Can I leave my infant in the car alone to...,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Someone needs to post the Salon.com story where the mother left her child in the car and some random person videotaped it and called 911. Even though the mother was long gone by the time the police arrived, they still prosecuted her.

These stories were about a mom who left her kids for an extended period to go tanning or to a job interview - not to an ATM 15 feet from the car.

Sometimes I leave the baby in the car while I unload groceries at my house or when I am returning the shopping cart at Safeway.

You are all overreacting - anything can happen at anyone at any time but you cant live your life in fear.

Actually, no. A woman left her kids in the car for five minutes, to pick up dry cleaning or something like that, and someone videotaped the entire thing and then turned her in, even though the kids were fine and she really was only gone for five minutes.

That said, I just get cash when I buy groceries or go to the drugstore, so I don't have to go to the ATM.

Cite?

Scroll up- see Salon link. She ran in to buy headphones on the way to the airport. No where in the extremely long article does it explain why she didn't buy headphones AT the airport.

But when you go to an outside ATM, you are not going "in" anywhere. You can see the car the entire time. Thats the difference from going into a store, finding headphones, taking them to the cashier and coming back out.

The point is someone saw her doing it, videotaped it and gave the tape to the cops. It didn't matter if the car was or was not within her sight.

Sure it does.

Once again, no, it didn't. The cops and DCFS don't care about your feelings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone needs to post the Salon.com story where the mother left her child in the car and some random person videotaped it and called 911. Even though the mother was long gone by the time the police arrived, they still prosecuted her.

These stories were about a mom who left her kids for an extended period to go tanning or to a job interview - not to an ATM 15 feet from the car.

Sometimes I leave the baby in the car while I unload groceries at my house or when I am returning the shopping cart at Safeway.

You are all overreacting - anything can happen at anyone at any time but you cant live your life in fear.

Actually, no. A woman left her kids in the car for five minutes, to pick up dry cleaning or something like that, and someone videotaped the entire thing and then turned her in, even though the kids were fine and she really was only gone for five minutes.

That said, I just get cash when I buy groceries or go to the drugstore, so I don't have to go to the ATM.

Cite?

Scroll up- see Salon link. She ran in to buy headphones on the way to the airport. No where in the extremely long article does it explain why she didn't buy headphones AT the airport.

But when you go to an outside ATM, you are not going "in" anywhere. You can see the car the entire time. Thats the difference from going into a store, finding headphones, taking them to the cashier and coming back out.

The point is someone saw her doing it, videotaped it and gave the tape to the cops. It didn't matter if the car was or was not within her sight.

Sure it does.

Once again, no, it didn't. The cops and DCFS don't care about your feelings.

Nor do they care about yours, and going to an ATM a stones throw from one’s car is not illegal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone needs to post the Salon.com story where the mother left her child in the car and some random person videotaped it and called 911. Even though the mother was long gone by the time the police arrived, they still prosecuted her.

These stories were about a mom who left her kids for an extended period to go tanning or to a job interview - not to an ATM 15 feet from the car.

Sometimes I leave the baby in the car while I unload groceries at my house or when I am returning the shopping cart at Safeway.

You are all overreacting - anything can happen at anyone at any time but you cant live your life in fear.

We are not "overreacting." YOU are breaking the law.

In what state? Not Maryland

[Anonymous]

Wow! I thought I was quite cautious but I definitely have done this in the spot closest to the ATM (can basically touch the car). Roll all windows down, take the keys out, never be out of eye sight. I don’t know about 2-3 spaces down, probably I would not.

[Anonymous]

Can I adopt a rescue pitbull if I have kids?

[Anonymous]

Can I have an open swimming pool with no fence around it in the backyard if I have toddlers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did stuff like this all the time. People have lost all common sense. Wake a baby up to carry them 15 feet? Insanity. Leave the car on of course and lock the door and don't do it in like...skid row or something. But pulling into the average strip mall in an american suburb to stand 15 feet from your car in full view? Of course that is fine. Police don't arrest you for standing next to a car the baby is in!

A few car lengths away with the door open is inviting someone to take your baby or your car. Don’t be naive.

Oh really? Tell me how many babies are kidnapped out of cars when the parent is standing 10 feet away? Don't be preposterous.

[Anonymous]

I feel like you all use the ATM a lot more often than I do. Yikes. What do you need all that cash for?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Can I leave my infant in the car alone to...

- get kidnapped,
- get carnapped
- die of CO poisoning
- die of heat in a hot car
- die of cold

I guess?

Omg it’s 3 minutes being 10 feet away some of y’all have lost it

This is from 2014. However, my neighbor's kid was in the car, dad a few feet away with it running. Someone jumped in and took off. Fortunately they left the car about a block away.

So now one cannot buckle their kid into the car (with it already running, for AC, since it's summer) and then step away, close the door, and open the driver's door to get in, maybe saying hi to a friend walking past for a couple seconds, because someone might steal the car with the owner standing right next to it, like in this scenario? This is the level of intensity and vigilance we must maintain?

That doesn’t sound like the same scenario to me. I'm guessing Dad's few feet away weren't right next to the door, and that he was very distracted, like someone at an atm, not just engaged in idle chit chat.

If Dad had been right next to the door, doubt someone could have gotten into the car. Dad was likely a few feet away in front of the car, with his back completely turned away from kid and car.

[Anonymous]

NO! God what is wrong with you? If you are this lazy you have no business being a mother. Can you give the baby up for adoption maybe?

[Anonymous]

I get the urge, but don’t.


Even if it technically legal in your podunk state…don’t. Carjackings are on a major rise all over the country, in all demographics. Turning to use the atm - which was the og question- will have you distracted enough to not be supervising. Beyond that there are so many other things that can go wrong.

[Anonymous]

Uh NO

[Anonymous]

No!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get the urge, but don’t.


Even if it technically legal in your podunk state…don’t. Carjackings are on a major rise all over the country, in all demographics. Turning to use the atm - which was the og question- will have you distracted enough to not be supervising. Beyond that there are so many other things that can go wrong.

Lol are you closely supervising your sleeping baby while you are driving the car? And speaking of “so many things can go wrong”— that’s literally what driving in your car is, every time. So are things like leaving your baby in the care of others.

The truth is that something could always happen. Statistically, your child is more likely to be in a car accident than to be snatched from your car when you are standing a few feet away. They are more likely to fall off a piece of furniture or choke on food they grab off another child’s plate at daycare than to overheat in a car in a few minutes time. I’m really not sure why people are so fixated on this situation as so dangerous. Life is inherently dangerous, but we assess risk and find a way to figure it out. I think many people on this thread are being incredibly hypocritical here.

[Anonymous]

I just wish I knew if the OP's now 8 yr old lived through being left in the car for a few minutes.