No they are for people in white vans or 80 year olds i think. Thats who seems to use them all when Im trying to find one anyway.
But thats a whole other rant

Maybe he thought had was a child minding space then?!

lol!!

LOL lisa. it should be. there should be car space childminders.

I just want to say I dont think its neglectful or wrong to leave your child in the car when you can see them from a shop window or bank machine.

but when I first read this post I was expecting to go read the other post and for it to have gotten out of hand with people saying that you need to take your child out the car to walk 3 steps to the bank machine. it was completely different to that.

and if someone left their child in a car and the car was broken into and the child was kidnapped it would be very much compared to the maddy case. a child was left - a child was taken. its the same thing to me.

wasnt there a football player that was in big trouble for doing this recently and he said he could see his daughter the whole time he was at the shop? I cant remember what happened with that but im sure the police were involved

x

if im going to the cash machine i leave evan whether he is awake or asleep because its like 5 steps from where i park the car!!

i use pay at pump when i get petrol where i can but if i cant then unless there is a massive que evan gets left in the car!

if he fell asleep in the car on the way home i would never leave him in the car mainly because he would freak out when he woke up and would panic

i have left him asleep in the car if im nipping into the local shop for 2 mins but if he was awake then i would take him

There was one particular post right after mine that got me, basically saying that leaving them for any reason is neglect, that's rubbish IMO!

20 mins is a bit much I said that, but what are the chances he don't expect to be so long? I don't know, maybe this woman was so riled she exaggerated? But anyway who is she to judge him, no harm cam to the baby, I wonder if she would feel differently when she has a toddler like this boy? Who knows.

my boys tend to sit in the car when am in tescos , they are 10 and 12 , they hate shopping so i lock them in the car in parent and child spaces that are directly outside the glassfronted shop
have done this for a few months now actually , they generally read a magazine, play on phone or something
i leave them all in car at petrol or bank but if going to a shop i take D with me

obviouslt there is a huge differance in age compared to leaving a toddler in car but some might call me negligent ! i however do not think i am !

I must admit the only times I have left mine in the car is to put the shopping in the house and then as soon as I'm done bring them straight in - but never if we're out. Its not because I think its neglectful but I just couldnt bring myself to do it.

I wouldn't leave Harry for that long, even if the guy didn't mean to be 20 minutes he still was; if he thought time was getting on a bit he should've left his shopping by the till (they look after it for you in the Mothercare by me) and just popped to check on him at least.

The cash machine/petrol station/local shop situation is different though, its much less stressful for both parties to just leave him in the car (normally his auntie gems car) with his postman pat steering wheel than to get him out for just 2 mins :/

Kell wrote:

There was one particular post right after mine that got me, basically saying that leaving them for any reason is neglect, that's rubbish IMO!

20 mins is a bit much I said that, but what are the chances he don't expect to be so long? I don't know, maybe this woman was so riled she exaggerated? But anyway who is she to judge him, no harm cam to the baby, I wonder if she would feel differently when she has a toddler like this boy? Who knows.

I think its all well an good saying we shouldnt judge him but lets be honest we all pass opinion on a variety of parenting issues this is no different. He might not have meant to be 20 mins but he was and no harm came to the kid but it could have i think thats peoples point. I dont agree leaving them for 2 mins to get some cash out the machine or fuel up etc is negligence thpugh thats a bit daft. It would take longer getting em in and out than whipping some money out with one eye on the car

The only time I leave Chloe in the car on her own is when I put the shopping in the house.

I don't feel comfortable leaving her on her own whilst at the petrol station, cash point or the shop. I don't think others that do this are neglectful but for me I just couldn't do it.

I didn't leave Amelia in the car until she was nearly 2. When I went to get petrol I took her with me. I will now leave her whilst I pay for petrol but only if the queue is short. I'd also leave her whilst returning a shopping trolly if it's only a few steps away, and the same for the cash point. My fear of leaving her when asleep or out of ear shot is that she could choke. I'm a bit paranoid about it after she gave me a couple of scares when she was a baby. She'd be quite happy if I left her as she's not that clingy but I don't really have a need to leave her. It's not easy as a single mum but then she's very well behaved toddler 99% of the time and that helps no end.

I don't know why anyone would need to leave their toddler on their own in a car for 20 mins though. You would never forgive yourself if something happened. I mean if the child was choking no one would know and that would only take a matter of mins.

I wouldnt leave callum if i couldnt see him.
I think ive done my petrol once when it was just me and callum and i left him in the car but normally do it when ohs in the car.

i leave her to sleep in the car outside if i can park outside my house and il sit in dinning room so i can see her, i will leave her to nip into shop, petrol, trolley return and to pick up parcel from post office all because i will spend 5 mins getting her out 2 - 3 mins inside and then 5 mins putting her back in

I got caught up in a thread on AB a couple of years ago which resulted in a lot of angry people, so have refrained from posting on this thread....but.....in the eyes of the child protection people even just leaving your child to go and pay for petrol is neglect
I however will leave Alyssa in the car to go to the cashpoint ie. 5-6 steps away, but round here there are no little shops only the co-op supermarket.
I always take her into the petrol station, but thats because its quite a big forecourt and I can't always see the car xx

I have left noah about twice whilst i have popped in a shop just to get milk but could always see him, i leave him in the seat if get petrol or cash point asleep or awake.

I would never leave him if i know i will be longer than 2 minutes, i wouldnt leave him in the car asleep on my drive if i was at home. If he is really tired i would take him in and put him in his cot as he wouldnt wake.

Char

*ShevAndLissieLou* wrote:

I got caught up in a thread on AB a couple of years ago which resulted in a lot of angry people, so have refrained from posting on this thread....but.....in the eyes of the child protection people even just leaving your child to go and pay for petrol is neglect
I however will leave Alyssa in the car to go to the cashpoint ie. 5-6 steps away, but round here there are no little shops only the co-op supermarket.
I always take her into the petrol station, but thats because its quite a big forecourt and I can't always see the car xx

It's actually VERY ambiguous like many laws ...trying finding any law that says that 'act' is child neglect is impossible ... I've yet to ever come accross a case of a parent being done for paying for petrol with a child in the car in the UK..and seeing as child neglect is not a black and white 'law' its not as simple as saying 'leaving your child in the car to pay for fuel is child neglect' ...why? because child neglect depends on whether the parents has left the child ''in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health’ (Children and Young Person’s Act) - and there are many things that would be considered in every case.

If it were as simple as 'leaving your child in the car is child neglect and unlawful' ... there would be multiple court cases where parents are found guilty ...but there isn't so how in the eyes of Child Protection can it be child neglect...unless they know it happens yet still ignore it...hmmmmmm

I don' drive so have never really came into conact with this problem, but I do remember 2 occasions when this has com to mind. Once, when me and Andy were together, his mum was down, and Sophie had fellen asleep in the car, she was quite young, 1 or so, and his mum said 'are you going to leave Sophie asleep?' And I said NO rather angrily, like... What the hell??? we do have a drive at thw front of the house, and ?I could see her from the living room at all eimes, but In my mind, the risks of the car roling down the driveway, or her waking up and being panicked, her choking etc, were just too great.

The other thing, Once Me Sophie and a friend were on a train, and as we pulled into a station I could see a car with a cryng child inside alone, we mut have been there 5 minutes and no parent came to the child, there was n one at the car park machine... so i was really quite worried but what the hell was I supposed to do? If I'd have called the police they would have done nothing!