What is your reminder when your baby is in the back seat, so you do not forget them??

Question

Having read another story of another baby who died because they were forgotten in the back seat in this summer weather and then was found dead.

I thought of a simple idea as a reminder, Using a velcro strip through a pacifier, we fasten it on the steering wheel, to make absolute certain that we would never forget that beloved baby when our minds were elsewhere.

What do you do? Our lives are so busy these days, it is amazing how we can forget the most important things in our lives.

Most of us thiink this would never happen to us and of those it has happen to I am certain they thought it would never happen to them. But when your baby is sleeping and good as gold and your mind in thinking of a million things, it OBVIOUSLY can happen.

And I DO NOT BELIEVE it only happens to bad parents.

I understand the ugly responses, but we all need to remember any of us can make mistakes. Since I never left my children and they are adults now and their children are nearly adults, I just felt if this reminder saved one little one any where it was worth the arrogant responses.

It never hurts to err on the side of safety.
I like putting the purse or briefcase in the back, that would be a great reminder.

Answer 1

I would like to be like everyone else and say that I could NEVER have forgotten my baby in the car, but I'm not entirely sure that's true. I never did forget him in the car, but I might have. There is one morning in particular that I'm remembering. I have a long commute to work, and my son's daycare is on the way. He was almost two when, one day, I just forgot to drop him off at daycare. I don't know HOW I forgot, I just did. I suppose I was thinking about something, and just forgot to turn off the road and drop him off. It was such a part of the routine, that it's impossible to distinguish one memory of "dropping off" from any other. Anyway, I was already 40 miles down the road, pulling off the expressway to go to my job, when he started babling at me. At first I didn't think anything of it. I'm a single mom, and my son is with me so constantly, that often I see him in the rearview mirror or hear his voice even when he's not really there. This time though, it wasn't a passing laugh or something like that. He kept babbling at me and I realized that I had FORGOTTEN to drop him off. I was so embarassed. I had to go in and tell my boss I was going to be a couple of hours late because I had to go all the way back to the daycare. At the same time, I was SO relieved that he hadn't fallen asleep on the trip, or something like that. I was so convinced that he was already at daycare that I may not have noticed he was asleep in his carseat.

My son is three-and-a-half now, so that was ages ago. Yet, I still find myself checking his seat several times on the way to work each morning to make absolutely sure I rembered to drop him off. I'm super paranoid about it now.

Answer 2

There is NO WAY IN HELL, I would need a reminder to tell me my daughter is in the back seat!!! Anyone that needs a reminder, busy or not, should go and take some parenting classes.

To the person above, that is not common sense. Having a baby in the back seat of your car is not a simple thing to slip your mind when your in the " zone". If you have to put a brief case in the backseat to remember your own child, that is totally pathetic.

Answer 3

If I put my children in the car it's because they are going with me somewhere. I don't need a reminder that they are there. I have never forgotten them and I never will. The only thing I do is look behind me after I buckle them in to make sure they didn't mess with their car seat buckles. Every story I've ever heard on the news about a child being left in the car was someone going to work who didn't take their child to day care. Give me a break. Where the hell did they think their kid was. You wouldn't forget your aunt, uncle, cousin, friend, neighbor, or dog got in the car with you even if they fell asleep. People that forget their children are in the car are selfish, careless, stupid people who don't love them very much. I feel sorry for these poor infants and children that suffered not these stupid parents.

Answer 4

well, i'm not sure how you would forget your children in the back seat...i personally have NEVER used a reminder....**shaking head** i have 3 boys, go to school full time, have a husband and a home to take care of and i've NEVER FORGOTTEN that MY CHILDREN were in the car EVER!!! even when they were infants ( (6,3,&1 now) and asleep.......


don't mean to be judgemental i just don't know how you could forget them long enough for them to die in a car

however, when i would put the babies in the car they always sit right behind me on the drivers side and i (like someone else said) do put the diaper bag and my purse on the floor of the car under the babies feet.......but i don't do this to REMIND me that i have a child in the back seat it's something i have done with all my children...it's easier to grab purse, diaper bag, and baby all at once....

Answer 5

I dont know how anyone can leave their child in the car. I myself always look in the back seat even when my child is not with me because its just a habbit. I always thought that when he was born that I was gonna leave him somewhere or forget about him. There is no way that a parent should forget about their child because you put them in the car and you know that you have a child so how can you forget them?? I just don't understand parents these days forgetting kids in the car or at the store. If they didn't want the responsibility they should of never had kids.

Answer 6

If a person is so darn busy that they actually FORGET their baby is in the back seat has something wrong with them. I cannot imagine ever forgetting my daughter is in the back seat. Why the heck would I need a reminder that she is back there????? I KNOW she is back there...I put her there!!! I just don't understand some people.

Answer 7

I did forget my son in the car once. We had just gotten home with a car full of groceries. My husband helped me unload and my daughter got herself out of the car. Friends pulled up right as we were done so we all went inside. Luckily it was night time, he was awake but not crying. We were inside for about 10 minutes before someone asked about my son and then we remembered.

Now, I dont need a reminder, he makes it will known that hes in the car. lol hes 17 months old.

Answer 8

Mine has always been the fact that I have a human life that I am caring for. What else does a person with a child really need?


Sorry if you don't like that, but whenever it's been my kid or someone else's in my care, they are always foremost in my mind. What I want to do or find important comes secondary to being at least aware of their existence.


For the person way down below, if you treat your kids as though they are part of your routine instead of as living beings who depend on you, then I can see you forgetting them. So I would suggest anyone who does this type of thing to reevaluate the way they view their children and life itself.

Answer 9

This just happened in Rochester, where I live. It shooke me up when i found out. It is possible to simpley forget (for those idiots who made rude comments). Human are like robots when it comes to our routine, so it is simple to have things slip your mind when your in the zone. As for reminders I would say to take the same precaution you do with any other changes or plans in your day. Call your work phone and leave a message stating, "You should have dropped the baby off today." Or put a reminder in your phone to go off at the time you arrive to work. So if you reach work and it goes off and you look in the backseat and still have a baby, then you just saved your butt. It is also good to put any thing you bring with you to work, such as breifcase or purse, in the backseat with the baby.

Answer 10

I always heard that you should put everything but your keys in the backseat - purse, lunch, briefcase, jacket. You would have to go back there to get your stuff out. Life does get crazy, especially when you might be up extra hours due to a teething baby, etc. I'm sure those parents who honestly forgot their baby would do a hundred reminders to themselves to prevent their tragedy again.