The Cafe
In the carpool lane this week I saw a mom let her other child stay in the car while she walked her K or 1st grader inside. The little one was in a car seat, not more than 3 or 4. I can't imagine leaving my kid in a car alone like that. What do you think? Is it OK to leave kids alone in a car? At what age would you consider it to be OK?
Replies
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No never leave them alone. -
I don't ever leave them but I see the same thing you saw happen all the time! I guess once you do it, you might get complacent and think its OK to do it more often. I'm way to paranoid about it. Terrible things can happen too quickly and when you least expect it. And the older they get, the more capable they are of doing terrible things to your car!!
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I would never when it's hot, but maybe if quickly and still in sight of the car.
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No. Never. It is never okay to leave any child of any age in the car alone. Never.
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I don't think It's safe to leave them in the car for any amount of time until they are old enough to lock and unlock the doors and get themselves out of the car in an emergency. Therefore my kids never get left in the car since they're both still in car seats. My parents had different theories, my dad left me in the car at a young age, and my mom didn't start until I was eight or so when my sister was born. -
Nope. Not ok. Not ever. If you are more than a few feet from the car the kids should be with you. I take my 2 month old and my 23 month old in with me every morning and afternoon to pick up myu oldest from school.
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Never ever ok
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No it's never okay unless you are right next to the car. One time I pulled up next to a blockbuster and got out to drop the video in the outside drop box but that was only about 3 feet from the car and I still took my keys with me!
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Not in that situation. Ive left mine in the car to run back in the house to grab something i left on the table.
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No, I don't believe it is ever okay to leave them alone. If it was okay to leave them alone in the car like that, wouldn't logic dictate that you could also just strap them into a swing or high chair at home and run off to the store for a gallon of milk? I mean, it's not like they can get out or anything and hurt themselves, right?
Doesn't sound quite so okay when you put it in that perspective, does it?
For the record, the province I lived in before I moved here used to have a law that said that anyone under 18 was not allowed inside of a store that openly displayed tobacco products. My neighbourhood gas station, that had the cheapest gas prices in the city, refused to allow me to bring a 2 year old inside long enough to pay for my gas. I stopped getting my gas there and complained to my government representatives. The law was eventually repealed, as it should have been. It was a ridiculous law to begin with.