Leaving baby in car when dropping off older child

oliveoil

Mon, Sep 08 2014, 7:44 pm

MaBelleVie wrote:

This is a great idea. Sorry if someone already mentioned it- it sounds like there are lots of mothers there doing the same as you. Can you ask someone familiar to keep an eye on your baby while you run the older one in?

Actually she said there are NOT a lot of other mother there at that time, and only 2 days out of 5 so far has she seen another parent at all.

amother

Mon, Sep 08 2014, 8:20 pm

I had 2 babies that were very closely spaced and both couldn't walk. I took out baby in carseat and put carseat outside of the car on the sidewalk in front of my apartment building. Then I went back to take out my other baby while watching the carseat the whole time. I heard this neighbor in an adjacent building on her phone looking at the window saying there is a baby in a carseat with no adult in sight. She did not see me as I was leaning into the car to take out the other kid and saw an abandoned baby. One extra minute that I didn't come out and the authorities could have been there. You think it won't happen to you - you don't see a car pull down the street that second and call the cops. Logistically it is impossible to take out 2 kids from car seats at the same instant so one will have to be left for a few seconds while you unstrap the other one but go explain that to the police. sigh.

amother

Tue, Sep 09 2014, 9:14 am

amother wrote:

I'm sure that wasn't an easy situation but it seems to me that it's less safe to put the baby on the sidewalk than leave it in the car.

And unfortunately saying its a frum neighborhood and therefore safe doesn't apply after we all were rudely awakened to that tragedy a few years ago Sad

SRS

Tue, Sep 09 2014, 10:07 am

I'd be curious if the same people that will take a kid out of a car and place them on the sidewalk in view would do the same thing if the carseat was sitting inside the doorway. I'd really think that being inside a home or a vehicle is safer than the alternatives for a minute or two.

busydev

Tue, Sep 09 2014, 11:34 am

SRS wrote:

what do you mean in the doorway? I know for me I live in an apt building. the front door of my building is not in view from most of the street. with a baby in an infant seat and a toddler I would take out the infant seat, put it on the curb/grass right next to the open door of the car while I took out the toddler and then walk with both to the front door. the alternative would be taking out the toddler and have him stand by the door of the car while I took out the infant seat. while that takes less time, I trust the toddler less to stay put. the infant seat aint gonna run into the street.

In op's case I would weigh the pros and cons. I dont think its that bad even if you cant see the car, but you will be able to see if it moves back. at this point it def sounds like your doing the best you can.

amother

Tue, Sep 09 2014, 11:43 am

OP here

so I can look into dropping off the baby first but its really gonna be out of the way by close to 10 minutes. I will still be leaving the preschooler in the car when I drop off the baby but the car will be parked right in front of the house and I dont go inside.

but its kinda like I live at A, work is at D and the playgroup is B and the sitter is C:

A..............B............C.....D

so I would really have to loop back to get to the playgroup after the sitter... and that will make me get to work later.

today tho I got there at the same time as the other 2 parents and one stayed in his car watching the others while I walked his kid in with mine.

BUT I didnt park in the parking lot. its a bit hard to describe but basically there is a drive thru/drive way between two streets with a couple town house strips and parking lots off of it (its not really a lot- more like parking spaces enough for 4 cars) so the spaces were full and the father who watched my car ahd just stopped in the drivethru area. so maybe if I do that and put on my hazards and walk the preschooler to the gate I will be able to see the car the whole time (turned off and remote started) if I do have to walk inside that wont take care of the problem in the winter/bad weather... but maybe DC can go while I watch. the morah leaves the door open a crack at pickup and drop off.

amother

Tue, Sep 09 2014, 11:49 am

amother wrote:

OMG I was just able to edit this post (put... between the letters) did something change? thats pretty cool!