Please!! Do not leave your kid in the car.

[eliza61]

We are in a horrible heat wave here in NJ. temperatures are hovering around 99-100 F and yet again (seems to happen every year) a young child has died after being left in the car. This time a 3 year old.

Why do we still do this? I know some times it's a hassle unbuckling a car seat and unloading kids especially when what you have to do will only take ~10 mins.

Please don't, in 10 mins a cars interior temperature can shoot up over 100 degrees.

 

[luvmy3]

How awful. I can't believe that people still don't understand what can happen when you leave your child in the car on a hot summer day.

 

[KristaTX]

I don't know the particulars of this situation with the 3-year old, but in most of these cases it seems that the parents/adult forget that the child is in the backseat out of distraction, and not that they purposely leave the kid in the car. Most situations, not all. There was a case here in the past couple of years where a mother left her child in the car while she worked at I think a temp job.

This is an interesting and sad article that I came across last year regarding this "phenomenon" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...2/27/AR2009022701549.html?sid=ST2009030602446 .

 

[zachnsamsmommy]

Most of the ones here were unintentional, not that it makes it any less sad.

To deliberately leave your child in a car when it is 80+ outside is absolutely ridiculous, even for a few mins. DH left us (me, and our two boys) in the car for just a couple of mins at the service station. I couldn't breathe after about a min, and had to get my keys out and start the car. I couldn't imagine for even more than 5 mins.

The ones around here have been deaths due to changes in routine. I.e. dad was supposed to take child to daycare when mom usually does, and then forgets about child in car (or reverse, or grandparents, etc.).

I have never forgotten my child was in the car, but I have forgotten that my child WASN"T in the car (at camp, at grandparents). So I am guessing that the driver is on autopilot and not even thinking.

It is sooo sad whenever I hear about something like this

 

[eliza61]

We've had a few where the parents underestimated the effects. Today's case was a Mom who had to pick up her eldest daughter from summer camp and thought it would only take 10 mins. Unfortunately it turned into 20 minutes and that was enough for the little girl to perish.

I do remember when my kids were little thinking, "I'll just run in ____ it will only take a quick second"

 

[seashoreCM]

Leaving the window open a crack is of very little help. You need floor levl level to roof level circulation, for example with the door open.

It's a no-win situation for a bystander who should notice a child or pet gasping in the heat in a closed car. Pass on by and the child may perish. Force open a window and you could be accused of attempted kidnap.

 

[bumbershoot]

I just read an article in a magazine about those who accidentally, unintentionally, do this. It was heartbreaking.

Since it *could* happen to any of us who carry small children (or big ones who might fall asleep) in cars with us, the message that I got was to make yourself remember. Therefore, put your purse, cellphone, etc on the seat next to the child. That way, when you get out of the car (at work, at home, at the store, etc etc), you simply can't forget the child, even if you momentarily had due to exhaustion or change in habit, because other important things (things needed to get into the office like badges, ID, etc etc) are next to the child. If we have another, I'll do this, and I would probably split my car and home keys again (I had them separate for YEARS because I kept losing them, and liked just losing ONE bit of them instead of all of them), and keep my home keys in my purse.


But I couldn't even leave my son in the car to walk 5 feet away from the curb to the mailboxes; just kept thinking about a sudden carjacking. Let alone leave him to go do something else.

 

[LaurLaur04]

I would much rather be accused of kidnap then to pass by a child stuck in a hot car! I would call 911 and advise them of the situation and get the child out, whether or not that meant breaking a window! I am ALWAYS double checking when I get out that my daughter is not in the backseat. Especially when I get to work. Just to make sure I didn't "somehow" forget to stop by daycare and drop her off. Idk how a person could forget their child was in the car?

 

[Tasha+Scott]

Most of the ones here were unintentional, not that it makes it any less sad.

To deliberately leave your child in a car when it is 80+ outside is absolutely ridiculous, even for a few mins. DH left us (me, and our two boys) in the car for just a couple of mins at the service station. I couldn't breathe after about a min, and had to get my keys out and start the car. I couldn't imagine for even more than 5 mins.

The ones around here have been deaths due to changes in routine. I.e. dad was supposed to take child to daycare when mom usually does, and then forgets about child in car (or reverse, or grandparents, etc.).

I have never forgotten my child was in the car, but I have forgotten that my child WASN"T in the car (at camp, at grandparents). So I am guessing that the driver is on autopilot and not even thinking.

It is sooo sad whenever I hear about something like this

Yes, the ones I hear about in our area are usually due to a change in routine as well. It's very, very sad.

That being said, I can not imagine forgetting my child is in the car. But I am like you, I sometimes forget they AREN'T in the car if the grandparents have them or something because I am so used to having them with me. I sometimes will find myself looking in the backseat to check on them since they are so quiet only to remember I don't have them that morning. My first sign that they weren't even in the car should have been the silence, since that's a rare thing!

On a more serious note, the ones that just make me angry are the ones that are intentional because the parents can't be bothered to take the child inside for a few minutes. We live in a state that is very hot and humid and the heat index is often into the 110+ temps in the summer. I can't imagine gambling with my child's life like that just for a few minutes of convenience. Sooo not worth it! And yep, I've also sat in the car with the kids while dh gets gas or something and I've had to crank the car within a minute, 2 at the most. It gets hot really quickly! I know people often don't think anything horrible like that can happen in only a few minutes but it can and it does, unfortunately.