Babies left in hot cars

Parents sometimes end up treating their baby like a belonging, or an object, and lose sight of the fact that he/she is a very fragile human. Parents need to take an extra 30 seconds or so, get the stroller out, and bring that fragile human with them when they leave the car.

I have a hard time comprehending the state of mind a parent must be in to make such a devastating mistake. Me and my wife never take chances with this kind of thing. We're on baby number 3.

 

Isin't this against the law?

 

It most certainly is against the law. (In some states you cannot even leave your dog in the car.) Even if all you're doing is running briefly into a store. Obviously, leaving a baby in a hot car for an extended period of time can result it the death of the infant.

 

This is one of the dumber things people do on a regular basis, sometimes even leaving the car running. You have to judge that it's worth risking the welfare of the most precious creature in all existence - and provide the means for someone to whisk it away, and maybe even make that part as easy as possible by leaving the car running - in order to avoid the inconvenience of getting the child out of the car, or, you know, just skipping the running briefly into the store thing altogether.

I doesn't even take all that long, depending on how hot and sunny it is. The greenhouse effect can be really evil.

 

Recently, I pulled up to a Walgreens with both my kids asleep in the car. I got out of the car to use the Redbox to get a movie, which was in front of my car. I stopped. I felt completely guilty doing even that. I thought for a second and preceded to get my movie, with my kids in sight the entire time. It took all of 45 seconds. I still felt bad afterward, though I can't completely explain why other than I guess I wasn't sure if what I was doing was morally wrong and still went ahead anyway. Thinking back, it was no biggie as they were 10 feet away and in sight. But where is the line drawn? How close or long out of sight is too long? I certainly don't have the answers.

 

Blades,

I certainly think that anything that requires you to be out of sight of your children, even for a relatively brief period of time, is too long. Keep in mind that this applies to young children. I certainly don't have a problem with teenagers going off to the movies or the mall by themselves. But if we're talking about children who aren't even old enough to go to school, I don't think there's any timeframe acceptable for them to be out of side in a public setting.

In the house, it's different. When I give Jack a bath at night, I'll typically step out of the bathroom when he's in the tub to get his pajamas out and get him a glass of water for when he goes to bed. But I'm not leaving the house, and if he falls or something I'd hear it, and he's big enough that he's not going to drown in the bathtub if left unattended for a minute or two. I also will leave him unattended while he's watching a movie if I want to run downstairs and throw a load of clothes in the washer. But again, we're in the house together.

I certainly wouldn't feel bad about getting the movie. They were in sight, and you were basically standing next to the car the entire time.

 

Some people say I'm too cautious -- even to the point of being paranoid. I tell those people to go diddle themselves. I'd rather be too cautious and have my kids alive and unkidnapped than all laissez faire and relaxed and end up with one of my kids dead or being traded around from brothel to brothel.

Blades, I've done the whole "walking backward to the video store drop off slot so that my eyes were never off them for a second" thing many times. I look like an idiot, but see above -- I don't care!

 

I'm taking a stand.

I am AGAINST this.

 

Do you guys do this with the car running? And presumably with the doors unlocked so the kids aren't trapped in there?

 

Running? Hell no Gaear. Car is off and locked, windows were cracked open. Of course, only for 45 seconds and I was 10 feet away. But I wouldn't walk away form the car where it would be out of sight. Hell, I wouldn't walk more than 10 feeet away either. Leaving your kids in the car while you are shopping is a whole other ballgame as you have no control over what is happening around them or possiblity of helping them if they get in need.

 

I have left my kids in the car when, say, using an ATM. I'll park my car directly next to the ATM, leave it running (I'm within 5 feet of it, and live in a very low crime area).

I'm done in less than a minute, and constantly looking back to make sure no one untoward is approaching me or or my kids/vehicle.

I don't have an issue with something like this. It's when your kids are out of sight, and you're doing something that might distract your attention that I find to be crossing the line. If they're in sight, and you're doing a super quick, well-understood process it should be fine. Anything more and the car should be parked and the kids should go with you.

If I'm going to go inside the bank to deposit a check or something, then you better believe that I'm going to bring my kids in with me.

 

When the kids are infants, up to the age of around 5 or so, my opinion is that whatever you need to do can either wait until you get the kids home, leave them with the other parent / adult / sitter over 12, and then go do your running around. Or, bring them in with you. Leaving kids that small in the car is uncool.

As they get older, nipping into a convenience store (one from which you can see the car at all times), with the car keys in your pocket and the windows cracked, is fair enough. Unless the child were around 10 or more, I would not leave the keys in the car at any time. At that age, they can keep the doors locked and honk the horn like crazy if some filthy piece of **** out on parole on his 40th rape conviction comes around.

 

Heh, this morning I saw a guy at the convenience store, happily getting a coffee et al while his two kids waited outside in the back seat (in child seats) of his new model Ford Flex, his back to them while he fixed up his coffee just so. He had to be in there for five minutes; he was in there when I went in and he was still in there when I came out.

 

Having been raised in Arizona I used to see these stories all the time. I never leave my children alone in a car ... NEVER. I fully support any legislation which put heavy fines or even jail time on parents who do. I would also like to see parent charged with 2nd degree murder when children die from this.