baby alone in house??

amother

Thu, Dec 19 2013, 1:13 am

I just had a whole argument with dh (a loving one but an argument nonetheless) about leaving a sleeping baby alone in the house.

I would never ever ever dream of leaving a baby alone in the house even for five to ten minutes.
Dh - thinks its ridiculous that I wont leave the kid sleeping in the house and run out to bring my other kid to playgroup. Its a few minutes away (by car) and he simply does not see the logic in making myself meshuga and waking the baby and dressing him in coat etc shlepping him out in the cold and trying to juggle both kids into the car frantically etc. he says just leave the baby - you'll be back in a few minutes and there's nothing wrong with that. He thinks its like taking a shower when baby is sleeping.

Aside from the fact that it is probably considered neglect by US law, I'm freaking out that he can even suggest such a thing. I hate being a meshugenah with all that stress in the morning, but what option do I have. I believe its morally wrong to leave the kid home alone!

Wondering your thoughts ladies....

(not that it'll change my view but I'd share the thoughts of multiple mothers with him)

Growing

Thu, Dec 19 2013, 1:53 am

Lets shout from the rooftops!
Across the country across oceans!

NEVER NEVER NEVER

Please pass it on in every language.

My sister lives in a city where this practice is considered 'normal' shock

I cannot wrap my head around such logic.

Children. need. supervision. all. the. time.

No exceptions.

black sheep

Thu, Dec 19 2013, 1:58 am

anything can happen at any time. even in five minutes. I don't want to list the names of various types of accidents so as not to give ideas to the devil. but please don't ever leave an infant alone. it is in no way the same as being in the next room, taking a shower or whatever. your husband is dangerously clueless.

sped

Thu, Dec 19 2013, 1:58 am

No. Never. But if it makes you feel better, I know of many husbands who think like yours (mine included). I stopped trying to reason and just made it not negotiable - as in, I know you don't understand, but there is nothing to talk about.

amother

Thu, Dec 19 2013, 3:43 am

I know someone that lives in a house with multiple apartments. She once" ran out" to the grocery to buy ONE item and left her sleeping infant for 2 min as her grocery was around the corner...

She ran back and to her horror she found fireman outside her apartment and they refused to let her in!
One of her neighbors called 911 because she suspected a gas leak... she tried begging to be let in but they refused saying that it might not be safe! They took their time and she was sure her baby was awake and screaming... In the end she had to admit the truth and a CPS case was opened against her!

Boy did she learn her lesson! She is always sharing her story so that pple shoild watch out, YOU NEVER KNOW!!

Heyaaa

Thu, Dec 19 2013, 4:54 am

amother wrote:

She thought there was a gas leak and she took her time telling them that her baby was in there bec she didn't want to look bad? I hate to say but she deserved the case. Chas veshalom not to have them taken away, but just so she'd be more careful. I hope nothing actually happened to her though!! I'm glad she learned her lesson.

When I go to my Makolet which is about 20meters from my front door, even if I'm buying 1 item it takes me upwards of 20 minutes. I won't even leave dd in the house if I'm running to get something from the car.

clowny

Thu, Dec 19 2013, 6:45 am

No, never ever. Don't listen to your dh. I know someone who did this and boy does she regret it. While she was out something went wrong with the baby's porta crib and one side of the mattress disconnected from the crib. Baby started rolling down and his head got stuck between mattress and crib. When she came home the baby was all blue and they had to resuscitate the baby. A few more seconds and baby wouldn't have made it ch"v.

And btw, comparing to taking a shower- I have a mishigas of not taking a shower when dh is not home.

amother

Thu, Dec 19 2013, 7:37 am

my brother and sister in law do this, theyll leave their kids sleeping in the house (all under the age of 5) I dont feel its my place to say anything, they probably wouldnt listen anyway but I think its so scary! im tempted to tell my mom to speak to my brother, its just so dangerous for little kids to be alone even for a few minutes!

amother

Thu, Dec 19 2013, 7:45 am

I'll admit I do it when I drop my daughter off at playgroup (two houses down literally a 30 second walk away) I take the video baby monitor and if the baby so much as rolls over I run home (with or without dropping the older toddler off) I am in my front door in 30 seconds flat if needed and our of the house 2 minutes total. Honestly if I were in my own basement doing laundry it would take my longer to get to my baby. Call me negligent and horrible that's fine. We actually DID have a fire alarm go off upstairs once. I ran home and was in my house within about 25 seconds of it going off....

amother

Thu, Dec 19 2013, 7:50 am

amother wrote:

That said even I would never leave a baby alone and get in a car! What if there is an accident? What if the baby wakes screaming 30 seconds after you leave? Or gets sick? Etc? I do something many here would call crazy but there is no way I would do that. When my toddler went to a different playgroup she went late after the baby woke.

imaima

Thu, Dec 19 2013, 8:04 am

I have always packed my baby in the buggy every morning and took them to the playgroup. If I saw that the baby was getting tired, I would go to the playgroup earlier and take a walk with the older dc before it's time to drop him off. Or pack the baby in the buggy so he would fall asleep there and took the buggy with the sleeping baby when it's time to go to the playgroup.