Hot weather is here - PLEASE don't forget about your children in the back seat.

[someguyatx]

Originally Posted by jobert

Most parents in this situation are already dying a slow painful death on their own terms. For as long as they live, there will be a void, no future grandchildren to spoil, no graduations to attend, no other 'firsts' that parents live for.

I agree there should be an investigation, as painful as it is. I wouldn't condemn the parents, though. Sorry to be morbid, but for some of these parents, the contemplation of suicide has probably crossed their minds.

I'm sure its a miserable life after something like this happens but I would totally condemn the parents. In this situation the parents strapped their kid into a car seat and for me there is just no good excuse, even mental illness because the parents should not be driving at all. Yesterday I was running tests on my ac and it was 120 inside my car at 6pm with tinted windows and a sunshade. Without these it would easily be 150 and either option is painful to think about a person in that situation.

[Idlewile]

Originally Posted by hlk

Really good article about this phenomenon:

Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?

Great article everyone should take the time to read, at least those who are parents.

There was a women who was featured on Oprah who did this and her 2 year old died. An Overwhelmed Mom's Deadly Mistake ... - Oprah.com She was labeled "the most hated mom in America".

For 6 years I worked at a top 10 children's hospital that sees the patients/families just after this unintentionally happens, testifies in court AND consistently sees, treats and testifies in intentional child abuse cases every single day... the one thing all the pediatric nurses and physicians who have seen this phenomenon shared was that each time the parent was as loving and diligent as you would imagine yourself and THAT what was the most horrifying takeaway for them.

Whether you feel parents should be condemned for this or not, I think, we, as parents, can ALL agree that in this day and age life is too short and fragile to not take a minute and slow down because what we are likely to miss instead is worth far more than anything else.

[robino2001]

I'm impressed almost all of you have never absent-mindedly done something out of routine. A month or two ago, I made the turn to drive to my sons daycare even though my wife had picked him up because she got out of work early that day. Apparently none of you all have forgotten to make that one stop you planned on or something else you were thinking of doing because you fell into your habit/routine and trucked along. Again, I simply understand how it can happen. Not excusing it - I simply understand how it's possible.

Originally Posted by hlk

Really good article about this phenomenon:

Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime?

I'd also suggest whomever reads the article posted by hlk as a number of the parents in there state they were one who says/said - like most of y'all - how could anyone ever do this to their kid.

[20yrsinBranson]

My husband is very absent minded. He can go into the house 15 times for the same thing and *still* not come out with what he wanted. Some people are just very easily distracted. And this can prove fatal.

I'm sure that no one in their right might would leave a child in a car purposely, so it doesn't do any good to be angry or accusatory with them.

20yrsinBranson

[riaelise]

I don't want to hurl fire and brimstone merely because I would hate to ever have a similar situation happen to me somehow. It's frightening how commonplace this is and the unfortunate deaths. I am the mother of a 5 yr old and a newborn, and as such, I cried when I read this in the Statesman. Young children asleep in car seats cannot cry out for help. Whatever you do, ALWAYS remember your child!

[pasadenawhereuat]

OMG how sad. Shame on the posters saying that people who do this shouldn't have kids in the first place. It usually happens when a normal routine is broken, or when a parent gets unusually distracted. Add to that the fact that more and more people are extending rear facing time in the car seat past 12 months, and you have a recipe for potential disaster. I'm lucky that I was a stay at home mom and my baby was attached to my hip 24/7, so I never had to think about it - I just knew he was always with me, the end. But other people aren't that lucky, and have to juggle schedules and careers. Have some compassion.

I'm actually so sad to hear about this. I remember another overheating death that happened last year or the year before.. a little boy who was left in the car when his father was distracted by an important work call and forgot to drop him off at the daycare. I think it happened at Freescale. I cried when I heard about it. Poor babies. Poor parents.