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Too risky! It’s America. People are batshit crazy and mental. Don’t want to have another amber alert.
Take them in 100% of the time. PERIOD. Anything else is a lazy parent at the top of a slippery slope.
Source: father of 3 that would have preferred to leave them in the car, too.
Let’s leave out the potential child endangerment charge.... let’s put it in terms we all understand.
Would you ever leave your new hire analyst alone with a senior client for any moment of time? No... never.
Funny but not sure I understand the analogy.
That being said to your point, if I think the analyst is capable, I wouldn’t hesitate . One instance where they became good friends (French connection) to the point the senior client would go directly to the analyst bypassing me and the partner after their working session alone.
My rule is that I only leave them in the car if I can have eyes on the car. Like, park right in front of the window and stand where you can see the car. So yes, if I’m running in to pick up food I will not wake the baby up, but I’ll park by the door, go in let them know I’m ready to pick up the order, if they tell me it’ll be a few minutes I go back and stand next to the car. Basically I’m gone no more than 30 seconds.
Waking the baby up is annoying, walking back out to your car with its windows smashed in and a bunch of bystanders trying to rescue your kid is catastrophic .
I brought up the train platform thing because I happened to see a headline about it a few days ago. A child was killed in Germany after being pushed in front of a moving train, off a train platform.
Yes, I choose to leave my sleeping kid in the car occasionally while I’m doing something — pumping gas or picking up food or whatever. The personal rule I have developed is that as long as I can see the car, I’m comfortable with it. Your pearl clutching does not in any way change the fact that the danger is minuscule, and is far far lower than that of many other choices parents make every day.
There’s a level of moral panic around kids in cars due to the rash of kids dying from heat, which I completely understand, but that doesn’t change the fact that saying “it only takes one second for all hell to break loose” is just fear mongering. There’s nothing inherently unsafe about leaving a kid in a car for a minute or two.
I recently saw video of an incident at a gas station where a guy stepped out to fuel the car during a weekday and had a baby in it, got pepper sprayed and the crazy-ass thieves took the car with the baby. Just imagine if there is no one there, what can happen. Call me hyper careful but I value my baby’s life 200x over mine and infinite times over the inconvenience I will have if I have to pay a fat tip so someone can drop my lunch sandwich to my car at the curb.
NOT OK under any circumstances
Agree with M2. By leaving them in the car you are making it all about you, not them. If a child wakes up, guess what, they will fall back asleep at some point. Maybe not right away, and maybe not when it's convenient for you, but they will.
Even with eyes on the car it is not safe. Someone can jump in and steal your car or pull your kid out and hurt them faster than you could get out of line, go through the door and get to your vehicle.
Are your eyes on the car when you are looking at what you bought? Are they on the car when you are punching in your PIN on your credit card at the cashier? Are they on the car when you stop to check.your cell phone while you wait in line?
If you are that worried about waking up your child, then either don't bring them, or run your errands either while they are awake or someone else can stay home with them.
And as others have pointed out, it is illegal. You can receive anything from a traffic citation to a misdemeanor arrest depending on where you live. I spent years working in a police department and have seen these types of incidents turn bad fast.
... leaving a kid in a running air conditioned car (locked with remote key) for about 5 minutes while you pick up the order? Too risky or ok?
NOT OK. It only takes a second for all hell to break loose
Particularly when the kid is asleep and you don’t want them to wake up.
I personally think the kid would be ok but if someone sees the kid in there alone they could call child services, i saw it happen to a lady at a gas station...technically against the law I think (?) but maybe some more informed folks will respond
It’s against the law
Depends on child’s age, but with booster seats it gets 1000 times easier to get them in and out. I see some people still facing a 4 yo backwards 🤷🏼♂️. Do yourself a favor and buy a $40 booster seat, it’s a game changer!
As D1 says, it’s not worth the risk.
I leave my 5yo in the locker car while dropping off 1yo at daycare. I’ve left them both in locked car while grabbing Starbucks mobile order. I don’t love doing it, but I’m certain the data would show that driving them around in a car is exponentially more dangerous than leaving them alone for a few minutes. gotta use common sense though - hot day or unknown errand duration or whatever and you’ve gotta bring them in with you
We have 4 under 6 (1 set of twins). My wife will often call and ask if they’ll bring whatever she is picking up out to the car. As often as not they will.
As young as my children are don’t really ever leave them but Id be with partner 1 if it were just my oldest.
my wife flipped out when I did this. will likely do it again unless I can convince the shop to come to the car with my order
Please listen to your wife
I think 5+ years kids become quite independent. Till then, I would advise against it.
5 yo is NOT a safe age for a child to be left alone in a car. As children get older and more active, there are other dangers- accidentally starting your car, getting strangled in windows, etc. Please learn more