Can anyone tell me if it's against the law ...

[Ghouleez]

to leave your baby in the car whilst you pop into the shop.

If my DS has fallen asleep in the car before I get to the shop then I'm damned if I'm going to wake him up so he can cry and do his ironing board impression whilst I struggle to lever him into a cold trolley seat.

If he has gone to sleep I sometimes do a big shop as I know roughly how long he sleeps for and that he doesn't cry when he wakes up.

Is this 'allowed' though?

I know Child minders are not allowed to leave their mindees in a car alone but that I understand.

It isn't always safe to leave slightly older kids in a car either when just popping into a shop. A few years ago my cousin aged 7 or 8 was left in the car by his Mum while she nipped in a shop for a pint of milk. She had only been in for a minute when he came into the shop distraught. A man had seen his Mum go in the shop, opened the car door and forced him to get out before stealing the car.

See, it's threads like this that make me glad I don't drive - takes away the decision!

I live across the road from a newsagent (we're upstairs from a shop) and I sometimes think it would be so easy to pop across the road and get milk while DS is asleep in his cot. But then I think, what would happen if I was hit by a car? No one would know where DS was or that he even existed until they got hold of DH. And that scares me enough, even though he would be completely safe, no risk of over heating or anything.

To leave a baby in the car while you do a weekly shop - well; words fail me. If that isn't illegal then it should be.

what if this... what if that? Maybe your car will explode the one time you leave the baby on the forecourt...or maybe you take baby with you and get hit by a van. Maybe the toddler can get out of their seat and take off the handbrake and roll off a cliff, or maybe they'll get loose of your hand and run on to the train tracks. anything could happen at any time, and if me aunt had bollix she'd be me uncle.
Life is about calculated risk, we all have different comfort zones and make our own choices. If you have half a brain in your head you'll weigh up different options and do what is right for you. If you don't, you'll ask strangers on the internet about the legality of your stupidity.