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

lilrahi

sassyblue wrote: »

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.

Exactly! The first time my daughter climbed out of her cot, I nearly had a heart attack! Not only did she climb out, she got out of the room and nearly headed for the stairs! :eek: It was only cos I heard a shuffling sound on the baby monitor that I rushed upstairs to find her turning herself around on the top stair in a bid to start down!!

I swear, my heart has never been the same again!

I don't go to the garden when she's asleep unless I have my monitor with me! And I always do a check with my hubby or DS before I go so I know I can hear her and what my range is on the monitor!

adouglasmhor

samuelsmommy wrote: »

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

I asked what law was being broken, not for you to repeat the same thing over again without any facts to back it up.

And it is certainly not illegal to leave a dog alone in a car, that's just a lie

Nicki

samuelsmommy wrote: »

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

Do you have a massive garden then? I have 3 children currently aged 2, 10 and nearly 12, and I have never required them to be in the same room with me 24 hours a day. So I would never have had a problem, at whatever age, in hanging out washing when they were asleep in their cots, or having a shower, etc. My OH and I also often eat outside in the garden when the weather is good after the children have gone to bed. Our garden though is quite small, 40 feet from back door to the back fence, and I'm probably closer to them there, than when I am in the kitchen which is 3 floors below their bedroom.

I wouldn't leave a young child in the house alone to go shopping (though would leave my nearly 12 year old for up to an hour in daytime alone, as would all my friends with their children of this age) but I do feel anywhere in the house or garden is fair game when the child is asleep in their cot, including getting things out of the car parked on the drive.

loracan1

There are some extreme examples here - what happens at night when they're in their own rooms?

And does anyone actively avoid buying petrol when their baby is in the car - or do they take them in while they pay

peachyprice

loracan1 wrote: »

And does anyone actively avoid buying petrol when their baby is in the car - or do they take them in while they pay

I think they take them in. But to me there's a far greater risk of a little person being run over on a busy forecourt, especially if you've got more than one, than being snatched from a locked car, but he, that's me.

xxlouisexx56

i live in a 2nd floor flat. My baby is 9 months and my 6 year is at school. I wait until baby has been asleep for 20 minutes or so and then pop downstairs to take the bin out as i find i cant manage to lift the lid on the bins with a baby in my arms.

there is also a shop just across the road from which i can see my home in full view the whole time, so i might run over there for some milk when i take the bin down.

an9i77

peachyprice wrote: »

I think they take them in. But to me there's a far greater risk of a little person being run over on a busy forecourt, especially if you've got more than one, than being snatched from a locked car, but he, that's me.

I don't get that - surely although forecourts are busy the cars will be travelling very slowly, thus minimising the chances of a collision, certainly anything that would cause harm. Not saying it will never happen, but I think it's very unlikely. Of course, if we could all wrap our children in cotton wool 24 hours a day, we would, but there comes a point where the risk is so small and the action to avert the risk so impractical that it doesn't make sense.

When it comes to leaving a child alone in a house for more than a few mins though, that's a total no-no.

peachyprice

an9i77 wrote: »

I don't get that - surely although forecourts are busy the cars will be travelling very slowly, thus minimising the chances of a collision, certainly anything that would cause harm. Not saying it will never happen, but I think it's very unlikely.

A car doesn't need to be travelling at speed to knock a child over though. There are so many scenarios where a child could come to harm being taken across a forecourt.

Do you think a child is more likely to be snatched from a locked car at a forecourt surrounded by witnesses and CCTV? Has this really every happened or is it another urban myth?

onlyroz

20 minutes is too long. I have a shop 1 min walk away and if I was out of milk and I knew the kids were safe then I wouldn't have a problem nipping out to buy a loaf of bread.

However, for extended absences (i.e. for longer than 10 mins) I don't think kids should be left alone until they would know how to deal with an emergency like a fire (i.e. get out of the house by any exit, and bang on a neighbour's door).

As for leaving your baby in the car on a petrol station forecourt - the main risk would be from heat, rather than abduction - and forecourts are usually in the shade, in full view of the shop, so I don't see a problem here.

gorgeous_gwen

I just wouldn't. All manner of things go through my mind.

A story I read a few months ago (don't know if anyone has mentioned this?) really shook me up; a couple that put their older baby to bed, safe and sound one evening. When mum checked in the morning, the baby had at some point tried to climb out of the cot and slipped, getting trapped between the cot and an adjacent chest of drawers, and its head had got smushed up towards its chest and stopped breathing. She found the poor thing stuck there and was so sadly dead. And that was with the parents in the house.

So many possibilities of what could happen, if only in 5 minutes, let alone 40 minutes plus.