Is it ever OK to leave your baby alone in the car?
A woman has sparked a parenting debate online about whether it is acceptable to leave your baby in a car alone while you drop off an older child at preschool.
Talking to parenting site Mumsnet, the anonymous mom said that every morning when she drops her own 3-year-old off at preschool, she has noticed a baby left in a car on its own.
Though the mom points out that she understands how difficult it can be to do the drop-off with a baby in tow, she herself takes her 6-month-old out of his car seat and into the nursery with her.
“Sometimes the drop-off can take 10 mins or more by the time you are buzzed in etc., especially if it’s busy and there’s a queue to get in the classroom,” she wrote.
“Car is parked right at the corner of a busy junction on double yellow lines — it’s a 2 min walk away. There’s no way she could see the baby as you have to go round the corner,” she continued.
The mom went on to explain that she’s so concerned she’s thinking of talking to the nursery manager, but her husband thinks she should “stay out of it.”
She finished her post by asking the forum what others thought about the thorny subject.
Other parents were quick to step in and offer their own opinions. Many agreed that the baby shouldn’t be left in the car.
“Cars temperatures can rise rapidly on hot days, babies have a difference in fluid volumes to surface area than adults — they dehydrate much quicker. It can be bloody dangerous even just under 10 minutes,” one user wrote.
“Would you leave £1000 in cash on show in your car for 10 minutes? No? Then why on earth would you leave your baby?” another woman added.
“I wouldn’t do it, no,” another added. “Concerns about the baby being kidnapped or the car being hit are one thing, but the most likely is that the baby could get really upset — I would hate to think of my baby crying for 10 mins or so and nobody being there to soothe her.”
But other parents couldn’t see a problem with it.
“The baby was probably safer in the car than being taken with the parent,” one user suggested. “Officialdom in the U.K. is often ridiculous when it comes to enforcing safety.”
“To be honest it’s a stretch to say the baby is in danger, isn’t it? The other mum has assessed the situation and is happy with it,” another mother added.
Some parents shared examples of times they have left their own children in the car.
“I’ve done it before with one child when dropping the other off at preschool when one or the other in the equation had chicken pox and there was only me to do the preschool run,” a mom wrote.
“I’ve left my twins in the car to run into a little co-op store for bread and milk, but I could see the car at all times and checked there wasn’t a huge queue before committing so knew there would be no holdups,” one mom shared. “The thought of getting them both up and into the pushchair and then back in car seats and putting the double pushchair away seemed like an awful lot of faff for bread and milk.”
“I do this all the time,” another mother added. “Not every time, but if she’s asleep I don’t wake her, or if her chest’s bad (repeat bronchiolitis) and the weather’s inclement I leave her be. I’m happy with my decision,” another parent commented.
Whether or not to leave your children in the car while you dash to the store, pay for gas, grab a quick caffeine hit, or similar: That’s a dilemma many parents have faced. What do you think?
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