A 6-month-old boy died after being left for hours in a hot car in Louisiana, authorities said.
The baby was found dead in the backseat by his parent at about 5:46 p.m. Tuesday, according to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.
When the parent went to pick up the baby from day care after work, they realized they forgot to drop him off at day care that morning, the sheriff’s office said.
Every time this happens, I am reminded of this Pulitzer prize-winning article.
It can happen to anyone, but a large majority will never believe that. It’s a heart-rending situation.
Ah that article, that scared me shitless when I first read it while my wife was pregnant. A single “oops” that really doesn’t just fuck a person up, it ruins their entire life.
“Death by hyperthermia” is the official designation. When it happens to young children, the facts are often the same: An otherwise loving and attentive parent one day gets busy, or distracted, or upset, or confused by a change in his or her daily routine, and just… forgets a child is in the car. It happens that way somewhere in the United States 15 to 25 times a year, parceled out through the spring, summer and early fall. The season is almost upon us.
If you ever accidentally left food in the microwave for a few hours, this could be you with children.
Anyways here’s the archive org link since the primary link is paywalled.
Thinks back to the time I made a giant russet baked potato and forgot about it until the same time the next day when I reheated something from the fridge and wondered why it was still cold after several minutes on high… only to find the dried remains of a flayed potato hiding underneath a paper towel. I set the second plate on top of it without even realizing it was still in there.
My microwave is on top of my freezer, and I have mixed them up before
I once left a tomahawk steak in my backpack for 3 days. I even took it to the coffee shop with my laptop and never noticed it.
R.I.P., it was on sale and I had no plan when I bought it. I bet it would have been good.
One of the many reasons I will not be having children. I forget my tea steeping like 80% of the time. I don’t need a life in my hands
I hear you, but as a fellow scatterbrain, the solution is that your shoe goes next to the car seat before you load it. Or something else, but a shoe is pretty hard to forget.
“I’m sorry, officer, you see, this person on the Internet told me to put something important with the baby so I wouldn’t forget it, so I gave it my car keys, and now they’re both locked in the car!”
Just have the baby drive to a mechanic!
We just have a mirror on the rear headrest. That way anytime I look in the rear view mirror I see her.
Aren’t mirrors not recommended because of the potential hazard of them shattering and piercing baby in a car accident? It’s why I don’t have one; I wonder if that’s why these other parents didn’t, either
It doesn’t have to be a glass mirror. Any reflective material is fine and that can be done on fairly soft material. But yes, the hazard is a harder mirror becoming an additional projectile in a car crash a whacking the baby in the face.
If you ever accidentally left food in the microwave
I’ve lost count of how many times. Now we have a microwave with a reminder beep that keeps going off every minute or so until you open the door. Best feature ever.
Having gone through what is essentially sleep deprivation torture when raising twins, I believe this and the guilt would be unimaginable.
A friend was taking a walk with her daughter, she called her from the other side of the street. She didn’t see the car coming though. The daughter ran over the street and was killed by the car.
She couldn’t see the car, because the parked cars were bigger and blocked the view.
An unfortunate accident, but she never got over it. It’s been 30 years, but she’s as devastated as before.
The daughter only crossed the street, because the she called her. This broke her.
Yep, done reading this thread.
That’s horrible. Can’t even imagine.
From the bottom of my soul, FUCK big cars. Our cars are so much bigger than they need to be, and they legitimately ruin lives with their size and blindspots.
“I don’t want to risk anything in my large truck. I want everyone else take the risk for me.”
This is like a dark intro into game theory.
You would not believe the downvotes I’ve gotten for saying this exact thing. I’m not a parent, but I do take the time to really consider what having to care for an infant would be like. I have been sleep deprived (edit: though, nowhere near the level of a new parent) so I perfectly understand how you could unintentionally cause the death of your kid. I think the hypothetical I gave was something like
You’re out running errands with the baby on your day off while the spouse is at work. You got maybe 4 hours of sleep between getting up to feed and change, and you’re lifting and carrying and running around all day. You stop home to drop off some shopping, you even leave the car running because you’ll be right out. Quick plop on the couch just to rest your legs and back, and then suddenly it’s five hours later and you start awake remembering you left the car running… and the baby in the car.
I know the terror I feel from that little hypothetical, I can’t believe it doesn’t hit close to home with actual parents too. And then, to be held socially - even if not legally - liable on top of your own guilt… an awful, horrible, soul-chilling situation to contemplate. I wish there were more compassion for new parents, I’d bet it’s more common than we think that parents’ bodies just shut down from the strain.