Don’t FORGET your children!!!! Read my blog!
Okay, so I actually had a few minutes and read a magazine article over my holiday. Truthfully, I got in two whole magazines too, but that was after my kids were asleep at night! It was REALLY nice. I hardly have a free moment where the kids are not pulling at me and asking me questions or to get them something, play with them, hear they sing a song, show me a dance, etc.. So, I enjoyed reading for a short while. I read an article in the Parenting magazine for the month of June, page 106, the title of the article was “Tragedy in the Backseat”.
I had read about this particularly heartbreaking story about a year or two ago when the incident happened. A woman accidentally left her child in the car seat all day because her routine was changed. She was so sure she had dropped her son off at day care that morning, but instead, he had fallen asleep in the back car seat and when she went to pick him up at his day care and they said he had not come in that day, she immediately darted out to her car and only realized after an entire day had gone by and unfortunately, it was too late, he had died. The cause was death by hyperthermia, caused when the body temp rises uncontrollably. Believe it or not, it has happened to 450 children since 1998. That is SO sad, I will be married going on 12 years in June, the same amount of time and all those children have died!!!! How awful!
The article is all about parents who “forget” their babies or toddlers in their car seat because they are so quiet, had fallen asleep, etc. We read these articles and often make judgements on these parents accusing them of being bad and irresponsible parents when often they really are great parents who unfortunately did what we all often do, “forget”, only it cost their poor child their life.
We all get so caught up in our daily hectic lives, that when our routine is “disrupted” or changed for any number of particular reasons, a sick kid, an appointment, etc. that we can forget to do what we are suppose to do that particular day because we are so use to doing things the same way each day.
This article was all about babies and toddlers left in their carseats and they overheat and die. It is so tragic, yet also so preventable. We all think, “it can never happen to us and our child because we would never do that!” but hasn’t there been a time where you got home on a hot day, ran to put the grocery bags in the house because you did not want the milk or ice cream to spoil and the phone rings, you pick it up and say “oh my gosh, I have to get my baby in her/his car seat?” I know that has happened to me once or twice. Now, I try very hard to FIRST take my child out, because spoiled food is much better than something tragically happening to my child.
I am mentioning this because they say that this occurs during the Spring to Fall time….and with the warm weather approaching now, some really hot days already, we must be so careful! Here are some great tips to avoid a hot-car tragedy!
* Always put your cell phone, purse, briefcase or anything else you will be needing that day on the FLOOR of the backseat. When you retrieve it at the end of your ride, you will notice your child.
* Seat your younger child (or quieter child) behind the FRONT PASSENGER seat. He/she is most likely to catch your eye while sitting there. All the children who died and were mentioned in this article where all sitting BEHIND the driver’s seat. THIS WAS A BIG THING FOR ME WHEN I READ THIS, BECAUSE MY BABY SITS BEHIND ME! I may change her seat now!
* Keep a teddy bear or stuffed animal in the car. When the car seat is empty, leave it in the car seat. When you put your child in the car seat, move the teddy bear to the FRONT PASSENGER SEAT, this will remind you that your baby/child is on board. (this was very interesting as well for me to read)
* Ask your childcare provider or babysitter to phone you promptly if your child is not dropped off as scheduled. (had the day care provider called this woman, perhaps, she would have realized she left her 23 month old in the car and he may have been saved!)
* Make a habit of always opening up the back door when you park to check that there is no kid in the back.
* NEVER ASSUME (this has happened as well to me one or two times in the past) someone else, a spouse, your other older children, etc. has taken out the baby, a young child, etc. Such miscommunications have led to more than a few hot-car deaths.
* Put visual cues in your office or home. Static-cling decals reminding you to check the car seat. Available at Emmas inspirations.com and Kidsandcars.org.
* Invest in a device to help you remember small passengers. The Cars-N-Kids monitor plays a lullaby when the car stops and a child is in the seat ($29.95 at carsnkids.com). The ChildMinder System sounds an alarm if you walk away and leave your child in the seat ($69.95 at babyalert.info)
PLEASE keep your children safe, take the extra minute or two to do some of these helpful hints. We don’t want any more children and babies accidentally hurt or killed.
Rebecca Barkai/CEO
www.startingoutsmall.com
info@startingoutsmall.com
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