do you think this is ok? am I over reacting?

[Sandollar]

Ok MY sil used to do this and it really bugs me. If she was out doing errands and dd fell asleep in the car when she got home she would leave her in the car in the garage and go inside without her becasue "she didnt want to wake her up" :hunh Now my good friend told me she did the same thing this afternoon, she didnt want to move him and risk waking him up because he'd been fussy and she had stuff to do(her ds is 10 months btw) I just said well, it sounds like you have too much to do, I didnt know what to say but first of all I think its really unsafe even if the door to the house is open" so you can hear him" and how scary to wake up in the dark car and garage all alone! I would never want to fall asleep in the car again :eek So what do you guys think, is this ok or isit just a pet peeve of mine? and should I say something?

[Soliloquy]

Hmm, I say no, but only for the part you already wrote--that it might be scary for the child. If the car is in the garage and the door is open, I don't see a safety issue, but I could be missing something. But, it's not something I would do. I had a friend who left her toddler asleep in the car out in the driveway--that freaked me out. Anybody could've gotten into the car or the car could've slipped out of gear or something.

My DD fell asleep in the car ONCE when she was a baby (she hated the car) and I sat in the car next to her until she woke up--I was too afraid to try and move her. Now that she's a toddler, it happens a little more often, but I move her. If she wakes up, I can usually nurse her back to sleep. If I was afraid to move her, I'd probably run into the house and grab a book really fast, then sit next to her and read.

As to whether to say anything--unless you see a safety issue, I wouldn't say anything, unless you know that your friend will be receptive to your opinion. If she'll just get annoyed and keep doing it anyway, I wouldn't bother. Kind of like the CIO issue. If they're receptive, open the conversation. If they're staunch in their belief, there's no point.

[Katigre]

I think it's ok as long as it's a safe environment (garage connected to the house, house and car doors open so mom can hear when the child wakes up, and temperature is fine in the garage). In a situation like that there's nothing unsafe that i can think of.

I don't see why waking up in your carseat in the dark would be any more scary for a child than waking up in a crib in the dark. I mean, the child would recognize the garage and would recognize the car so it wouldn't be a strange place.

[AmyDoll]

I think it's OK to leave the child sleeping the car in the garage - as long as the car was off (carbon monoxide poisioning) and esp. if the door to the house and the car door were open. I don't think it would necessarily be overly scary to a kid to wake up in the car - as long as mom was responsive his cry.

[Myrtle]

I think it's ok as long as it's a safe environment (garage connected to the house, house and car doors open so mom can hear when the child wakes up, and temperature is fine in the garage). In a situation like that there's nothing unsafe that i can think of.


While I can understand that, I'd probably be more of the mindset of luvmyboyz on this one. I'm paranoid about kidnappings and all the accidents that I hear about on the news. I guess it would depend on the age of the child also. It'd be awful if a child was left asleep, woke up, and figured out how to get the buckle undone. My dd doesn't know how yet, but she tries all the time. If a child figured it out and got out, then he/she could really get hurt or worse if left in the car like that. I'd rather err on the side of caution myself. I don't know if I'd say anything or not. Probably if she's receptive, you could mention your concerns in a lighthearted way, but if you don't think she'd be ok with that, I might leave it alone. I don't know if I could leave it alone, though, if it was someone I came into contact with alot b/c if anything ever happened to her little one, I'd feel awful since maybe I could've done something to prevent it. That could just be the paranoia coming out in me though. Others might not feel that responsibility.

[mom2jolakeil]

I think it's OK to leave the child sleeping the car in the garage - as long as the car was off (carbon monoxide poisioning) and esp. if the door to the house and the car door were open. I don't think it would necessarily be overly scary to a kid to wake up in the car - as long as mom was responsive his cry.




I used to do that with Ilana. The door to the house and the car door were open. I made sure the doors to the outside were closed and the lights were on. Otherwise she would never have gotten a nap. I can't do it now, we don't park in the garage anymore.

[erinee]

I used to do it with Megan, too. Our garage is attached, and I'd leave the doors open. It wasn't any different from being in her bedroom without me. :shrug Now that she can get in and out of her carseat on her own, I wouldn't do it. Personally, I don't see a problem with it.

[Mia]

If you think there are some facts that she may not be aware of, you could mention them in a humble, non-threatening way. Her response might be: "Oh my gosh... I never thought of that! Thank you SOOO much! I'm such an idiot..." or it could be: "Ya... I just don't personally think XYand Z are really THAT big a deal and I really like the convenience leaving Dc to finish the nap." In the end, we are ALL making these judgment calls and trying to manage the relationship between "risk" and "ease"... we just don't all do it exactly the same.

[JamesMama]

I have a friend that does that also. It scares me too much, I pull DS out of the car seat and go right in and nurse him back to sleep. It's usually not a problem.

But she knows her DC best, while my DS will go right back down to sleep and wake up happy and fully rested, her DC might not go back to sleep and will just end up being a bear later. I guess it depends on the child.

[MotherOfGirls]

I used to leave my dd outside in the car with the doors open!
Buuuuuuuut I do live in England in the middle of a wood and anyone approaching the car would be heralded by a pack of dogs and I could see the car from the kitchen window, and really, I promise, nothing ever, ever happened around here. :)
Well, except the English Civil War, a lot of that happened around here, but was 350 years ago ....

[Mia]

I used to leave my dd outside in the car with the doors open!
Buuuuuuuut I do live in England in the middle of a wood and anyone approaching the car would be heralded by a pack of dogs and I could see the car from the kitchen window, and really, I promise, nothing ever, ever happened around here. :)
Well, except the English Civil War, a lot of that happened around here, but was 350 years ago ....



:giggle

[Meredith]

Um, I do that. If DS nods off in the car, that's all the nap he's going to get. And our world will not be a happy place again until bedtime.

Fortunately, the laundry room is attached to the garage, and the kitchen is just past the laundry room. Honestly, when DS is asleep in the carseat in his car and I'm in the kitchen or laundry room, I'm closer to him than if he was in the bed. He can't get out of his carseat by himself yet, so he knows to just call out "mom" and I'm right there. He usually doesn't get that far- I notice he's stirring before he really wakes up.

[milkmommy]

Its not something I'll do but assuming they can hear the baby and the tempetures are fine I don't see it as being a horrible thing. ITs not my thing though

Deanna