no distirbances. So sorry to everyone, but I felt this was necessary and she had her sleep and no-one suffered.

www, the problem would be that there is a very slight chance that if a mobile was dropped on a petrol forecourt it could casue a spark which could ignite the fumes that lay at ground level. It is a very very small risk. You are fine having a mobile not being used in your car.

thanks for that lilibet, worried about it as I filled up this am! But ok, will leave it in my bag, turned on, in the front seat.

Isn't that mobile phone story an internet hoax? It was posted at work months ago but wouldn't it have been in the news? I'm pretty sure it was discredited but I could well be wrong.

Don't think it's a hoax - all our local petrol stations have signs up asking you not to use the phones and every phone handbook I've had has said not to use them in garages. Think it's more to do with the electrical (static?) charge that's emitted when the phone is in use rather than what would happen if you dropped the phone.(they definitely do something as I always know if my phone is going to ring if it is near my computer as the computer starts to make a static buzzing noise just before the phone rings.)