Re: Baby dies, toddler hospitalized after being left in cars in Indiana
This happens numerous times every summer in Texas, and no doubt throughout the South.
I don't understand it, personally, but I've read newspaper interviews with some of the parents and apparently not all of them are utter scumbags. Some of them are middle-class professionals.
It seems to have something to do with the routine being different, or off- for instance, this happened last summer: the mom was sick with a cold, so the dad was dropping the baby off at daycare instead. They left very early in the morning. But since he wasn't usually the one who dropped off the baby, he simply forgot that the baby was there, and drove to work instead. He went in to work while the baby slept in his car seat in the backseat of the SUV, out in the hot parking lot.
It was lunchtime before he remembered that the baby was in there, by which point the baby was already dead.
I can't imagine doing this myself, but then, it doesn't seem like those people can imagine it either... until it actually happens.
I think many of us function on auto-pilot some of the time, especially early in the morning when we're still half asleep.
I think when we say, "This could never happen to me; only a scumbag would do this", we become careless. There is danger in assuming this could never happen to us, because we're not "that kind of parent".
I always assume it could happen to anyone, and I consciously guard against it ever happening to me and my baby.
I will add that my dad's dog of eleven years is like a child to him; she's his constant companion, and over the years he's forgotten her twice in hot cars.
The second time, she came very close to death and was not expected to live. He spent thousands of dollars on vet bills in order to save her life, and even so, she's never fully regained her health and is now afraid to ride in cars.
I know how much he loves that dog, and I know he's a conscientious individual. If it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone.
Those of us who live in the southern US particularly need to be aware of this phenomenon and guard against it vigilantly. It does not just happen to other people. Anybody can have a forgetful moment, and in this case, the potential consequences are terrible.
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