Child in a car on its own

godtabh

Was parked in a petrol station today and I saw a little baby in a car seat in a locked card.

Baby was not a new born maybe 6 months old.

The car was parked there when I arrived but didnt notice the baby. Went in got a roll and eat in the petrol station.

Came out and noticed the baby. So it had been there for about 10-15 mins. I waited and the mother came back.

What would you've done if you came accross the baby?

c - 13

I see this happening a lot, truely the worst case however was when I was working in a well known toy store franchise, and was carrying something out to a customers car for them, in the car in the next space there was child of about 1/2 years of age, in clear distress, I would assume the child was asleep when the parent(s) left and became panicky when they woke up to find no one around.

so naturally I took the reg and had the parents paged . . . . several times. We had someone waiting outside to keep an eye for the parents returning to the car, they came out of the store about 15 mins later and drove off without a care in the world. The poor little fella was red in the face with crying.

Looking back at it aftrewards we probably should have done something else about it but couldnt think of anything at the time.
I suppose not being a parent myself my opinion doesnt really count but I think this is extremely callous of the parent(s) and parents who do this sort of thing should really be considering their respnsibilities as parents
[/RANT]

Nevyn

After 5 mins if the child was that distressed I would have called the garda tbh

godtabh

The baby seemed fine to me.

I'm not a parent either but if the baby was upset I would've looked for the parents.

But what happens if you confront them? More than likely you'd be told to fcuk off.

deisemum

Last year I went to a supermarket that also had a parade of other shops. I parked next to a car and there was a little girl about 1 year to 15 months old asleep in it. I finished listening to something interesting on the radio, then unloaded the 2 toddlers that were with me, put them in a trolley. This took 15 mins approx. There wasn't any sign of a parent. I went straight to the customer desk in the supermarket and reported my concerns. They announced the reg number several times and had a staff member keep an eye on the car.

When I was at the checkout the member of staff that I'd spoken to earlier came over to tell me that both parents had finished their shopping and they unpacked the shopping into their car. They then ignored the concerns of the staff and went off to a coffee shop having left the baby in the car. The Gardai were called but they said the baby was ok and left. I was an hour and 10 mins there and all that time the baby was left in the car. The sun was shining on the little one. As I was leaving the parents returned.

I was very upset by this and phoned the Gardai when I got home but they tried to fob it off. I gave them the reg no. but I don't know what happened after that. I contacted social services but they can only do something if the Gardai contacted them.

brown*eyed*girl

That is just terrible deisemum. I seriously can't believe it for over an hour. Don't care if the baby is sleeping or not its just very very selfish and irresponsible to do anything like that. I would've been fuming and probably gone as far as to lecture the parents myself. I'm actually fuming here at such neglect.

As for the poor baby who woke up and was red from crying its just sickening.

Don't all car seats click into the three-in-one buggies or else all they had to do was take the sleeping baby out in the car seat and put the seat in the throlley whilst shopping and then the baby would wake up safely and securely. Also with all the weirdo's around now its not just the baby/child getting scared to find no-one there but also someone could break in the car or something.

I'm a parent myself and I would never ever leave my child on their own. I would even bring the buggy into the bathroom with me when mine were young if I needed to have a shower and they were sleeping.

Kernel32

A couple of years back I was out with my wife and son doing some shopping in a nearby town. It was a very hot day in the summer. We got back to our car and noticed something going on nearby with a cop car and a bunch of people. We read about it the next day in our local paper.

A woman had parked next to a Merc and noticed two young children in the back with the window rolled down a crack. She could see they were both visibly sweating in the car. She waited a few minutes for a parent to return but no sign so she called the cops. They arrived quickly and without a pause the cop smashed the passenger window and got the kids out. The parents arrived a while later. They had been having dinner in a nice Italian restaurant nearby. It turned out they were a very wealthy couple from a different state. They usually had a nanny but she couldn't come on the trip. They were charged with endangering children and their names and faces were in the paper and they were required to have a social worker follow up with them to check on the children. I thought it was great how it went down and the cops did exactly what they should have done.

There was a terrible case a few years back that made the news here. A lawyer was rushing to work and had his baby in the backseat. In his rush he forgot to drop the baby at daycare. He had some big meeting to attend so he figured the baby was asleep so he would leave the baby in the car until the meeting was over. He parked the car on the top level of the same multi-story car park I used to park in. When he left the baby it was cloudy and cool but it warmed up quickly and when he got back the baby was dead. It's possible some people saw the baby in the car and didn't do anything but there is know way of knowing that because who would ever admit to it.

godtabh

Kernel32 wrote:

A couple of years back I was out with my wife and son doing some shopping in a nearby town. It was a very hot day in the summer. We got back to our car and noticed something going on nearby with a cop car and a bunch of people. We read about it the next day in our local paper.

A woman had parked next to a Merc and noticed two young children in the back with the window rolled down a crack. She could see they were both visibly sweating in the car. She waited a few minutes for a parent to return but no sign so she called the cops. They arrived quickly and without a pause the cop smashed the passenger window and got the kids out. The parents arrived a while later. They had been having dinner in a nice Italian restaurant nearby. It turned out they were a very wealthy couple from a different state. They usually had a nanny but she couldn't come on the trip. They were charged with endangering children and their names and faces were in the paper and they were required to have a social worker follow up with them to check on the children. I thought it was great how it went down and the cops did exactly what they should have done.

There was a terrible case a few years back that made the news here. A lawyer was rushing to work and had his baby in the backseat. In his rush he forgot to drop the baby at daycare. He had some big meeting to attend so he figured the baby was asleep so he would leave the baby in the car until the meeting was over. He parked the car on the top level of the same multi-story car park I used to park in. When he left the baby it was cloudy and cool but it warmed up quickly and when he got back the baby was dead. It's possible some people saw the baby in the car and didn't do anything but there is know way of knowing that because who would ever admit to it.

As has be said all ready the cops here arent all up to much and if you cant turn to them who do you turn to?

As for the dead baby hopefuly nothing like that ever happens again. It shouldnt happen in the first place

TempestSabre

In this day and age I'd be worried that the child would be taken. I can't understand people leaving a baby in a car. Ok if you are going to get petrol, and pay at the window and keep the baby in sight at all times. But to go off. Thats shocking.

Litcagral

I would be worried about the car going on fire. It can happen easily enough if the electrics are dodgy.

nobodythere

I all think ye are over-reacting. Leaving the baby there for ages is a fscking ridiculous thing to do but to leave a sleeping baby in the car for a few mins while you go into the shop or something, so what?

the_syco

grasshopa wrote:

I all think ye are over-reacting. Leaving the baby there for ages is a fscking ridiculous thing to do but to leave a sleeping baby in the car for a few mins while you go into the shop or something, so what?

When have you ever seen a woman go into a shop for "just a few minutes"?:D

Oh, and if it were a dog in the car, you could call the ISPCA, and they could charge the owners with cruelty to the animals. Dunno about children, tho...

daveg

It always go back to a saying I heard years ago. You need a licence to have a dog but any idiot can have a child.

nobodythere

OK but what can possibly happen in the space of a few mins, whether it's a dog or a baby?

There's really no more risk than than leaving them in the kitchen for a minute while you go take a piss.

I suppose this is coming from a non-parent POV so ye're probably all fussy old over-protective farts

Nevyn

Grasshopa Do read the charter for this forum.
Nonsensical and smart arse comments will end up pissing me off and getting you banned from this forum if your not adding anything constructive and just taking swipes.
Thaedydal

nobodythere

I wasn't intending to take swipes at anyone, I'm just giving the other side of what seems to be a one sided thread so far. I don't see why people are so concerned over leaving a baby in a car for a few minutes.

the_syco

We're concerned as usually it wouldn't be just a few mintes, but over 30 minutes. And as many people know, if you get into a car on a hot day, the car doesn't have a lot of air in it, as the sun has it heated.

Now, if you put a small child there, leave them there, and go shopping, the child could die.

Leave the window open a little, and someone may rob the car, the child, or both.

TempestSabre

grasshopa wrote:

I wasn't intending to take swipes at anyone, I'm just giving the other side of what seems to be a one sided thread so far. I don't see why people are so concerned over leaving a baby in a car for a few minutes.

Would you leave a mortgage check on the back seat of a car? Is a baby not more precious than that?

wexhun

I agree, you wouldn't leave your monitary valuables in the back seat while you popped into the shop so why leave the most precious thing in your life alone in the car where anything could happen, you would never forgive yourself if something happened...it just doesn't bear thinking about, don't even take the chance!

nobodythere

Point taken

ZENER

I think grasshopa has a valid point. As a parent myself I disagree with him but I can see where he/she is coming from.

On topic, there was a case recently beside Maplins in Blanchardstown where a foreign woman (incase it's culturally relevant) left a very small baby in an airtight car for nearly 2 hours while onlookers tried to console the child and waited for the guards. On her return she couldn't understand what all the fuss was about. This story was told to me by a parent who was at the scene. I think it was just before Christmas it happened.

It always go back to a saying I heard years ago. You need a licence to have a dog but any idiot can have a child.

How unfortunately true that is !

ZEN