Would anyone else leave a sleeping baby home alone - or am I overreacting?

bonar

social services would be very interested not only is this highly dangerous its also illegal. cant understand the mentally of some people, leaving a baby alone in a house total madness

loracan1

I remember when my eldest was a baby, we only had one car so if I needed it, we'd all be up and out of the house before 6 - it was never a problem, we'd just dump him in a car seat and I'd sort him out when I got home but a lady at work thought I was mad not to just leave him in the house! (I might have done that jaw-dropping thing when she said it)

I did used to nip up to the corner shop when they were babies though - literally a few doors away so no imminent danger of me not making it back.

lady1964

Where I was born & lived up until the age of 2, our street was about half an hours walk to the town. One of our neighbours went into town with her baby in the big carriage pram, parked the pram up outside the shop while she did her shopping. All the way home, she kept thinking she'd forgotten something. When she got home, she realised what she'd forgotten - her baby! She rushed back to town and the pram & baby were still outside the shop.

This was in the mid 60's & it was quite common apparently for babies in prams to be left outside local shops, prams were much bigger so couldn't get them inside I suppose!

To get back on topic, I echo what everyone else has said, it's an absolute no-no to leave a baby alone for any amount of time. I would take my baby monitor in the garden while I hung up the washing when my 3 were babies.
I think I would go the SS route tbh, the baby could climb out of his cot, fall & really hurt himself - my youngest could climb out of her cot at not much older and she was tiny. Anything could happen in the space of a few minutes, never mind 20 or so.

Raksha

I used to feel guilty going to the bottom of the garden while my LO were asleep.......

However - Post Natal Depression can warp your ideas of what is right and wrong, so maybe a phone call just to check she's coping OK might be appreciated.

samuelsmommy

adouglasmhor wrote: »

It's not illegal, what law is being broken?

Leaving a baby in a car unattended is illegal and you can be prosecuted. Same with dogs.

samuelsmommy

an9i77 wrote: »

What would happen if I was home alone with my child and I tripped or fainted, or went to the loo for a minute and my child suffocated? I don't make a habit of it, but going to the newsagents (and I only go when I can park right outside, like I can still see inside the car from the shop) doesn't expose my child to a significant risk of harm, in my opinion. Obviously if there was a massive queue inside I wouldn't stay. I'm talking literally a dash in - dash out scenario. I think that's a little different to the situation originally being discussed and don't think I'm breaking the law.

It is wrong to leave your child in your car while you go into the shop, you are putting the child at unnecessary risk. If something happened to you when you was home alone with your child then that is unavoidable, but your child suffocating, being abducted ect because you leave them in the car while you go in the shop is avoidable, its a risk most people are not willing to take and for the life of me I cant understand what would posses anyone to do it

HappyMJ

samuelsmommy wrote: »

Leaving a baby in a car unattended is illegal and you can be prosecuted. Same with dogs.

It's not illegal as such. It's leaving them alone and in danger part which is illegal. It depends on the circumstances.

samuelsmommy

HappyMJ wrote: »

It's not illegal as such. It's leaving them alone and in danger part which is illegal. It depends on the circumstances.

As far as im aware you can be prosecuted for it under the Children and Young Persons Act . As I said before most people wont put the child/ren at unnecessary risk, cant understand why anyone would do it:( Mine are 4 and 22 months and I take them with me to peg the washing out

Teenie_D

georgiesmum wrote: »

It's a bit over the top to call the SS. A very mean move. Once she has these people on her back she will never get rid of them. She probably feels quilty anyway. If you are so concerned why don't you offer to babysit while she slips to the shops, she is obviously on her own without any help, you have your husband to help.

I personally don't think it is tbh, like the OP said if anything had to happen to that wee one, how guilty would she feel that she knew what the Mother was doing and never done anything about it. And tbh if the Mother felt that guilty about it, she wouldn't be doing it time and time again......going to get her nails done etc pffft , doesn't sound like guilt to me!

sassyblue

sulkisu wrote: »

I think that I already know the answer to this, but I have had mixed responses from friends and colleagues, so would I appreciate objective views from strangers.

I bumped into a mother who attends one of the mother/baby groups that I go to. Our sons are the same age - 11 months. I explained that OP was at home doing 'daddy day care' and I was making the most of my free time. She replied that her son had finally gone to sleep and she was off to pick up a few things from the shop before he woke up. It transpired that he was home alone.

I think the look on my face said it all - I was horrified. She said that her son is in his cot which he can't climb out of, that he will probably sleep for a couple of hours by which time she would be back, and even if he woke in her absence he couldn't actually harm himself. Granted the shops are about a 20 minute round trip from her home and she is a single mother - so no OP to leave him with, but I still feel really uneasy about it. She does it all the time (her words, not mine) and it hasn't hurt him yet!

As I said before, responses from friends, colleagues and family have been mixed. I heard 'it's no big deal' more times than I expected to be honest. What do others think? What would you do, if anything?
We live in South London, so shops are open very late (24 hours in some cases).

I've heard it all now. You need to have a quiet word and ask her why she can't take her son out in his buggy whilst he sleeps?

There are no excuses, you should be within earshot of your child or close proximity - you might have to put the washing on the line but what's the first thing you do when you come in? Check the baby l bet... she is a neglectful parent, you don't know your child can climb out of his cot until they do it. What if the child vomits and chokes? What if she's involved in an accident or the house catches fire? Too many what ifs.....

People might have left babies like this since year dot, but it doesn't mean it's right. I wouldn't want any babies death or neglect on my conscience.

If you want a baby you should be a responsible parent - end of.