Stemming from an Argument....Edited to Add one mor

[Deleted]

May 16, 2012 11:38:31 GMT -5 karinothing said:

I am surprised people would leave their kid in the car to go pay for gas inside. I am not sure how this is differnt than leaving the kid in teh car while you run to the convinence store. We have had a few cases in our area of car jackings with the kid inside becuase the parent stepped away for a moment. I just personally could never do it.

I would only do it if I could see the car the whole time and was very close to the car. I live in a very safe area, so it just wouldn't bother me.

[satama]

May 16, 2012 12:38:15 GMT -5 hopeful2012 said:

May 16, 2012 12:34:44 GMT -5 satama said:

I would not do any of them. Well I guess it would depend on how desperate I was for gas what I would do for that one, but I would probably just try another gas station I actually don't even like pumping gas with the kids in the car so dh usually fills both cars up on the weekend.

Omg to the hotel one. Who would do that?

The yard work one I might do if the kid was a reliable napper and I checked ever so often.

I agree with this - for the gas one I meant the scenario to be that you had already pumped the gas and it wasn't until then that you realized the credit card machine wasn't working (not like there was a sign up beforehand or anything).

Oh, we pay before we pump, so you would know before getting gas if the machine was down I think.

[keh2oblue]

No to all 4.

[vanillacourage]

May 16, 2012 11:43:05 GMT -5 @lcap said:

What do you guys think about leaving kids in hotel rooms and going downstairs with a monitor? I see a lot of people on The Bump saying they do this or would do it.

No to the first three, yes to the fourth but I'd poke my head inside every 10 min or so, and hell no to the hotel scenario. You don't know for sure that nobody else has a key, much less that they won't try to access the room in another way.

[Deleted]

1. You are pumping gas. The credit card machine isn't working, so you have to go in to pay. does not compute. I live in NJ. we dont pump our gas

2. Toddler is screaming. You have to go into a convenience store to get milk. The convenience store is small and you are parking next to it (so the car is in your view) no

3. Similar to #2 but the car will be out of your view for a couple minutes while you grab something and pay. no

Added one:
4. Toddler is napping soundly in house. You are outside doing yardwork but the monitor doesn't reach where you are. You obviously can see anyone coming up to the house. yes. I dont use a monitor now.

[ECB]

May 16, 2012 11:37:17 GMT -5 ijack said:

I used to have a friend who left her child alone in the house for extended periods of time and gave the monitor to someone down the street while they went out to eat. I said something and it didn't end well (though I was more concerned with the kid than my friendship so I was okay with that).

I seriously side-eye the people who took the monitor too!!

[megs193]

No to all 4. I will run outside to take out the trash but that takes 1 minute. I wouldn't say anything to the parent who I saw doing it but I would probably wait around until I saw them come back.

[Willis Jackson]

No to all.

With the hotel thing, I'd be too worried that something could happen that I wouldn't hear through the monitor, like a very quiet intruder or a fire.

[statlerwaldorf]

1. No, but I have left DD in the car while going to one of those with a window you walk up to in the middle of the pumps.
2. No
3. No

I wouldn't say anything to a stranger.

4. I wouldn't. We sometimes go out to our fire pit after DD is in bed, but she is old enough to walk downstairs and come to the back door to get us if she needs us.

[hannamarin]

With the hotel, forget kidnapping or fire. If your baby starts choking or falls or whatever, it is a long way back to the room.
If you are outside in your yard, you just run upstairs/inside

[savannah11]

No, no, no. I don't judge anyone for #4, but I'm a little too paranoid. I have taken kid #1 outside to mill around the front yard while kid #2 slept but I had to have the monitor.

[Deleted]

I don't think I ever did when I had 1 baby (in a warm climate)....now that I have 3 kids, I have done 2 (gas station/convenience store which are one in the same to me) plus the gardening one. I wouldn't do the hotel thing though. I am more worried about the freezing weather, falling holding a kid or a kid getting hit by a car in a busy gas station parking lot than the chance of someone breaking into my car then hotwiring it then leaving before I can run 15' to stop them. Everything is in view of me, right? I wouldn't leave them while I go in Walmart but to run into a storefront a few feet away w/ glass completely viewable...yes.

[jena]

No to all.

I don't remember the last time I went in to pay for gas. Definitely not in the last 5 years. And a gas station where you pump without paying first??? Do they still have those?

I have left them in the car to drop books in the library slot - but the library is closed so there is no one around in a huge parking lot and it's 5 steps from the car.

I will leave them in the car in our driveway to run back in and get something.

[housegeek]

I can't believe how many people wouldn't hang out outside if their kid was asleep. Public places I get, but at home?

[h]

May 16, 2012 22:14:27 GMT -5 housegeek said:

I can't believe how many people wouldn't hang out outside if their kid was asleep. Public places I get, but at home?

I would not be concerned about someone kidnapping my kid at home with me outside like I would be in a public place, but I would be concerned about my kid waking up without me having any way to hear them and either crying in their crib (if we are talking about an infant) or wandering around and getting into something dangerous (if we are talking about a toddler). It actually really surprises me that people would put themselves in the position of not being able to hear their infant or toddler.

[Mrs.Syntax]

No to 1, 2 and 3.

I will leave DD in the car if I'm just walking a few feet away to drop something off on someone's doorstep, returning library books to the external book drop, etc. In those situations I can see the car and I'm not going into a building.

I routinely do yard work and gardening where the monitor doesn't reach. I just set the monitor in the farthest-reaching spot and check it out every so often. DD is still in a crib so it's not like she can go anywhere anyway. Once she moves to a regular bed and can wander the house, I might change my policy.

[satama]

May 16, 2012 14:27:10 GMT -5 @domerjen said:

not anymore. not after i locked my child in the car while at the ATM 10 steps away. I left the car running and the a/c on, and took the key fob. apparently the key fob doesn't work when the key is in the ignition.

that was a fun visit from the fire department.

i don't judge though, mostly it's just nbd. i'm just afraid of public shame again.

This happened to me in my own driveway. I was so embarrassed because I am sure my neighbors all came out to look when a fire truck with lights flashing pulled up in front of my house.

[aspentosh]

1. no
2. no
3. no
4. probably. DD is a good sleeper and I'd just be sure to check on her.

And I probably wouldn't say anything for 1-3 unless it was a long time.

[everam01]

No to all, but I'm trying to picture what in the world I would do in the case of #1 if they were both napping. I guess I would have to wake them up, put them in the stroller, go in and pay, then reload them. Whew.

[af1212]

May 16, 2012 11:43:05 GMT -5 @lcap said:

What do you guys think about leaving kids in hotel rooms and going downstairs with a monitor? I see a lot of people on The Bump saying they do this or would do it.

Ahh! No! This is exactly what Madeleine McCann's family did!

[mrssandro]

No to all but #4. I can see myself doing this if I had a monitor. I would side eye anybody who left their kid in the car for any amount of time, especially in Texas, because around these parts it's extremely dangerous with our temperatures. It's just not safe and not worth it.