It's about time, but how sad!
By dragon54u
@dragon54u (31636)
United States
August 21, 2008 9:23am CST
A device has been patented to warn drivers that an occupied child seat is in their car. The light goes off when the child is removed.
Some of you may have seen my discussion in "Life" about the baby being left in the car while mom was at work, forgetting her child. I can only imagine her agony, but how do you forget your child? It happens too much:
"..a vice principal's daughter died outside her school in Clermont County. Brenda Nesselroad Slaby left her two-year-old daughter, Cecelia, inside an SUV outside Glen Este Middle School on August 23, 2007. Cecelia was not discovered for eight hours. Slaby was not charged because the death was ruled an accident, and did not rise to the level of recklessnss.
Just last week, two children died in hot cars in the Houston area. Last Thursday, a hospital employee left her three-year-old son in a truck outside the medical center. He was in the truck for nine hours. Just a day earlier, a grandmother left her three-year-old grandson strapped in a car seat. He was not discovered for 10 hours. Both women said the children were supposed to go to daycare, but they forgot on the way to work.
Earlier this year, an Ohio grandmother patented a device to help parents remember their children in car seats. Sue Sloan, of Columbus, named the device Cecila's Safety Seat after Slaby's child. When a child is in a car seat, an indicator light is displayed on the dashboard. The light goes out when the child is removed. Similar devices that attach to car seats are already on the market."
Do you ever forget where your children are? Could you use this new device? My kids were too noisy to ever forget where they were! I wouldn't have, anyway, they were too precious to me. I hope this device is retrofitted onto every parents' car!! They should make it a law that parents should have this.
What do you think?
4 people like this
9 responses
@palonghorn (5479)
• United States
22 Aug 08
I never needed any device to remind me I had children. And my opinion on it is, if you have to have some device installed to remind you that you have children, maybe you shouldn't have any. I never once did not know where my kids were, whether in the house, car, outside, wherever. How is it that it is not 'reckless endangerment', they left a child in a car, alone, for 8 hours! And I for one have no sympathy for those parents that do that, for the child that was left in a hot car, yes I feel very badly for those small children that can't even save themselves, and have parents that forget them.
2 people like this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
22 Aug 08
I agree with you but unfortunately we can't dictate who can have children.
@angelface23 (2494)
• United States
22 Aug 08
I think that's a really good idea but it's one of those things that shouldn't have to have been invented you know? I really don't see how someone could forget to remove their child from the car?? I would never do that. If you are just that forgetful why don't you just write yourself a post it note and stick them all over the car-on your window, steering wheel, mirrors, so you don't forget. And plus, I'm sure these kids are making some sort of noise during the drive into whereever they're going. Some people shouldnt be allowed to have kids.
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
22 Aug 08
There's not one person here who has responded to this discussion or the other I put in another section who understands how someone can forget their child. I think that whoever wants something like this should give up their child for adoption.
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
21 Aug 08
It is a good idea and should have been thought of sooner. It takes nine months to form a baby, not to mention the time trying to get pregnant, so something like this is a godsend to parents who may be too busy to notice that their child is still in the back. Not all children are noise makers. Some you hardly know are there and have to pinch them to see if they are awake or alive. For a parent with a quiet child, this would be wonderful. I have a grandaughter and I hope it is made available in Canada so my son can buy one.
@foxyfire33 (10005)
• United States
22 Aug 08
Links are fine as long as they are relevant to the discussion and are not a referral link to another money making site.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Aug 08
You can order one from Baby Alert, I just discovered! I hesitate to type the website but just go to baby alert dot com and it's in the child minder column. I read that it's only about $50 but didn't look much at the site because of the music interfering with what I'm listening to as I work!
@GreenMoo (11834)
•
24 Aug 08
I read your earlier discussion with absolute horror. How could you forget your child?
Although it sounds inconceivable to me that it could happen, it obviously does. So if a device like this stops it happening to some poor child then it's got to be a good thing. I suppose it can be achieved fairly simply.
I have to be honest though, it's very easy to ignore a light on your dashboard! I think a beeping noise when the engine is turned off but the car seat is still occupied might be more effective.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
24 Aug 08
They also have an audible alarm you can put on your keychain.
I just read an update on this case and she dropped off her little boy at preschool and took the baby in with her so at one point she absolutely knew she was in the car. She's miserable now, of course, I don't know how she'll live with this. I couldn't.
@Rosekitty (19368)
• San Marcos, Texas
21 Aug 08
Yes very sad..and my children were noisy too..just makes me wonder what is so urgent to forget your precious cargo in the backseat? I always would look all around my vehicle to see what i needed to take with me wherever i was, so forgetting babes would never be something to miss..
2 people like this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Aug 08
It's precious cargo to you, but to others they are just another hurdle in life. I could never forget my babies, my boys or (now) my young men. They make my life worthwhile.
@mandam (5)
• Australia
25 Aug 08
I like other responders have noisy kids - there is no way that I could forget they were there. Even on their quietest days. But at the same time I am aware of where my kids are every minute of their days. Even when they are at school or childcare they are on my mind - even when I am at work. I can not see how even 1 hour could go by without thinking about where my kids are. So I think that 8 hours is outrageous. A device to stop this is I suppose inevitable. There are many devices out there to make our lives easier, lazier, less responsible. It is very sad.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
25 Aug 08
You said "easier, lazier, less responsible. It is very sad." Yes, indeed!
I wonder, from something another myLotter said, if she may have a medical condition but I read today that she dropped her son off at preschool and took the baby in while she checked him in. So she knew, at one point, that the baby was there.
I think I would not blame her so much as the culture that encourages us to blame everyone but ourselves, to take shortcuts and get maximum results with minimum effort.
Our children have been cheapened, tucked into the "inconvenient" part of our lives, and moms relegated to "victim" status for the oppression of having the children.
That woman may very well have a medical condition like sleep apnea that affects the memory but if she took the baby into the preschool, I have to wonder.
Regardless, I'm praying for her. I can't imagine living with that for the rest of my life.
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
21 Aug 08
I think that device is a good idea. 
It just seems weird to me that so many people are forgetting their kids in their cars. No one is getting charged, so what is to stop someone from leaving their kids in the car on purpose? It just baffels me that so many people could be forgetting their children. I forget that my kids aren't in the car. I'll drop them off at my moms and be driving down the road and swear I heard one of them making noise lol. I wouldn't need this device, I've never forgotten my kids were with me. I hope that they make it come standard on every carseat. And if it is to expensive for some, I hope they find a way to make it affordable so that no one can leave their kid in the car and say "well I couldn't afford one of those detectors"
It just seems weird to me that so many people are forgetting their kids in their cars. No one is getting charged, so what is to stop someone from leaving their kids in the car on purpose? It just baffels me that so many people could be forgetting their children. I forget that my kids aren't in the car. I'll drop them off at my moms and be driving down the road and swear I heard one of them making noise lol. I wouldn't need this device, I've never forgotten my kids were with me. I hope that they make it come standard on every carseat. And if it is to expensive for some, I hope they find a way to make it affordable so that no one can leave their kid in the car and say "well I couldn't afford one of those detectors" 1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Aug 08
Hospitals make car seats available free of charge to those parents of newborns that can't afford them. Why not this device?
My kids were like yours, I'd forget if they weren't in the car! I miss them now they're grown--but I always knew where they were and still do most of the time.
1 person likes this
@Shawchert (1094)
• United States
21 Aug 08
that sounds so awesome!!! It would give people to not have the excuse to say "oh i forgot" ... how could you forget about your child??? -_- but this is awesome thought, hopefully it can be put to use.
And yes it should be a law to have that device in a parents car!! I know I don't need reminding to take my son out, and I'm very absent minded but I wouldn't mind having one more thing in my parents car *can't drive* lol, and I'm sure that's just one more thing my parents can complain about lol.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
21 Aug 08
They won't release a newborn from the hospital without a car seat and I think this device should be added to the mandatory equipment parents must have before taking their newborn home!
@SangsTurks (1444)
• India
22 Aug 08
Do you think people who forget their child in the backseat would even notice the indicator. When they have a live, bubbly,yelling ,crying, giggling indicator in the backseat, a piece of themselves and forget them how on earth would they even think of noticing the indicator. The indicator should have a very annoying sound as soon as the car (driver)door opens, so to stop that annoying noise the parents have to look into the car.
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
22 Aug 08
Can you imagine thinking so little of your child that you forget he's there, even if he's napping? I can't. I feel awful for that woman but more for the child. She lost her life because she wasn't important to her mother.
