Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did a lot of mental gymnastics to make things OK when I was exhausted and desperately trying to accomplish basic tasks without complications. Leaving baby in the car is not one of those things that’s ok.

I cried every time the gas pump said see attendant. I’d drive elsewhere. Take a longer route to a drive up atm. Starbucks. Library book drop off.

You cried because it was unsafe to leave your baby in the car for 45 seconds, to walk 15 feet to the gas station attendant? No, you cried because you felt you were not allowed to do that and that someone would call the police on you (even though it wouldn’t have been illegal in many states). It’s not the situation that’s unsafe, it’s the crazy nosy cruel people who make it their jobs to make life harder for moms of babies, as some sort of garden of Eden type punishment.

Do you know that some moms SLEEP while their babies are asleep, and are like 50 feet away in an entirely different room? Ikr?!?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Because it's easy to take your child out of the car fir a trip to the ATM. Meanwhile, it's hard to structure your life in such a way that your child is never in a car/susceptible to a car accident. Life is dangerous, yes. No one is denying that by saying not to take a completely unnecessary risk.

It’s not necessarily easy to take your child out of the car to go to an ATM, and doing so isn’t necessarily safer than leaving them in the car. I have a 5 year old with special needs that is a severe elopement risk. He’s not going to reliably stand by my side at an ATM. The risk of him running off into road is much greater than the risk something is going to happen to him in the car. And when he and his twin sibling were younger, but old enough to be out of carrying car seats, it would be very hard to take them out of the car. I'm not going to set up a tandem stroller to go 10ft. I'd leave one in the car while I'd carry the other into the house. And yes, I'd leave them in the car to walk up to an ATM as long as I could still see them.

This. It’s not always easy to get your kid out of the car to run a quick errand. What about stopping somewhere to pick up two heavy bags that need to be loaded into your trunk? Do you need to get a sleeping baby out of the car and into a carrier to complete this task?

Also, if going to an ATM poses such a high risk of being robbed, what god does bringing your baby do? Say you take the car seat out of the car and carry it over to the ATM. You will need to put car seat down to use the machine. Can’t someone come grab the car seat and run? Can’t the rob you right there next to your baby? Wouldn’t you rather your baby be safely in the car in the extremely remote chance this happens?

It’s just so weird that people in this thread are FREAKED OUT about the possibility of either a carjacking or a child overheating (rare things that are extremely unlikely to happen, especially if you know the crime rates in the neighborhood and are only gone a few minutes) but will handwave all the stuff that could happen if you get the baby out of the car.

I think people are uncomfortable with risk and think that if they are vigilant they can control it, but you can’t. Most actions carry some risk. You have to accept it and stop judging people for taking slightly different risks than you.

Those stories about people taking the car with the baby aren't about someone trying to kidnap the baby. Baby is incidental. The thief wants the car, sees the keys are in the car, and realizes the car can be taken easily and quickly. They don't know the baby is in the car.

I agree this is rare, but it's incorrect to compare it to someone kidnapping the baby next to you. That doesn’t happen.

Anonymous wrote:I did a lot of mental gymnastics to make things OK when I was exhausted and desperately trying to accomplish basic tasks without complications. Leaving baby in the car is not one of those things that’s ok.

I cried every time the gas pump said see attendant. I’d drive elsewhere. Take a longer route to a drive up atm. Starbucks. Library book drop off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Because it's easy to take your child out of the car fir a trip to the ATM. Meanwhile, it's hard to structure your life in such a way that your child is never in a car/susceptible to a car accident. Life is dangerous, yes. No one is denying that by saying not to take a completely unnecessary risk.

It’s not necessarily easy to take your child out of the car to go to an ATM, and doing so isn’t necessarily safer than leaving them in the car. I have a 5 year old with special needs that is a severe elopement risk. He’s not going to reliably stand by my side at an ATM. The risk of him running off into road is much greater than the risk something is going to happen to him in the car. And when he and his twin sibling were younger, but old enough to be out of carrying car seats, it would be very hard to take them out of the car. I'm not going to set up a tandem stroller to go 10ft. I'd leave one in the car while I'd carry the other into the house. And yes, I'd leave them in the car to walk up to an ATM as long as I could still see them.

This. It’s not always easy to get your kid out of the car to run a quick errand. What about stopping somewhere to pick up two heavy bags that need to be loaded into your trunk? Do you need to get a sleeping baby out of the car and into a carrier to complete this task?

Also, if going to an ATM poses such a high risk of being robbed, what god does bringing your baby do? Say you take the car seat out of the car and carry it over to the ATM. You will need to put car seat down to use the machine. Can’t someone come grab the car seat and run? Can’t the rob you right there next to your baby? Wouldn’t you rather your baby be safely in the car in the extremely remote chance this happens?

It’s just so weird that people in this thread are FREAKED OUT about the possibility of either a carjacking or a child overheating (rare things that are extremely unlikely to happen, especially if you know the crime rates in the neighborhood and are only gone a few minutes) but will handwave all the stuff that could happen if you get the baby out of the car.

I think people are uncomfortable with risk and think that if they are vigilant they can control it, but you can’t. Most actions carry some risk. You have to accept it and stop judging people for taking slightly different risks than you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

What if they didn’t?

They would have been a news story 8 years ago if they didn't because it's INCREDIBLY rare and weird.

I guess my point was someone tried to make that lame joke a few times. And kids do get taken and die. So you can be flip about it and pretend it doesn’t happen, but it does.

Most of us are parents and have had to make this choice. Usually it comes at OK. But sometimes it doesn’t.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Because it's easy to take your child out of the car fir a trip to the ATM. Meanwhile, it's hard to structure your life in such a way that your child is never in a car/susceptible to a car accident. Life is dangerous, yes. No one is denying that by saying not to take a completely unnecessary risk.

It’s not necessarily easy to take your child out of the car to go to an ATM, and doing so isn’t necessarily safer than leaving them in the car. I have a 5 year old with special needs that is a severe elopement risk. He’s not going to reliably stand by my side at an ATM. The risk of him running off into road is much greater than the risk something is going to happen to him in the car. And when he and his twin sibling were younger, but old enough to be out of carrying car seats, it would be very hard to take them out of the car. I'm not going to set up a tandem stroller to go 10ft. I'd leave one in the car while I'd carry the other into the house. And yes, I'd leave them in the car to walk up to an ATM as long as I could still see them.

This. It’s not always easy to get your kid out of the car to run a quick errand. What about stopping somewhere to pick up two heavy bags that need to be loaded into your trunk? Do you need to get a sleeping baby out of the car and into a carrier to complete this task?

Also, if going to an ATM poses such a high risk of being robbed, what god does bringing your baby do? Say you take the car seat out of the car and carry it over to the ATM. You will need to put car seat down to use the machine. Can’t someone come grab the car seat and run? Can’t the rob you right there next to your baby? Wouldn’t you rather your baby be safely in the car in the extremely remote chance this happens?

It’s just so weird that people in this thread are FREAKED OUT about the possibility of either a carjacking or a child overheating (rare things that are extremely unlikely to happen, especially if you know the crime rates in the neighborhood and are only gone a few minutes) but will handwave all the stuff that could happen if you get the baby out of the car.

I think people are uncomfortable with risk and think that if they are vigilant they can control it, but you can’t. Most actions carry some risk. You have to accept it and stop judging people for taking slightly different risks than you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

What if they didn’t?

They would have been a news story 8 years ago if they didn't because it's INCREDIBLY rare and weird.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Because it's easy to take your child out of the car fir a trip to the ATM. Meanwhile, it's hard to structure your life in such a way that your child is never in a car/susceptible to a car accident. Life is dangerous, yes. No one is denying that by saying not to take a completely unnecessary risk.

It’s not necessarily easy to take your child out of the car to go to an ATM, and doing so isn’t necessarily safer than leaving them in the car. I have a 5 year old with special needs that is a severe elopement risk. He’s not going to reliably stand by my side at an ATM. The risk of him running off into road is much greater than the risk something is going to happen to him in the car. And when he and his twin sibling were younger, but old enough to be out of carrying car seats, it would be very hard to take them out of the car. I'm not going to set up a tandem stroller to go 10ft. I'd leave one in the car while I'd carry the other into the house. And yes, I'd leave them in the car to walk up to an ATM as long as I could still see them.

Anonymous wrote:

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

What if they didn’t?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Because it's easy to take your child out of the car fir a trip to the ATM. Meanwhile, it's hard to structure your life in such a way that your child is never in a car/susceptible to a car accident. Life is dangerous, yes. No one is denying that by saying not to take a completely unnecessary risk.

Anonymous wrote:

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