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Oh, dear lord, not this again. Brace yourself for some rabid responses because people are not always rational about this question.
To speak for myself, no, I never left my infant in a car while I bought groceries. However, I did leave my infant in the car while I got cash from an ATM, paid for gas, and returned a shopping cart to the corral. There are people who see child abuse and deadly potential in all of those scenarios. There are people who actually believe it is safer to carry your infant through the parking lot while you return the cart. There are people who believe that it not only possible but even likely that a stranger will smash your car window and steal your infant while you are 8 feet away using an ATM. There are people who believe that it is dangerous and risky parenting to leave anyone under 18 alone in a car for any length of time.
My own sister was scared to turn her back on a grocery cart while her son was sitting in it in the supermarket, because someone might sneak up behind her and snatch him. As I said, not always rational.
I have never lived where it gets cold, so I can't address that question at all.
People are idiots. I was a child frequently left in a car by myself or with my siblings. It was AWFUL to wait an hour - sometimes longer - while our mother grocery shopped. I can't even imagine what she did when I was a baby! Weirdos would come up to the car and try to talk to us. Sometimes they would try to get into the car.
Why the F would you EVER leave a child in a car unattended? A car could hit it and injure or kill the child and authorities may not know there's a child in the vehicle. The child could be kidnapped. The child could be cooked to death or freeze to death - depending on the weather. After the ******* in Atlanta who purposely left his baby in the car, I honestly feel that ANY parent who does this for ANY reason deserves to lose that child and any others they have. They should also be jailed. I was one of those children and it sucked!
I honestly feel that ANY parent who does this for ANY reason deserves to lose that child and any others they have. They should also be jailed.
As I said previously, there are shades of grey. Leaving a small child alone in a car for hours while Mother shops is one extreme.
On the other extreme, suppose Mother and the small child are leaving the house to visit friends. At the end of the driveway, Mother realizes she forgot her cell phone. She stops the car, takes the keys, locks the door, and runs back into the house. It takes her two or three minutes to find the phone. Meanwhile, a nosy neighbor peers out the window, sees the child alone in the car, and calls CPS. Mother is interrogated, then jailed, and loses custody of her child.
As I said previously, there are shades of grey. Leaving a small child alone in a car for hours while Mother shops is one extreme.
On the other extreme, suppose Mother and the small child are leaving the house to visit friends. At the end of the driveway, Mother realizes she forgot her cell phone. She stops the car, takes the keys, locks the door, and runs back into the house. It takes her two or three minutes to find the phone. Meanwhile, a nosy neighbor peers out the window, sees the child alone in the car, and calls CPS. Mother is interrogated, then jailed, and loses custody of her child.
Can't you see how absurd that is?
Agreed.
Add to that - returning a DVD, dropping dry cleaning/library books etc where the drop box is literally on the sidewalk in front of next to the car. 3-4 feet away. Also collecting mail, from either those newer mailbox clusters right on the street in your neighborhood, or even at the end of your driveway. What about unloading groceries? Car is in the attached garage, baby is sleeping in the car seat. Gonna wake that baby up?
To clarify, I am not talking about leaving the car running or even with the key in the ignition. That's a separate issue all together.
Because I lived in a temperate region when my kids were young, it was never really an issue. Furthermore, I was a SAHM, so if it was raining buckets or likely to do so, I just stayed home until the storm was over. And, even then, I had three young children, so I usually went alone after my husband returned from work, or we all went together. I don't really know how I would have felt if I had lived somewhere that got really cold. Putting a cart away? Okay. I mean, I mostly parked right next to the return -- as I do today -- so maybe that would be acceptable, but going into a building? No, I would not have felt comfortable with that.
It's a much bigger issue where I live because the temp can get up to 110 degrees in the summer. A child can die within a few minutes. This is why I don't always return my grocery cart to the corral. I get dirty looks from people for not returning the cart, but the fact is, it could take me five minutes to walk across the parking lot to return the cart, and my child could die within five minutes while sitting in the car. And I don't care if the cart rolls around and dings someone's car. Better this happen, than my child have a heatstroke.
You could park one or 2 spots over from the cart corral. That would not take 5 minutes. Must be a HUGE parking lot with only 1 place for carts which would be very rare. And if your cart damaged someone's cart, you are liable for it.
As I said previously, there are shades of grey. Leaving a small child alone in a car for hours while Mother shops is one extreme.
On the other extreme, suppose Mother and the small child are leaving the house to visit friends. At the end of the driveway, Mother realizes she forgot her cell phone. She stops the car, takes the keys, locks the door, and runs back into the house. It takes her two or three minutes to find the phone. Meanwhile, a nosy neighbor peers out the window, sees the child alone in the car, and calls CPS. Mother is interrogated, then jailed, and loses custody of her child.
Can't you see how absurd that is?
TAKE THE KID WITH YOU! Your child is worth far more than a stupid cell phone! Or you could always leave the phone home. For centuries people survived without having their phone glued to them....oh wait haven't even had phones for centuries!
Just a counterpoint, but today kids are required to be in the back seat in a rear facing child seat until they are approximately 17 years old. I'm not excusing these people, but I do see how it could be a bit easier to forget.
Umm....they do not make a rear facing child safety seat that holds a 17 year old. Once children turn one or reach a certain height or weight (varies by state), then they can go in a forward facing child safety seat. Then they move onto booster seats. The age, weight, and height requirement vary by state for these as well. Can't say I know of any that require a 17 year old to be in a booster seat! Must be awkward when you're driving! Do they get the kid's menu and crayons, too?
Wow, around my area, I bet that cars being stolen with a baby inside happens once every couple of weeks in the winter. It happens so often that it does not usually make the evening news unless something happens like the car is missing for hours or the car is involved in an accident. Usually the car thief notices the baby when they are only a block or two away and the abandon the car.
As someone just explained to me, it is not possible to lock a running car anymore, if your car has one of the electronic keys. It is also very very hard to Hotwire a car with an electronic key. This becomes a perfect storm for carjackings.
If a car thief wants your car, he must steal it with the electronic key in it.
Anyway, 40 years ago, I commonly left my kids in the car while I picked up dry cleaning or some other quick errands. Now, I wouldn't for fear they wouldn't be safe or someone would call the police.
Umm....they do not make a rear facing child safety seat that holds a 17 year old. Once children turn one or reach a certain height or weight (varies by state), then they can go in a forward facing child safety seat. Then they move onto booster seats. The age, weight, and height requirement vary by state for these as well. Can't say I know of any that require a 17 year old to be in a booster seat! Must be awkward when you're driving! Do they get the kid's menu and crayons, too?
I thought that was an obvious attempt at a joke, I suppose not!
Regardless, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping a child in a rear facing seat as long as possible regardless of state law. We kept our son rear facing until he was 3. I don't consider myself being overprotective, this is something that is demonstrably safer. Technically even adults would be safer rear facing.
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