So, how old IS old enough to leave a child unattended in the car? - Page 3

[chirp]

wow...and i'd also like to say that i have drastically underestimated how convenient it is to have people pumping our gas and taking payment for us (here in NJ).

[Pumpkin_Pie]

The only time my DS is left "alone" in the car is when I am running things into the house while he sleeps in the car seat in the driveway. I can't see him from the house, but if I have groceries that are melting in the bags and a bunch of other things that need to come inside, then I leave him strapped in and snoozing with the car locked while I dash inside and drop them on the floor (or tossed in the freezer) and then dash back out and get him. Any other time, I don't agree with leaving him in the car. I once ran back into a store to get a forgotten receipt while DS played in the car with a new toy while strapped into his car seat, but I came back out and he was screaming. Never again.

I just don't think it is a good idea.

[savithny]

Kids are 8 and 5. I will leave them to run into the PO, run to an ATM. If I couldn't pay at pump, I'd leave them in the car for that. I'll run up to a library drop box, into a friend's house, or back into the house if I forgot something. I always buckle them into the car before returning the shopping cart to the cart corral, too. When #1 had a strep throat, I left him in the car in the parking lot of preschool when I went to pick up #2 rather than taking him in and exposing him to everyone.

Honestly, in most of those situations I think they're safer. Parking lots are full of stupid drivers looking for parking spots and not looking out for pedestrians. Gas stations? You're more likely to get held up inside paying than have your car jacked while you're away from it. ATMs? Ditto. Last thing I need when using one is to have to keep track of young kids while putting in my pin discreetly and watching out for people coming up behind me.

Then of course there's the weather issue. I'm supposed to unstrap both kids and frog march them 15 feet to stand in a bitterly cold wind with me when the car is warm?


The most vulnerable I've ever felt dealing with my babies in the car was that period when you have to lean your upper body into the car in order to fasten the carseat straps - that's the moment you could get hit from behind.

My instincts, many times, tell me it would be safer to leave my kids in a locked, warm, car than to go through the rigmarole of getting them out, getting them safely across a parking lot or street, doing what I have to do, getting them safely back across the parking lot, getting them both strapped firmly and safely back into their seats, and getting me back into my seat. I do tend not to leave them in the car as much as I might otherwise because I know there are too many fearmongering busybodies who do things like call the cops if you're not close enough to the car to touch it at every possible second.

[beaner&tiegs]

I leave my kids in the car if they don't want to get out - for example, when I'm getting lunch to go at a local deli and I can see them from the window, or if I'm dropping off a video/getting gas. If they want to come with me, of course they can, but sometimes they want to continue listening to their story on CD or they just don't want to get out in the rain or whatever. A few times, my instincts have felt very uncomfortable with leaving them so then I take them out, but most of the time I feel totally fine with it. My 8 year old also happens to be very responsible and mature, so that helps.

[Channelle]

I honestly don't have a very good answer. But I have a couple thoughts on it...

-My brother and I were left alone ALOT at home and in the car, and never thought it was wrong....That said, I remember a time when I was about 3 and my brother was about 8 and we were left alone in the car at a grocery store. The driveway was kind of a slope, like a hill, and we were parked at the top and one of us (can't remember who-fuzzy memory) hit the parking brake and we started to roll, and all I remember is being scared and then my grandfather coming out and physically standing in front of the car and stopping it. My mother thought we wouldn't be able to unlock the parking break but somehow we managed...this has always made me leery of the idea of leaving a child in a car alone, especially on a hill!

-I really don't have much experience at this point as my children are my eight year old stepson and a 7 month old. I don't leave the ss alone in the car that I can think of, as he is easy to get in and out of the car and likes to go in with me. So if I go to a gas pump and have to pay inside, he just comes with me. Of course I do leave him in the car alone while I pump the gas...he doesn't come stand by me. I've never been in the position where it's just been me and the baby in the car, so I've never had to leave her alone, my mom or partner is always in the car with me. I wouldn't leave the 8 year old and the baby in there alone either, I'd be too worried that she would start crying and he wouldn't be able to sooth her.

-Also, in our apartment building, we are in a large apt. complex on the 10th floor where each floor has it's own hallway. Yesterday, the baby was asleep in the stroller, the I struggled to get out the doorway without having the door hit it and waking her up or by hitting the doorframe and waking her up. Once I got her into the hallway, I remembered something I left in the apt. So I either had to struggle to get her back in or leave her in the hallway while I ran back in. Well what I wanted was not in it's place it usually is, so I had to search for it. By the time I got back to her, I was panicked. What if she had started crying? What if someone came by the hallway and grabbed her? What if someone across or down the hall had taken her into their apts? No, I can't ever imagine myself leaving her!