Being a Mother, Is This Wrong?

You should never, ever leave your child in the car alone. Haven't you heard of children being abducted when the car is carjacked? I remember a story on the news awhile back where a woman was at the trunk loading her groceries after already putting her child in the car. She couldn't see because the trunk lid was open, and didn't realize someone had gotten in until they drove off - with her child in the back seat. They later found the car abandoned, with the child still in his car seat. But it could have turned out much worse.

Leaving your child in the car unattended is not safe!! Anything can happen in a spilt second, it is better to be save then sorry!!!

miamilatte 20006 wrong of course its wrong,take your kids with you always. anything can happen injust seconds and you will not be able to move that fast. a woman left her two toddlers in their car seats while she went in the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. when she came out the police were there and her car had been pushed out into the street by being hit by another car, the kids were not injured but the firemen had to pry open the door to get the kids out of there, and the car was just on the verge of catching fire. had that car that hit her car been moving a bit faster it would have caved the side of the car in where the toddlers were setting. mom was in the store for twenty minutes due to a mixup in her prescriptions.the mother was not arrested but cautioned to not ever do that again. not worth it just to save a few minutes. and the two toddlers were heavily traumatized too.

If I'm walking to a gas pump or over to another car and I have the child in my view the entire time I consider it OK. If the child is old enough to get out of the car if there is a problem (8 years + maybe) it's also ok if you go into a store quickly or something. But I wouldn't leave a baby in a car while I go into a store under any circumstances. Too many things can happen.

I dont think it makes you a bad parent, however I do think it is ill advised. I read something that made sense one time. The jist of it was this: If you had a $20 bill, would you leav it lying on the dashboard of your car, even though you are only stepping out of the car for a minute and the car is in plain view? If not, why would you leave something as priceless as your children in the car. It made a lot of sense to me because I would not leave money laying on my dashboard. That put things in perspective for me. I didn't think it was a problem to run into the gas station to pay for gas and leave my kids in the car before that. Afterward, I would either take them in or do those little things while they weren't with me. Take care.

I think a minute should be fine. If you're leaving your child alone for a while, then it could be a problem. Its always better and safer to take children along with us where ever we go...

I missed the first part of the show, but I did see where they were saying how the police department was mad the charges were dropped and how the situation was mishandled. My son is 9. Up until not that long ago, he HAD to come in the store or whatever to me if it was goin got take longer than a minute or two. It is one thing to leave you kid in the car to walk across the street to put a letter in a mailbox or run in to pay for gas. Another to go into a large store - lets say Wal-Mart - and leave your kids unattended - especially a smaller child that can not get out of the car and/or defend themselves. An older child may be okay because if they get bored or whatever, they can come find you.

Never, never ,never leave your child in a car aolne, even for a minute! Haven't you heard of car thieves driving off with kids in the back seat? Even if you could see him do it, you couldn't stop him. Or, what if it takes you longer than you thought and your baby fries in the back seat? Please take the added effort it takes to take your child with you!

Anything can and has happened in a split second...hence the law. I would never run into the store even just to buy a pack of cigs and leave my child...even if the car was parked where I could see it. Anything could happen and what should be a 2 second exchange could be a bit longer. Your child is too precious to risk even the most improbable of accidents. I know of a woman that did leave her child for less than 2 mins. to run in the store and buy a drink and smokes. She came out and her child had twisted and got his neck caught around the strap of the car seat. He didn't die but he did suffer brain damage. Beyond all that...it is the law and if a cop or another concerned person sees it, you will be fined and go to court with a charge of child neglect...even if you were not really being neglectful. I have seen this happen to very good parents.

There's no wrong or right answer. It's just the fact that you are taking a risk. When i was little, my mom would never leave me on my own. The same goes when i had to go to school. I had to walk every morning at the corner of the street and wait for the schoolbus to come and pick me up. My mom would always come along and wait with me. The only time she would leave me alone in the car is when she has to pump gas. I think it's safer than having all the children running all around. But still you have to be careful and look at them frequently.

I work in a supermarket and was absolutely gob smacked when a customer approached my desk to inform me that the car she had parked next to had a baby strapped in a car seat crying!! I then got security to stand with the car while i went in store to tannoy for the owner of the vehicle....after the 3rd tannoy they finally arrived with a trolley FULL of shopping and asked me if their CAR was ok....I was furious and said your car's fine however your child may not have been!!! Their response....well she was asleep and I didnt want to wake her!!!! I said my next phonecall was for the police if she hadnt responded to the tannoy to which she just shrugged, other customers then got involved making comments to which the customer swore at me got in her vehicle and drove off!!!! I encounter some fairly surprising queries but that would have to have been the most scary...that poor child imagine waking up no mum there, you cant see her, in possibly strange surroundings. The way the world is now all it takes is a second for that car to be stolen....its been in the papers before, car jackers taking cars only to realise a few miles down the road there is a child in the back.....I dont think i could ever leave my child alone in the car, for the sake of an extra minute or 2, parking up and taking my child out of the car....id rather do that than risk their safety!!! hugs Jessica

I'm on different minds about it. Is the child safer in your arms then in a car seat. What if you trip and fall? The child is killed hitting his/her head on the pavement. Believe it or not ankles can be twisted with a child in your arms as well as without. I don't think it wise to leave children alone in a car, but where exactly is the safest place. I guess each parent has to decide what it is that they can live with, in the case of an accident. Ok I'm thinking, how often do I have an accident or someone steals my car? The answer is zero times, so far. Now how often have I fallen because of a twisted ankle or a rock rolls under my foot? I'd say several times a year. So you see, we can't foretell what will happen, to us and to our children for each and every action we take. We just have to hope and pray that we take the right action and let God handle the rest.

I wouldn't leave my young children in a car but I have older children so yes I would (but I don't drive anyway) but it is a question of what is attended and unattended because I know plenty of people who leave their child in a car when they fill up with petrol and go to pay and yet wouldn't leave them if they had to nip in a shop...hmmm it's a tough one this.

Hello miamilatte2006, You asked what is considered attended and unattended? The very second you shut the door on your child is unattended. When a child is born into this world that child deppends on everything from someone. They are completely helpless and a Mother or Father is responsible for thier well being. Me personally, I would not Ever leave any child alone in a car better yet my own children. My daughter is 15 and when I go into the store I take the keys and have her lock the door, and if I know it is going to take me a while I make her come in with me. This world can be so cruel to our children, so my answer would be unattended is the second you shut them in the car.

I myself would never do this, where I live. We live in a city of more than a half a million people and there are just too many people out there that I wouldn't trust. Why take the chance of having something happen to your children. I agree, it can be a pain to get them all out of their seats- I have 3 in car seats. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something did happen.

My kids are older now but when they were babies, before "pay at the pump" was invented (Which,by the way, is one of the best inventions ever!) I would always unbuckle both babies and carry two infant carrier into the gas station just to pay for my gas. I considered leaving them in the car but just couldn't bring myself to do it. If something happened I would just die. Now if you are talking about in your own driveway or somewhere secure maybe it would be different. Now how about this....Recently in our very small town a young mother was arrested and taken to jail for leaving her child in the car while she had her hair done. I know sounds awful right? Now here is the rest of the story. Her 7 mo old had been most of the night cutting teeth. On the way to her appt. he fell asleep. The person in the salon who is a friend and usually watches him while the mom gets her hair cut told her she should leave him in the car and she would keep an eye on him so he could get some sleep. She left the car running, air conditioner on, and doors locked. They went out and checked on him about every 5 minutes. They could see the car at all times. Someone in the parking lot called 911 when they saw the child. Police came in sirens and all. Handcuffed her and took her to jail. Charge with felony child endangerment. Her mug shot was all over the local paper. The charges were latter lowered to a misdeamanor. I think a bit overkill! The police offical stance is still that the child was unattended. What exactly is unattended?

Well, I do things like leave my daughter in the car when I am swiping my card at the gas pump - I don't go into the convenience store but I would not take her out of the car to stand by me when I'm pumping gas. She is 4, she is fine with me outside standing by the car. I have also left her in her seat while I push a cart back to a return, but I'm usually in view of the car, 20 feet away or less. I was planning to watch this Dr. Phil episode because my friend mentioned it to me but I missed it. I think it depends on how far you're going - standing outside your car or being a few feet away or gone for less than a minute and in view doesn't seem to be a problem, especially if your child is older. If it involves going out of view or inside an establishment, I would kind of shake my head at that, especially if you have a newborn or an infant. This brings to mind another situation - how many people have a baby monitor and leave an infant inside sleeping and take the monitor and go outside and sit or work in the yard or on a porch or deck? How about going and taking a bath or shower while baby is sleeping? If they are in a crib and safe and you check on them frequently plus have the monitor so you can hear and/or see (video), is this wrong? I'm not talking about visiting a neighbor or going off your property.

hi miamilatte i think its not safe to leave the child alone in the car. anything can happen in just a couple of seconds. even it depends on the age of child also. if he can take care of himself or not. but better to take with u. children become more naughty when they are alone. i used to take with me always. take care.

for the child ,we'd better take him or her anywhere we go,the world is too much for them to control something right now,we need to take good care of them,probably it is not easy to watch them all day long.but at the time that exists some potential risks .we should care more.being a mother is really not that easy.i understand that totally.

I really do beleive that you should never leave your kids in the car. About 6 years ago I was visiting my mother when my child was 2. I put her into the car along with all of my travel bags and had started the engine. I realized that I needed to use the restroom before I took the 2 hour drive home. I closed the door to my SUV with the motor running, air conditioner on, and keys in the ignition. I went back into the house just for about 2 minutes.When I returned the doors of the vehicle were locked. I do not know how , but they were locked. I was panicking when I realized that to the grace of GOD my sun roof was open. I climbed into the car through my sun roof. I have never ever left my child in the car ever again. That mistake could have had bad consequences.