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

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

POPPYOSCAR wrote: »

Its amazing the number of usually rational adults that do drink while they are looking after children.

Reminds me of a party my daughter was at. One of the girls fell over and broke her arm. Neither of the parents could take her to casualty as they had both had a drink. She had to wait for her own mother to pick her up rather than meeting them at the hospital. They both felt terrible about it afterwards.

Definitely irrational.

Any half way intelligent human being would have called a minicab.

nonnatus

I am definitely in the "it's fine to let them out of your sight for a time" camp and would probably have had no issue with nipping to the shops like the lady in the OP when mine were very small.

However, I do remember one mortifying occasion over 10 years ago when I had the babies with me in the car following a shopping trip. (I had taken them into the supermarket with me btw ).

The car had sent the kids to sleep soundly like always and I still had to go to the bank so I pulled into one of the small spaces OUTSIDE the bank, left the kids asleep in the car and whizzed in. Next thing I knew, a man was tapping me on the shoulder and asking in a very loud voice if it was ME that had left my babies unattended in a locked car outside. The queue got restless. The man said he was an off duty PC who had watched me do it and felt he needed to educate me about the dangers. Old lady in front of me loudly agreed with him. I was much too young to feel like standing my ground (I like to think it would be different today) so I just ran out!! The kids were still asleep when I got home but I had to go back out to do the banking...:(

onlyroz

adouglasmhor wrote: »

That's a lie, leaving a dog at risk is not the same as just leaving it in a locked car.
If you make untrue statements you are going to get asked to back them up, the fact you just repeated your opinions as fact shows you up for what you are.
You can be prosecuted if the child or dog is at risk, there is no hard and fast rule as to when this is the case, in one high profile case where a professional footballer and his partner left their kid outside a store in a car it was dropped before it got to court. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-12283024
That's a fact not opinion.
The fact you are not going to reply to me any more because I called you for posting opinion as fact is a bit childish. Used to getting your own way all the time princess?

The case you quote there is interesting because the article states that the baby was left in the car on sub zero temperatures. It is these extremes of heat that *sometimes* make it dangerous to leave a child or a dog (or indeed an elderly relative) locked in a car. I have occasionally left my kids in the car for 5 mins and I don't see the problem with it as long as it's not too hot or cold.

debbie_debt

If this lady is doing this on a regular basis, then I think she's clearly struggling to cope with the demands of daily life as a single parent, which means that she needs some support. I work in the child protection arena and I would strongly recommend that your make a report to Children's Social Care to get her the support that she needs. It is very dangerous to leave a child of that age (or that child for quite a few years yet!) home alone - my son managed to climb out of his cot at 11 months and land with a bump! Equally, he could still be prone to vomiting in his sleep and choking, with no one to hear him. Neglect in terms of being left to cry for extended periods has also been proven to have a detrimental effect on development.

I can tell you personally already know all of this, but I think you've a duty to do something about it now she's admitted it. As I said, you can do it anonymously so as not to destroy your friendship, especially if you feel you may be able to provide a source of support for her.

Good luck

Debbie

brians_daughter

OP you need to report this woman..

A local case (not too long ago) saw a mother prosectuted for leaving her 2 children home alone for a minimum of 60 minutes whilst she went shopping. A delivery man knocked to deliver parcel for the neighbours, woke the children up, kids started crying delivery driver got worried. Approached another neighbour who noted the mothers (who lived alone with children) car wasnt in drive. police arived and hey presto she got a jail sentance. I am sure from memory she was known to SS but still its wrong. Will post link to local paper coverage if i can find it

ETA this woman maybe (or may not be) struggling and could access support and help available to her. You need to report her to get her 'under the radar' and to be in a position to access services she can rely on to assist her.

I know its dramatic OP but what if she left child home alone and something happened? Fire? Flood? Bugalry? and child was put in more danger? Now that you know this is happening it may not be your place to offer additional help (as you have already stated) however, it is your place to ensure the child isnt placed in danger

gingin_2

Is there any update Sulkisu?

reheat

Moronic is my feeling. It's a combination of detecting if your baby is in trouble, and also how quickly you can get to your baby if an emergency occurs. So need to be able to hear them, or out of earshot for a minute or two at most. And never leave the premises. And if your baby is in trouble, it would be good to get to it in seconds I think. So a 20 min visit off the premises to my thinking really is moronic and irresponsible.

fabforty

OP updated several days ago - see post 179. She reported the mother to their HV, who in turn will take whatever steps are deemed necessary.