pre-school pick up with another child

Hey Jellisy

I do two pickups each day.  First daycare because it's between work and home and then pre-school which is really close to home.  When I pick up at preschool, the pick up area is about a .25 mile from the side street the pre-school is on (it's pretty removed from the road is what I am trying to convey).  You pull up, if it's nice the kids are on the playground, you pick up your child, then you head over to the classroom to get their papers and then load your child into the car and off you go.  The whole process takes 5 or so minutes.  The majority of which I am outside and within a few yards of my car.  I rarely take DS out of the car when I do this.  Sometimes he is having his afternoon nap.  Sometimes he's awake - but since he doesn't yet walk, it would be a pain to carry him (and possibly DD who loves to be carried).  BTW, I always lock the car and take the keys with me.  In the summer, I would roll down his window halfway, but since this is about 25 minutes after I leave work, the car was always fully cooled by AC.  I feel conflicted about this.  There are tons of other parents and staff around, it's not abandoned, but I wonder if I am putting DS's safety unnecessarily at risk.  Does anyone else who has two pickups do the same?  

As a follow-up, and what sparked this post, I just got an email from my neighborhood association about a 2 year old sleeping in a car with the engine running while his mom ran into a house for just a moment was kidnapped.  The child was unharmed and found within minutes of the mom seeing the car driven away, but boy is that scary.  As I said, I lock the car and take the keys, and am within a few yards of the car the whole time, but this definitely made me feel vulnerable.  I just don't know if the hassle of taking DS out and putting him back in will counteract that feeling, but I am really curious what others do.

 

Sofka

I usually pick up DS and DH picks up DD but I've had to pick up both a few times. I get DS 1st and then DD and I always bring in DS w/ me. Yes, it's a huge pain, b/c he is HEAVY and likes to be carried and sometimes DD wants to be carried and I've got all her stuff to carry as well.  But sometimes she won't come right away and I can't see the car from her room and what if, just this one time, DS really needed something. FWIW, he's never once been napping but no matter the weather, I always brought him in. This does not happen often and it's a huge PITA when it does, but I know I'd never forgive myself if I came back to the car and he was crying...or worse!

 

vml14

My 2 yo goes to PS 2 mornings a week, and since I stay at home I always take and pick her up, with my 6 month old in tow.  Even if the car was nearby, I'd never leave him in the car.  I'm sure 99.9% of the time it would be fine, but I'm not inclined to take that 0.1% chance.  Since he's a baby, he often falls asleep in the 5-10 min ride on the way to the school, which messes up his schedule when I have to take him out.  But, I just take him out and put him in the Ergo carrier to drop her off and pick her up. 

Artslvr

The preschool the girls go to has a strict policy of not leaving siblings in the car.   They don't specify age of sibling - I assume if sibling is like 12 years old, they're not going to call CPS, but they tell us not to leave kids in the car.  I suspect it's because they don't want to feel responsible if something did happen to a kid in a car.

So yeah, I schlep DS into the school with me when I pick the girls up by myself.  Picking two up, and getting all their paperwork, chatting with teachers etc. takes time, but not that big a deal. 

Many days DH and I are doing pick up together, so I stay in the car with DS while DH goes in and gets the girls.

And yeah, that whole kid/car napping the neighborhood was beyond freaky.  I saw the aftermath - people wandering the street right after the car and kid got taken. 

Heather6907

We have "car monitors" at our preschool.  Just a parent who volunteers to stand outside and watch the cars with the babies/younger siblings, since the preschool my DD goes to starts at age 2.  

DD only goes 2 mornings a week and I have one of those days off so I bring her and pick her up, with little brother.  I have to walk into the building and bring her to her classroom and "check in" with the teacher.  We are not supposed to linger (for separation anxiety issues).  So I am away from the car for about 30 seconds to one minute.  

Sometimes I don't see the car monitor when I pull up (because he or she is walking their child into their classroom), but I leave DS in the car anyway.  I lock the doors.  I feel comfortable with it and I know others at the preschool do too.  We are off the main road, and there are other parents all around dropping their kids off in the same 5-10 minute window.  

Just another perspective...