the risk is not in the child overheating in 5 minutes but in some asshole calling the cops on you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. A child should never be left in a car for any reason.
If you don't want to lug a baby around, use condoms.

Seriously? What about buying gas? What if you have twins and have to load/unload them at your home one at a time? What about returning a grocery cart?

Personally, I wouldn't do it at an ATM unless I could park directly in front of the ATM. Not because I have any concern about baby's safety in the car but because I do have serious concerns about getting in trouble from so-called good samaritans who think this way (see Salon article -- the person videotaping knew the child was fine...he spoke with the mother in the store. He wasn't concerned about making sure the baby was safe, he was concerned about making sure the mom was punished for not parenting the way he though she should be.)

Buying gas your car is turned off and, presumably, your keys are with you, not stuck in the ignition while you're potentially on the other side of the car.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would do it, but not on a hot day.

+1. A few car lengths away? I don't see the problem if it's not hot. If you consider the chances of something awful happening while the baby is a few steps away in the car vs. being held by you at the ATM I would consider standing at the ATM with a handful of cash and a baby in my arms to be the bigger danger.

What could happen? Just about anything. Mom could accidentally leave the keys inside. Mom could accidentally drop the keys downa grate. There could be a line at the ATM an mom has to wait for 1 or 2 folks to finish first. Mom could see a friend on the street and the 2 min trip is now a 5-7 min trip.

Why take the chance? Think of this way, would you ever want to have to finish this sentence "If only, I didn't leave DC alone in the car then..."

Anonymous wrote:To run to an outdoor ATM in the city if I have the car parked just a few spots down? I could leave the door slightly ajar ? I don't have to do this today, but in the past I would either take her and put her in the carrier or lug the heavy car seat around- either waking her, upsetting her, or making my errand take ten times longer.... Just curious

You could...
Course could backfire and end with an Amber Alert and you crying for the return of your child - but sure go ahead.

Anonymous wrote:No. A child should never be left in a car for any reason.
If you don't want to lug a baby around, use condoms.

Seriously? What about buying gas? What if you have twins and have to load/unload them at your home one at a time? What about returning a grocery cart?

Personally, I wouldn't do it at an ATM unless I could park directly in front of the ATM. Not because I have any concern about baby's safety in the car but because I do have serious concerns about getting in trouble from so-called good samaritans who think this way (see Salon article -- the person videotaping knew the child was fine...he spoke with the mother in the store. He wasn't concerned about making sure the baby was safe, he was concerned about making sure the mom was punished for not parenting the way he though she should be.)

Anonymous wrote:No. Imagine if you somehow lock yourself out and the baby in, in today's 100 degree weather.

Do you take your infant out of the car when pumping gas? How is this different? Equal chance of locking yourself out or something else bad happening. (The only difference I can think of is that gas pumps are in the shade, so overheating is much less likely, but the risk everyone seems to be talking about here is the leaving alone and not overheating in the car.)

I think American fixation on lugging the baby everywhere is weird, but we live where we live and not in Scandinavia, where apparently it's common and accepted to leave the baby outside while going into a store. So don't do it, OP, because regardless of the merits of your action, you can get in a bunch of legal trouble.

Getting caught aside (and I'm not sure it would be worth it to me to deal with the hassle and uncertainty involved with getting caught) my biggest fear would be that I would accidentally lock myself out of the car.

The responses indicate that people are more concerned of being caught than the actual risk. My biggest concern would be that being lax about this would mean I would become more lax about bigger issues.

Anonymous wrote:Here's the law for Maryland http://www.kidsandcars.org/userfiles/state-laws/maryland-state-law.pdf
Its only a problem if the car is "out of sight"

There is no current law in VA.

oh that's good info to have.

I suppose an affirmative defense is that the vehicle is "in sight"

What's legal, and what's advisable, can be different and is a personal judgment call at some point. And we know that becoming a parent doesn't necessarily equate to a rise in good judgment.

Hell no.

Take the extra 30 seconds and lug the damn thing out of the car.

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.

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.

Anonymous wrote:Not on a hot day. But on a cool day, I just don't see much if a risk assuming it is a safe neighborhood. More risky to just drive to the ATM. Same with putting grocery carts back. People have become crazy.

I personally wouldn't do it. I go to a drive through even if I have to pay the fee because its not my bank. But I would say ABSOLUTELY NO in this weather. If it was cooler then I don't see the problem if it is truly 2-3 spots away and your DC doesn't notice (is asleep or doesn't get upset).

A few spots down?

I probably wouldn't. If a cop saw you, you might get in trouble.

Or worse.

If a kidnapper saw you, or even a carjacker...You may never see your child alive again.