- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Austin Babies
SO---leaving babies in cars
I read all those articles and can't really get them out of my mind. Mainly because many of the children seemed to be around the same age as my youngest. It really got me thinking that most days I am running around and always thinking about the next step, the next thing I have going on . Now granted--I am a SAHM so I always have the kiddos with me and we don't have too much of a routine other than school drop off and pick up for the older one. Anyway--I was talking to my dh last night because I was like "what if" what is something I can do as a check because I leave my wallet, my phone and at times I have even left the diaper bag.Yes, the one article that said "if you can forget your cell phone then you can forget your baby" really got to me.
I was just curious if anyone else read the articles and seriously started thinking what they can do to just have a second check to make sure the kiddos are always out of the car.
I know one step that I have is I always leave the doors open when loading the kids until I am positive we are leaving. This is because I have loaded all the kids because and then thought "crap I left my cell phone in the house" and then I run inside and the home phone rings or I see something else" and realistic I could think I did something for like a minute but the kids are in the car in the garage. That is my biggest "thing"
This discussion has been closed.
Re: SO---leaving babies in cars
DH and I had a talk about this when someone posted that article a few months ago. There was a suggestion that you should put the diaper bag in the passenger seat to remind you that the baby is in the back. We also put our purse (or in DH's case) his backpack in the backseat next to the baby so we will have to go back there in order to get it.
The whole thing just freaks me out. I feel so sorry for the families who have lost their loved ones because of this. I can see how it can happen. My days are so busy working & trying to juggle everything that many days I'm just on autopilot. The whole thought of this happening just makes my heart sink.
Meredith, 6-1-06 and Alex, 11-5-09
This is my concern as well. I basically always have the kids, so I don't worry about myself. I do worry about Monte. I have posted this before, but I actually ask him to call me when he gets somewhere whenever he has Rhett. Or I will call him when I think he should have arrived and make sure he remembered to get Rhett out.
Our Blog
I think what worries me is that my brain keeps saying "I could never do that since they are always with me" and I think that is what worries me most. Because that means I am even on more of an auto pilot and what if something changes up in my day or say I normally have dd#1 and when she is at school and I run to do something well dd#2 is so little and still falls asleep and I could easily forget her. dd#1 has been around for 3 years but dd#2 is new.
I did not really think about it until really reading the articles and on how Monday I did not remember buckling either girl into their car seats and I still can't "see" myself doing it even though my dh was like --you buckled them in. It was so routine for me and I was thinking about my free chicken at Chick fil a
I agree, that it's when you are so used to a certain routine that it is so easy to get distracted. I am completely freaked out by this and honestly can't even read all the articles because it just tears me up inside. I consider myself to be super safety conscious and always check everything, etc. The other day I put the baby in his seat, let DD climb into her seat, got my stuff in, went to close DD's door and she said, "wait wait Mommy". I hadn't buckled her in. I just missed a step. I usually look back and make sure they are both settled and buckled, but what if I'd forgotten to do that, too? It's just so easy, even more so when you have two.
I have absolutely been on my way to work and forgotten I was supposed to mail something with it sitting right there on my center console reminding me. Or any number of other things.
I've started carrying my purse and pump in the back seat all the time. I talk to DD about what the baby is doing. I like this because the other day we went somewhere without him and she was all concerned that DS was not in his seat. I praised her for looking for him.
And after learning that someone saw the 18 month old in the car that morning, I am much more aware as I pass cars in the parking lot.
I work every other day, so DH either calls or texts me after he has dropped off both girls at their respective child care locations. (I know, poor DH has to deal with the drop-off while I get the "happy to see Mommy" pick-ups.) If I don't get a message around drop-off time I call him.
As for me, my car is so stinkin' small these days with two car seats, I can barely get out of the car without bumping into something baby/toddlerish.
I wish that were the law. ?It seems that in most of these cases, the child was headed to daycare- if more providers had the policy to call on children who were no shows, think how many lives could be saved!
I don't worry about this too much because as a SAHM with a husband who is always working- 99.9% of the time, if I'm out of the house, DS is with me. ?The few times I go out without him, I'll usually end up opening "his" car door when I get where I'm going and triple checking that he's not in there. ?DH has actually never gone out alone with DS, but if he were to, that's what would make me nervous- it's not second nature to him like it is to me.?
(read it. you know you want to.)
anderson . september 2008
vivian . february 2010
mabel . august 2012
I think that comparing a forgotten cell phone to forgetting your baby is a bit extreme. I lose my cell phone, glasses and keys on a daily basis but I've never lost a kid.
I'm really surprised about the forgiving attitude towards these parents who forget their kids. Yes it is a terrible tragic accident but the child died. I don't care how busy our lives are, or what kind of routine you have. I cannot fathom forgetting my child was in the car for hours while I sat at my desk at work.
Our Blog
I saw it, and I remember an article posted months ago about the Army woman who forgot her baby, too. It makes me sick to think of how those poor children suffered before they died. And another story from years ago about a woman in Detroit who left her 3 and 1 yr olds in the car while she shopped. The newspaper printed a picture of the dead baby's shoe in the car. I have had nightmares imagining what those kids must have gone through before they died. Every time I get into my car and start sweating before the a/c kicks in, I think of those poor babies and how they suffered.
The very idea of forgetting my kids is unimaginable. Every time I even look at the clock - whether I would be at home or at work - I think of my kids and what they are probably doing right now. Imagine being at work, glancing at the clock on your way to a meeting, thinking its probably nap time or story time....but not remembering that you left the baby in the backseat? I just don't get it.
Yup, I was thinking the exact same thing, and that other article I posted yesterday mentions it. Also, it's interesting that this started to be an issue after car seats were moved from the front passenger seat to the back seat. Here is the excerpt from that article:
"
For years, Fennell has been lobbying for a law requiring back-seat sensors in new cars, sensors that would sound an alarm if a child's weight remained in the seat after the ignition is turned off. Last year, she almost succeeded. The 2008 Cameron Gulbransen Kids' Transportation Safety Act -- which requires safety improvements in power windows and in rear visibility, and protections against a child accidentally setting a car in motion -- originally had a rear seat-sensor requirement, too. It never made the final bill; sponsors withdrew it, fearing they couldn't get it past a powerful auto manufacturers' lobby.
There are a few aftermarket products that alert a parent if a child remains in a car that has been turned off. These products are not huge sellers. They have likely run up against the same marketing problem that confronted three NASA engineers a few years ago.
In 2000, Chris Edwards, Terry Mack and Edward Modlin began to work on just such a product after one of their colleagues, Kevin Shelton, accidentally left his 9-month-old son to die in the parking lot of NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. The inventors patented a device with weight sensors and a keychain alarm. Based on aerospace technology, it was easy to use; it was relatively cheap, and it worked.
Janette Fennell had high hopes for this product: The dramatic narrative behind it, she felt, and the fact that it came from NASA, created a likelihood of widespread publicity and public acceptance.
That was five years ago. The device still isn't on the shelves. The inventors could not find a commercial partner willing to manufacture it. One big problem was liability. If you made it, you could face enormous lawsuits if it malfunctioned and a child died. But another big problem was psychological: Marketing studies suggested it wouldn't sell well.
The problem is this simple: People think this could never happen to them."
I got one of these a couple of weeks ago. I got it more for my safety than for Daniel's -- I used to use my visor mirror to get a glimpse of him in the backseat, which was stupid and dangerous since it required way more than milliseconds of my attention to be diverted from the road ahead. I'd never been interested in an actual baby rearview because I didn't want to introduce something that would become a projectile in case of an accident, but this one locks so securely onto my existing mirror that I'm not worried about that.
I work from home and always have Daniel with me, but even as much a part of my daily routine as he is, things happen. I don't think I'd ever forget him, but we all have those days, you know? Overconfidence can be dangerous.
Anyway, I've noticed over the past couple of weeks how much more aware of Daniel I am when I'm in the car. Every time I glance into my rearview mirror, I can't help but also catch a glimpse of Daniel. While it wasn't my purpose in buying it, it sure would make it a lot harder for me to forget him in the car.