Baby left alone in hospital shabbos room. Wwyd?

Raisin

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 9:36 am

I assume if he is in the hospital he is likely visiting his wife, who is sick or had a baby. He is probably overwhelmed. Obviously I wouldn't do this but as dangerous things go, its probably about as dangerous as driving a car.

zaq

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 10:05 am

Shabbos room or bikur cholim room is a chessed room set up by the local Bikur cholim for convenience of frum patients and visitors. It usually has a table and chairs and a fridge, and is stocked with sefarim, kiddush supplies, snacks and beverages, and in some places real Shabbos food and frum newspapers or magazines.,And arba minim on Sukkos!

Wish I’d known about it when I was in hospital but no one told me till I visited someone on Sukkos...and shlepped arba minim the whole way there and back. (Oh, well, I probably got “s’char shleppah” LOL

)

SixOfWands

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 10:27 am

amother wrote:

So are you saying that this is a common occurrence?
A shabbos room is a room that is stocked with kosher food and reading material etc.
I assume that the father thought that only jewish people could access the room as it had a code on the door but that still is dangerous imnsvoh.

I don't want to break it to you, but there are a fair number of bad people who also happen to be Jewish. We're not immune.

tichellady

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 11:24 am

I agree it is not something I would do under normal circumstances but no, I would not say anything. You have no idea why this man is in the hospital or what is going on in his life and a lecture from a stranger is probably not what he needs right now. I think you did the right thing.

amother

Gray

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 11:55 am

amother wrote:

Had a hospital appointment today and popped in to the shabbos room when I was done.
There was a baby sleeping there alone!
Wwyd?
I hung around and stayed with the baby till his father returned. I assume he went to the bathroom. He was quite long!
Is it me or does this also shock you?
Yes the shabbos room has a code but anyone that knows aleph beis can get in!

I am constantly shocked by this sort of thing... whether it's leaving a kid in a stroller in front of a store or leaving sleeping children alone in a hotel room or a baby alone in a shabbos room of a hospital. I don't get it.

In you situation I would also have waited with the baby for a parent to return. After that, nothing more to be done. Father will more than likely use the bathroom (or whatever) and leave the baby alone again. And in all likelihood nothing bad will happen. But I could never risk that with my own kids. I guess I haven't reached their level of trust.

Ruchel

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 12:56 pm

Ha, never had a room offered to me when I or my family was in hospital. I had my room. Even in Israel this is NOT my grandmother's experience.

Oh, and this man isn't allowed to go to the toilets? Sometimes "fathers" tend to do things and it's nice that they're refreshingly normal and non neurotic. Not commenting on this as obviously I don't get that type of hospitals.

BrachaBatya

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 2:03 pm

Wow, that's really bad.

I worked in a hospital that has a Shabbos room. It was never kept locked or coded. It was an honor system type of thing - you go in and out as you need and want.

Seriously unsafe and stupid to leave an unattended infant. Negligent, actually.

amother

Amber

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 2:12 pm

amother wrote:

I know my sexism is showing, but my feeling is... fathers tend to do that.

I agree. My generally responsible DH would probably do something like this and not think anything of it.

amother

Brunette

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 2:19 pm

When our 1 month old baby was sick in the hospital, my DH would leave her alone in the hospital room and go down to the bikur cholim room to get food. I was surprised but not really ... that's how fathers are.

amother

Green

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 2:26 pm

Not really seeing the big crime here. It's a hospital, not a department store or street corner. If there had been an emergency isn't a hospital the safest place to be? What should he have done, brought the baby into the bathroom with him when he or she was perfectly safe in the Shabbos room? Are parents allowed to leave a sleeping baby alone in a room at home; or will tjat be ossur too 10 years from now? Seems like we're heading into days when people demand all babies be under 24/7 guarding.

pesek zman

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 2:29 pm

amother wrote:

Totally different. I would do that too. Hospital rooms are open and nurses and doctors are in and out.

Blessing1

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 2:30 pm

It's ok to leave a baby that is a patient in the hospital alone for afew minutes if baby is sleeping in it's bed. It's not ok to leave a baby in a stroller in a room where the public has access to.

flowerpower

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 2:34 pm

I love how we are judging without knowing the whole picture. Maybe moms in the hospital with a scary sudden procedure and dad has to use the bathroom really badly? He waits for a trustworthy person to watch the baby a second and no one passes. So he thinks of the safest place to leave her for 3 minutes.

out-of-towner

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 4:38 pm

flowerpower wrote:

This. May you never be in such a situation!

cnc

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 4:39 pm

pesek zman wrote:

Totally different. I would do that too. Hospital rooms are open and nurses and doctors are in and out.

And babies are usually tagged/ alarmed so they wouldn't be able to be removed from the floor.

Although, I don't think that this father did the worst thing. He may not have had another choice.

amother

Gold

Mon, Nov 06 2017, 6:59 pm

flowerpower wrote:

It doesn't work like that. You take the baby with you. That's how you do it. I honestly can't think of a single situation where this is an ok solution to a problem. I'm sure every ima here, has at some point, taken a child in a stroller with them into a bathroom. It's part of being a responsible parent. Sometimes you are out with your baby, and sometimes you need the bathroom. You don't sometimes leave a baby unattended in a public place!

amother

Azure

Tue, Nov 07 2017, 12:24 am

I would leave a baby safely in a carriage for a few minutes in a room such as described. Ideally I'd leave the baby by a nurse's station, but often they won't agree to such a thing.

I don't consider it the same as leaving a baby alone on the street outside of a store. Everyone who walks in and out of a hospital is going past security, there are cameras and alarms, and this is a locked room.

flowerpower

Tue, Nov 07 2017, 12:32 am

amother wrote:

True. The nurses are understaffed and overworked so possibly there was no one at the nurses station.