Just a reminder: Don’t leave your kids in a hot car


What am I forgetting?

It’s happened again: A parent has mistakenly left their toddler sweltering in their car seat while they went off to do whatever. This time, it was Kentucky father Kenneth Robinson. He was distracted on his way to work, passed his son’s daycare and trotted into work leaving his toddler in the car in 100-degree temperatures.

This seems to come up more often than it should in these summer months. The parent says they were totally unaware of what they’d done. Obviously no caring parent does this on purpose. But, really? Is this really the same as getting to work and wondering whether you left the iron on?

Does anyone out there think they could ever be this distracted?

Categories: In the news
Tracy Ormsbee

9 Responses

  1. maggie says:

    I’ve gone so far as driving past the daycare all the way to work, and having to turn around. I can see this, particularly if the child is asleep, and if you share the “delivery” services so that every morning is not the same routine.

  2. Kathleen says:

    I read a Pulitzer-winning story a few years ago about this issue. In essence: if you’re capable of forgetting your cell phone, you can forget your child. Anyone can do it. The child is asleep, is in the back seat, usually on the side so he/she can’t be seen through the rearview mirror, and you…just…forget.
    The experts advise three things:
    1. Put your child’s bag on the passenger seat, on top of your purse/briefcase. If someone rides to work with you, make them hold the bag in their lap. Seriously.
    2. Hang a mirror on the rearview mirror in such a way that it always reflects the child’s face.
    3. Give your work number and cell number AND SOMEONE ELSE’S NUMBER to your childcare provider so they can call immediately if you don’t arrive. In one case written about in that story, the father had just gotten a new phone number and so the childcare provider couldn’t reach him. If the provider had another person’s number, someone you might be more likely to have called/texted with your new number, there’s a better chance they could reach you.

    There’s also a alarm system you can get installed that beeps just like your car beeps if you leave the key in the ignition.

  3. Ann says:

    How about this; drive your car out to a parking lot like WalMart on a hot day, then turn the car off with all the windows rolled up and sit there in the heat for 5 minutes. No cheating and no water bottle.

    You probably won’t forget a kid or pet in the car again.

  4. no so perfect parent says:

    I don’t know what to say about this. I CONSTANTLY misplace my keys, my cell phone, my sunglasses. I walk upstairs to do something, come downstairs 15 minutes later, having done 15 things but forgetting what I originally went upstairs for.
    At one point in my children’s lives I was working three different jobs.
    I have a dog and 3 cats.
    But I never forgot my child in the back seat.

  5. shannon says:

    The worst thing you can say is “This would never happen to me,” and I’m sure if you asked the parents that have forgotten their children in the car, most would have said the same thing before they made that horrible mistake. In the story Kathleen linked to is really eye-opening. The best thing you can do as a parent or a caregiver is assume it could happen and take the extra steps to make sure it doesn’t. Put the diaper bag in the front seat, your work bag in the back seat and make it habit to check the car seat every.single.day even if you don’t have the kids with you.

  6. maggie says:

    Thanks for the tips. I started putting my purse on the floor by the car seat, with the key card for work inside, so I can’t go very far without looking. That said, I had to turn around and drive home to get my laptop today…

  7. Earl says:

    Yes, this happens and it is terrible tragedy that the person (family) must live through. Sarcasim and disrespect serve only to cover one’s own inadequicies. Each time I hear of these tragic events, my heart and soal aches for the suffering of the child and the relentless torment the person (family) no doubt must endure. Perhaps the greater message is that we all need to slow down and remember what is important…the things we do for one another.

  8. Magpies says:

    What a sickening thought.

    Tie the child’s rattle to the steering wheel or your wrist with a ribbon. Tie a couple of long ribbons to your pocketbook so you’d be tripping over them.