MO - Sophia Knutsen, 7 mos, dies in hot car, St Louis, 23 Aug 2007

[JBean]

I was reading somewhere today that you should put your cell phone, wallet, or something else that you would miss quickly, in the car seat with the baby.

I think that is a pretty good idea. A lot of employers issue ID badges that employees use to enter their buildings. If you put that with the baby, you couldn't get into your office without it... so you'd have to go back to the car immediately.

I'm really glad that I don't have any babies anymore, I don't have to worry about doing this with my own.

I used to put my purse next to the baby to make sure I remembered my purse.
There is just something so wrong in our society when we would miss our cell phone before our children.

I do understand the concept, please don't anyone misunderstand. I am all for anything that will stop this probelm. But it is kind of a sad state of affairs, IMO.

 

[SewingDeb]

Great ideas Jodibug. Another idea is to always put the diaper bag in the passenger seat in the front.

 

[philamena]

wouldn't be any "trying" for me....i'd do it...i know i couldn't live w/myself; just that simple.....

I know exactly what you mean. I'd do the same thing but I'd find a sure way to do it.

 

[AlwaysShocked]

"I think it is a horrible tragedy, but it was an accident."

Nope, it was parental neglect is what it was. You can call it distraction, you can call it being really busy, but what it boils down to is that something else was more important to that parent (and in this case both parents) than their child.

 

[SeriouslySearching]

This is ridiculous! Another innocent child left to die in the heat!! I am sorry, but am I the only one who feels the parents in these horrendous cases are guilty of neglecting their childen?! This is no different to me than a parent who leaves toxic chemicals out for a child to drink, leaves a child in the bathtub to answer a phone, or leaves a child home alone without supervision then a fire occurs resulting in tragedy. The parent has not fulfilled the obligation to keep the child safe...therefore ARE guilty of NEGLECT.

ne·glectplay_w("N0050800") (n

-gl

kt

)
tr.v. ne·glect·ed, ne·glect·ing, ne·glects 1. To pay little or no attention to; fail to heed; disregard: neglected their warnings.
2. To fail to care for or attend to properly: neglects her appearance.
3. To fail to do or carry out, as through carelessness or oversight: neglected to return the call.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/neglect


I raised five kids and not one of them were EVER left behind no matter how busy we were or how our schedules changed! I NEVER forgot I had children!! Why do you need to put a purse or a badge next to your baby? Can't you remember you HAVE a baby?! My children were my FIRST priority always.

These children are so far down on their parents' list of priorities that I feel they should be charged in the deaths! Being a Pediatrician doesn't instantly make her a good mother and she should have verbalized to her husband to make certain he would take care of their child before she ever let him take the baby or vehicle anywhere!

I am heartbroken for the families who must suffer, but the children suffered a horrible death because they "forgot". Ignorance of the law is no excuse and neither is being "forgetful or preoccupied".

 

[dingo]

I was reading somewhere today that you should put your cell phone, wallet, or something else that you would miss quickly, in the car seat with the baby.

I think that is a pretty good idea. A lot of employers issue ID badges that employees use to enter their buildings. If you put that with the baby, you couldn't get into your office without it... so you'd have to go back to the car immediately.

I'm really glad that I don't have any babies anymore, I don't have to worry about doing this with my own.

Have things really got this bad......this scares me

 

[AlwaysShocked]

SeriouslySearching: Glad someone else has the good sense to see this for what it actually is. When a doctor "gets distracted" and amputates the wrong body part, that is considered to be negligence. If a nurse should have rendered an established standard of care to a patient and the nurse fails to render that care and the patient is harmed (or even if the patient is not harmed!), the nurse is guilty of negligence. And the pharmacist who "gets busy" and fills a prescription incorrectly. And the plumber who installs a water heater incorrectly and it later blows up..... And so on, and so on, and so on.

I think the phrase "it was a tragic accident" is being used far too frequently regarding this type of incident when, in fact, the trutch of the matter is that the parent or parents were out and out negligent in regard to another human being who was in their care.

Public service announcements to REMIND people they have given birth to a child and they have a responsibility to care for that child??? Okay, I guess if that's what it takes.

 

[southcitymom]

...... but am I the only one who feels the parents in these horrendous cases are guilty of neglecting their childen?! ....

No, you're not the only one. Every time a thread is started about one of these cases - and sadly, that happens quite a bit - there are lots of people who see the caretakers as negligent and lots of people who think "there but for the grace of God, go I."

Don't know cold hard percentages, but I'd say we're split pretty evenly on the issue. I fall firmly in the "there but for the grace of God" camp the vast majority of the time - certainly it's where I fall in this particular case.

 

[Brefie]

I don't think this case has anything to do with neglect. I can't even imagine what these parents are going through. It's something I can very easily see many people doing.

 

[southcitymom]

I don't think this case has anything to do with neglect. I can't even imagine what these parents are going through. It's something I can very easily see many people doing.

Me too - that's what makes it so scary and heartbreaking. I want to think that there is some safety device that could be created to do away with human failings and forgetfulness, but - alas - none has yet been invented.

 

[Brefie]

Me too - that's what makes it so scary and heartbreaking. I want to think that there is some safety device that could be created to do away with human failings and forgetfulness, but - alas - none has yet been invented.

Yes, perhaps something like a motion detector that sets off an alarm if something moves inside the car AFTER it has been locked from the 'clicker'.

 

[Saffron]

I'm glad some posters have been as angry as I was. Although I can't imagine the pain these parents will endure, and I do feel terrible for them, these stories are becoming too common. I really cannot understand this. I just can't understand forgetting one's baby. Ever.

I don't understand why these cases aren't charged with negligence which resulted in the death of a human being. And if it isn't criminal negligence, then perphaps there's another type of charge to bring. A baby died a horrible death because a parent forgot about him and left him in the back seat of a very hot car. There must be something illegal about that. A media-covered court hearing might even bring these situations to the attention of other extremely distracted parents and help prevent future deaths.

This may be far fetched, but what's to keep the next Susan Smith, or a sadistically vengeful spouse in a custody battle, from "accidentally leaving the baby in the car"?

 

[southcitymom]

Yes, perhaps something like a motion detector that sets off an alarm if something moves inside the car AFTER it has been locked from the 'clicker'.

Yes - I hear you. But do you remember that recent case in TN where a father of four accidentally left his daughter in his BMW all day at work - his alarm sensor in the car kept going off and it didn't remind him - he kept turning it off remotely.

Sometimes when we are on automatic pilot, we are really on automatic pilot. When my car alarm goes off, I never think someone is trying to steal it - I just think - how can I shut it up quickly.

If an alarm sensor would save even one child/family from this fate, I am all for it, but I don't think it would be foolproof.

 

[southcitymom]

I'm glad some posters have been as angry as I was. Although I can't imagine the pain these parents will endure, and I do feel terrible for them, these stories are becoming too common. I really cannot understand this. I just can't understand forgetting one's baby. Ever.

I don't understand why these cases aren't charged with negligence which resulted in the death of a human being. And if it isn't criminal negligence, then perphaps there's another type of charge to bring. A baby died a horrible death because a parent forgot about him and left him in the back seat of a very hot car. There must be something illegal about that. A media-covered court hearing might even bring these situations to the attention of other extremely distracted parents and help prevent future deaths.

This may be far fetched, but what's to keep the next Susan Smith, or a sadistically vengeful spouse in a custody battle, from "accidentally leaving the baby in the car"?

In some states and in some circumstances, the caretakers are charged with negligence, so we do see that - it just depends on the state and the facts surrounding each incident.

 

[Brefie]

This may be far fetched, but what's to keep the next Susan Smith, or a sadistically vengeful spouse in a custody battle, from "accidentally leaving the baby in the car"?

No disrespect intended, but, for me, it is a stretch.

I honestly don't think there was any negligence involved here. The only way I can get my thoughts across are to put it like this....

Negligence:
Cops: Your baby died because you left him in the car
Parents: Oh my God, I totally forgot

This case:
Cops: Your baby died because you left him in the car
Parents: What? He wasn't in the car......

 

[GlitchWizard]

This may be far fetched, but what's to keep the next Susan Smith, or a sadistically vengeful spouse in a custody battle, from "accidentally leaving the baby in the car"?

Nothing will keep them from doing it. HOPEFULLY, the circumstances will show intent. If intent isn't there, or blatent neglect, it's just tragic.

Sometimes things aren't evil that really stink. Sometimes they are.

 

[LovingTheChaos]

Nothing will keep them from doing it. HOPEFULLY, the circumstances will show intent. If intent isn't there, or blatent neglect, it's just tragic.

Sometimes things aren't evil that really stink. Sometimes they are.

You know - before passenger air bags were identified as dangerous, hyperthermia cases were almost unheard of. When we all started putting our babies in the back seat, the cases increased from a couple a year, to an average of 30 or so fatalities a year. I have 3 in car seats right now, & I am careful, but I still had a conversatio with my babysitter, & she will call me if I have not shown up at her house with the kids at a given time. I have been late a few times, & she always calls.
When those babies fall asleep in the back seat, & a parent, tired, exhausted, whatever, I can see how it could happen.
My sister has grown children, & she told me that she is glad she didn't have kids now, because both of her babies road in the front seat with her, so she could take care of them if they needed something. Now, baby is in the back, facing the back of the car, you have to install a mirror just to see them.

 

[LovingTheChaos]

Here is a link to a site that shows a comparison between airbags, & heat related deaths.

http://ggweather.com/heat/airbags.gif

I am not excusing these parents, but I do sympathize. If it were me, I would probably want to be executed, so I would not have to kill myself.
Every parent should have a backup plan, weather it is putting your stuff in the back seat, or aranging with your care giver to call you - it doesn't cost a thing, & it can give you peace of mind.

 

[2sisters]

I do not want to judge the parents I am sure they are punishing themselves enough. i just don't see how you can just forget your kid. I forgot to turn in the day care once and caught myself but i just don't get noy knowing your kids are in the car. have we become so hectic and stressed that we are can remember a cellphone but not our kids?
Someone said airbags and putting kids in the backseat made deaths go up but the fact that women have to work now and are now tired, worn out and handing our kids off to daycare must have something to do with it. I wish more women could be at home with the kids (myself included)

 

[AfterMidnight]

I do not want to judge the parents I am sure they are punishing themselves enough. i just don't see how you can just forget your kid. I forgot to turn in the day care once and caught myself but i just don't get noy knowing your kids are in the car. have we become so hectic and stressed that we are can remember a cellphone but not our kids?
Someone said airbags and putting kids in the backseat made deaths go up but the fact that women have to work now and are now tired, worn out and handing our kids off to daycare must have something to do with it. I wish more women could be at home with the kids (myself included)

From what I've read, they didn't FORGET the kid. Each thought the other had taken care of the child.

A lot of good points have been brought up, pro and con, but especially about some type of warning device. That is an excellent idea if it's somehow attached to the car seat.

I wonder at the people who are so against the parents. Do any of you think the parents misunderstood on purpose, that they wanted to kill their child? Have none of you made any mistakes that possibly could have cost serious injury and/or death to someone? Does the fact that some else made a mistake you never made make you a better person? Don't accidents just happen anymore, must someone always be held accountable?

There's a lot of food for thought here.