Do you leave your kids alone in the car?

Simply teaching your kid to stay in the car with the doors locked and only open the door to a parent is not sufficient to keep them safe in a car alone, especially on a busy road or a very hot or cold day.

And this is where that little thing called common sense comes into play.

Every time I ever was left in a car was in a parking lot and obviously my parents and friends' parents had the sense to not leave us on freezing cold or super hot days. Geesh.

I personally wouldn't leave an infant or toddler in a car. I do think that's far too young. And I probably wouldn't leave a single child younger than probably 8-10 in a car (multiple children is different). But this blanket "no kids should ever be left alone in a car" thing is silly paranoia.

I didn't say "no kid left alone ever" - I listed a bunch of factors that parents frequently fail to think about before leaving kids alone in cars. If the child's mature enough to handle all the potential situations, then yes. But huge numbers of parents don't think about those things and a small number of kids end up harmed or dead because of it, and if this discussion is about whether and in what circumstances it's okay to leave a kid alone in a car, then yes I should mention things parents need to take into consideration.

My main point in that post was that people only think about stranger danger and not other factors.

Who are these people? I've been a parent for nearly 20 years and I was a child. Every time the discussion of kids in cars has ever come up, people have talked about things other than strangers abducting the children. And we have all instructed our children on the "do not touch" thing and know better than to leave them to freeze or boil to death.

And I hope that my child is smart enough that I don't have to specifcally address, "Get out if the car catches on fire."

Simply teaching your kid to stay in the car with the doors locked and only open the door to a parent is not sufficient to keep them safe in a car alone, especially on a busy road or a very hot or cold day.

And this is where that little thing called common sense comes into play.

Every time I ever was left in a car was in a parking lot and obviously my parents and friends' parents had the sense to not leave us on freezing cold or super hot days. Geesh.

I personally wouldn't leave an infant or toddler in a car. I do think that's far too young. And I probably wouldn't leave a single child younger than probably 8-10 in a car (multiple children is different). But this blanket "no kids should ever be left alone in a car" thing is silly paranoia.

I didn't say "no kid left alone ever" - I listed a bunch of factors that parents frequently fail to think about before leaving kids alone in cars. If the child's mature enough to handle all the potential situations, then yes. But huge numbers of parents don't think about those things and a small number of kids end up harmed or dead because of it, and if this discussion is about whether and in what circumstances it's okay to leave a kid alone in a car, then yes I should mention things parents need to take into consideration.

My main point in that post was that people only think about stranger danger and not other factors.

Who are these people? I've been a parent for nearly 20 years and I was a child. Every time the discussion of kids in cars has ever come up, people have talked about things other than strangers abducting the children. And we have all instructed our children on the "do not touch" thing and know better than to leave them to freeze or boil to death.

And I hope that my child is smart enough that I don't have to specifcally address, "Get out if the car catches on fire."

What about smash and grabs?
Car Jackers?
Teenage jack offs who think it's funny to scare kids alone in a car for fun
off chance there is an accident and your car gets hit in the parking lot or on a street?
What about if the kids are scared but don't want to say anything?
What if you get delayed by a long line? a chatty clerk? god forbid a robbery in the store and you are stuck in there kids are outside not knowin what is going on
What if you slip, hit your head get knocked out... no one knows you have kids in a car....

Never mind abductions....

Yes these are all what ifs and might never happen but they could and this is why it is important as the "grown up" to do some forward thinking....

Also one time I left my kids in the car and it got towed. I couldn't afford to get it out of the impound.

I wonder what happened to them.... I'll always remember you Jermey and Simon.

I just bought a car that already had kids in it..... they might belong to you then

When i was raising my kids i did leave them in the car if i could see them the whole time. With the car locked.NEVER on a hot day. Although i lived in a small community at the time. If i needed to be in the store for more than a minute though they went with me. Sleeping or not. All 3 of my kids survived and 2 of them have their own kids now. When you decide to leave a child in a car unattended you need to consider the situation. These days i am not so sure i would do the same thing i did back then though. But again that would depend on their age and the location i guess.

I've seen people leave children in cars, dogs, and even grandmas/grandpas. The old people and dogs were more depressed looking. I wanted to let them out so they can be free.

Never ever. I have a 2 and 4 year old and never leave them on their own in the car, even to run in and pay for petrol for example. I try to do things like fill up my car when I'm on my own, or have my husband in the car too. You just don't know what can happen in 5 minutes, it just isn't worth it.

I don't even leave my wife in the car alone, if it is going to be out of my sightline. Too many knuckleheads out there. Too many stories of carjackings.

I leave my kids in the car alone all the time. :happy:

I've seen people leave children in cars, dogs, and even grandmas/grandpas. The old people and dogs were more depressed looking. I wanted to let them out so they can be free.

LOL I always think the same thing when I see that!

I let her sit in a running, locked car, parked directly in front of the 7-11 while I ran in and got milk at the age of 13, because she was holding the puppy for possibly 2 minutes at max. First and only time.