Mom leaves baby in shopping cart!!!

[Widget123]

I could never imagine myself doing this because I am very type A/ OCD. DH forgot LO in the car once and but thank God I was there and I caught it right away so he was only left by himself for a few minutes. I would think this situation is a lot more likely if you have a bunch of kids, but 40 minutes is inexcusable.

[Deleted]

I'm on team WTF, how to you do that? But as a former prosecutor this isn't the person I want to spend my time on, especially if she has no prior history. Criminal charges are intended to be putative and she has to live with this on her own. Probably won't happen again. Now working with the child welfare courts, I think it's more appropriate to be handled there where she gets the hands on supervision and help the whole family may need from social services.

[Deleted]

I'm going to let the moms with over 3 children here speak to this. I don't think I would ever do something like this but then having 4 kids sounds incredibly difficult. It's pretty obvious she did not do this intentionally.

[Deleted]

Aug 31, 2015 14:06:29 GMT -5 @bubbs119 said:

I think the real tragedy here is that she named her child Huxton.

And that her name is cherish

[Deleted]

Aug 31, 2015 14:29:21 GMT -5 @jemomma said:

@jimbobcooter that's a good point. I never thought about it from a prosecutor's perspective.

If she has no history she'd probably be given a deferred sentence. Meaning if she does XYZ first, the charge is dismissed. And XYZ is what social services would require on their end. The one advantage to a deferred is the threat of jail time if she doesn't comply, but I'm willing to bet this isn't the person who is going to blow it off.

[Deleted]

Aug 31, 2015 14:30:47 GMT -5 @imapenguin said:

Aug 31, 2015 14:23:48 GMT -5 @jemomma said:

michyme123 this is a huge fear of mine as well. I would be devastated if something like this ever happened to my kids, either with me or my H in charge. And I would fully expect to be charged if it happened to me and possibly have my kids taken away. There have been instances of this happening in the past and those mothers/fathers were all charged with neglect if I recall (please correct me if I am wrong). I feel like this mother expects nothing to happen because the child survived.

This woman left her kids in a car. They were also fine. She was charged with 2 felonies.

www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/05/15/shanesha-taylor-kids-in-car/27375405/

I only skimmed that But it sounds like there were extenuating circumstances in this case.

Eta: wait never mind. I actually remember that one. I think the sentence reflects the extenuating stuff. Part of the problem in these cases is that the definitions of charges leave so much up to interpretation.

[clairencub]

My opinion is WTF?!? I have a new baby and 5 small dogs, even before the baby was born we count our pups each time we leave the house to ensure that they are all where they should be. This practice has not changed since the baby was born. I know that pups are not children but we would be so devastated if we didn't count them and something occurred due to our lack of accountability and care. I cannot understand how this happens in real life.

[Deleted]

I put my purse in the back seat in front of P's seat every time I get in my car, whether he's with me or not, because I am so scared of leaving him on accident, even though I don't know how I could forget he's back there.

[Deleted]

Oh and I once involved with a case where the family had ten children. They were involved with social services because they left the youngest one standing in front of a museum and didnt notice he was missing for several hours.

[musicfrk2002]

I am also on team WTF. I tend to be overly paranoid about this type of thing though. If I am only running in for a few things that I know I won't be needing a cart, I either carry J or get the stroller out. If he is in a cart since we are getting quite a few things, I try and park near a cart corral so I can put him in the car before putting the cart away, then check again before I get in to leave. It may be different with 4 kids, but still...come up with your own method to check, and use it every time.

[littlemissgrump]

Here is the best (not the proper word for it) article I have read about leaving kids in cars.
www.parents.com/baby/safety/car/danger-of-hot-car-for-children/

[turtletyme]

This is so interesting. I am sure having 4 kids is signing up for a life of chaos. I think of those commercials with the lady driving with a briefcase or Starbucks cup on the hood of the car. I wonder how the duggar and bates family kids all survived. Appreciate the legal view, @jimbobcooter!

I couldn't leave my kid in the car accidentally for the same reason I couldn't forget my dog in there... Park the car and they go berserk. I do put my purse and diaper bag in the back seat though, I think that's a solid insurance policy.

[erbear]

I'm sure life's chaotic - hell, I know if I'm at the grocery store and she's crying I'm s bit frantic - but I can't understand how you forget your baby in a cart. It's not like you don't see the cart when you push it back!

Imagine what would happen to the Home Alone parents now. Heh.

[Deleted]

Aug 31, 2015 16:59:05 GMT -5 turtletyme said:

This is so interesting. I am sure having 4 kids is signing up for a life of chaos. I think of those commercials with the lady driving with a briefcase or Starbucks cup on the hood of the car.

I lost my drivers license for 1 week last year then I was driving the car on the freeway and saw it on the outside of my car stuck between the windshield wiper and the windshield. I have no idea how it got there!!!

[wormgerm]

@poppyc8 maybe someone found it and stuck it there so you would see it? That is if you park outside where someone would have access to your car at your address listed.

[kemdupuis]

This is insane. 40 minutes?!?!

[carolyngrace]

Aug 31, 2015 21:00:11 GMT -5 budders said:

I have told H since V was born that I am terrified of doing this. While I judge those who consciously leave children in cars, I 100% believe it is possible to be on autopilot and think you already took care of the baby or forget that s/he is with you, especially when it is outside of the normal routine.

It terrifies me too because I can see how it happens *shudder*... I need to start putting my phone back there with DB, both to help me stay off of it when I drive and as an extra reminder.

[Deleted]

Aug 31, 2015 20:10:40 GMT -5 wormgerm said:

@poppyc8 maybe someone found it and stuck it there so you would see it? That is if you park outside where someone would have access to your car at your address listed.

I have a bad habit of putting items on the roof of my car temporarily. I do it w my cell phone or cup of coffee if my hands are full. I think I set it on top of the car when I was distracted and then forgot about it. I've driven away w coffee on my roof more then once.

[stinybean]

This also terrifies me. I know how many times I've gone on autopilot prior to pregnancy. Everytime I'm in the car now I check the backseat to see if J is there even when she's not supposed to be. I also make sure to take her out of the car first. I should start putting my bag back there too. Hopefully this won't happen to any of us.

[mrsmonogrammed]

Sept 1, 2015 5:45:04 GMT -5 @hazeldublin said:

I'm not sure how this lady managed this either. I always feel strange when I'm not with the kids like my arms feel different or something. Maybe because I'm a SAHM I'm always with them, if I worked part time or full time I think I'd be more used to switching off. This is in no way a dig at working moms, to be honest I spend a lot of time jealous of working moms, but if I was working I know I'd be jealous of stay at home moms.

Going back to work next week this is my biggest fear! Like I'll be so used to switching between having her and not that I'll forget which one it is at a certain time! I'm going to be extra vigilant to check the backseat EVERYDAY because this terrifies me.

[littlemissgrump]

Last night I had a dream I left LO somewhere, it was awful. I am sure it was this thread I was reading last night before bed.

[dogmama22]

Sept 1, 2015 5:45:04 GMT -5 @hazeldublin said:

I'm not sure how this lady managed this either. I always feel strange when I'm not with the kids like my arms feel different or something. Maybe because I'm a SAHM I'm always with them, if I worked part time or full time I think I'd be more used to switching off. This is in no way a dig at working moms, to be honest I spend a lot of time jealous of working moms, but if I was working I know I'd be jealous of stay at home moms.

I try to be vigilant anyway, but I feel the same way. I've only left Z a couple of times since he was born so I feel really weird when he's not with me. I have to remind myself that I don't need to feed him or do a diaper change.

[veggiemo]

I just watched the interview of the mom where she is speaking out about the incident. I legitimately got tears in my eyes, I feel terrible for her. She was saying even though what some people are saying about her is awful, nothing feels as worse as when she turned around and realized the car seat wasn't there.

When I used to bring DS to work with me, it was winter and I always carried him to and from the office in the car seat (as opposed to now, I always take this LO out and carry him in my arms). There were times when I would be driving home and have this moment of panic that I left the car seat sitting in the parking lot and didn't click it in to the base when I left. It only lasted a second before I always realized, no, I didn't forget, he's safe and sound. But I'm just saying the thought was there and he was my only child at the time. Sometimes we think we've done it all and we've missed something extremely important. In any case, I feel bad for her and I think it was just a terrible mistake.

[Flick]

I just use the diaper bag as a purse when I'm with the baby and transfer stuff to my purse when I'm not. I still get flashes of anxiety when she's in the car, like maybe she somehow got out of her carseat and she's back at the store. I have such anxiety about her not being where I left her that I won't take my eyes off the cart in case some stranger tries to steal her.

[carolyngrace]

Finally got a chance to read this. I didn't watch her being interviewed, but what she said in the article doesn't really make sense to me. She didn't have to put the cart away, so she forgot the baby in it? So... she grabbed the last few bags, probably smiled at her baby, threw the bags in the car, and then.. forgot about the baby?

It just doesn't make sense to me!

[missjenniebean]

Aug 31, 2015 14:10:50 GMT -5 michyme123 said:

Haven't read te story but for some reason this has always been a fear of mine. It's pretty bad actually when leaving a store, even though I know for a fact I put them in the car, I check mirror at least 5 times while driving home to check that I put them in. I know I did but I still can't help but check numerous times it's a problem of mine :s

I do this. I have gotten out and checked before bc I was so paranoid!!