Piggybacking Jill's ?? Re: Kids in Car Alone

It depends! It depends on the kid, the place, the amount of time, the temp, etc. I have a 10 year-old daughter who has stayed in the car for various amounts of time her whole life.

in Texas we have a 5 minute rule. It is illegal to leave kids under 7 alone in a car for longer than 5 minutes. Oh the horror and neglect! What a bad mommy!

This is so you don't have to wake sleepy toddlers and babies up and drag them into the convenience store to pay for your gas. It is also helpful when it is cold, rainy, snowy outside. You can pull up to the pump, lock the car, run in and pay for your gas. You still have dry, warm, sleeping kids. Or, you can get your toddler out of his carseat, pull the babys carrier out and drag everybody through the parking lot, only to say $10 on pump 5 please, back to the car, buckle everybody back in. Now 15 mintues later you have 2 cranky, cold, wet kids. And you still need to pump that gas.

I'm glad you wrote this, because I see a lot of gray in the 'never leave your child in the car' statement. And I dislike absolute laws, because they often don't leave room for common sense. For example, am I leaving my child alone in the car when I pull up to my bank and have to step out of the car to get money from the ATM? I can almost touch the hood of my car from the ATM machine, but it's not a drive through so technically I am leaving my child in the car. Do I really need to drag 2 kids out of the car in this situation?

I think that an older child is another gray area, and if it is for a very short time, not a hot day, etc, it would be ok. I'm talking a 12 or 13 year old who would know to stay in the car with the doors locked and who would also know to get out of the car in an emergency.

I am against these absolute laws in the same way I am against the 'no drugs in school laws' that lead to teenage girls with cramps getting sent home from school for having advil in their purse.

How to legislate common sense?

When my family and I were living in italy, we had this probley alot of our AF Base. So they sent out an email with guidline for at what ages is ok to do what. So I went and got the much loved print out hanging on your firdge. Heres what it has to say
Left in car unattened
Newborns- 4 years- no
5-6- no
7-8- Yes except in hot weather with keey removed handbrake is applied; 5 minutes maximum in hot weather, 15 minutes other weather, Adult within sight
10-11- Yes; key removed and handbrake applied.
12-14- yes
15 on up- yes
Of coures these are just guidlines and people should use there ebst judgment, however I think anything younger than what is said here is too you.
Hope this helped

Because this is totally blowing my mind, my hubby and I talked about this last night. I remember babysitting at age 11, but that was next door and my mom was home.

I don't know if there is a magic age, but my thinking is around 11 - 13 (depending on my child's maturity), and probably not watching younger siblings or other children.

But, if not defined by law that leaves others to leave their kids in cars that are much younger than that.

Mrs. On Purpose **still** leaves me in the car!

In TX there is actual ages that are allowed to stay in the car alone and then ages that are allowed to supervise a young one in the car. I can't remember what age it is off the top of my head. I came across it when I did research on weather or not my son could stay home alone. I had someone tell me he had to be 13 to say home so I did research and learned that Tx has no law on how old can be left home alone but does have laws about being left alone in cars. I think the age limit for cars is because they need to be old enough to realize hey it's too hot in here we need to get out of here. I don't even leave my 13 year old in the car without the car running in the summer. And my almost 10 year old I don't leave him alone in the car at all. Even running.

Edit: I don't leave my youngest in the car because I don't trust him not to get into trouble.

S.:

I've left my boys - 9 & 12 in the car while I go into the gas station to purchase something or use the ATM. I have line of sight on the car and I have my keys with me. Do I think they would get out of the car? Nope.

If it's warmer than 78 degrees - they come with me no matter how fast I THINK I might be.

I have left my kids in the car with my sister in the car with them and the car running....or even my husband...but really - my kids are my gift from God - why would I want to jeopardize their well being so that I can "run in and out" or be "real quick" ??? it's called common sense...

My kids are almost 11 and almost 14. I have sometimes let them stay in the car when going into the grocery store. I would say Target too, except that they would NEVER stay out of Target! lol

I have only let them stay in the car when THEY ASKED to stay. They hate grocery shopping. What kid wouldn't? But, I don't leave them if the parking lot is empty. I don't leave them if the weather is bad, or hot (which precludes a lot of the year here in the deep south), I put the windows down partway, lock the doors and if hubby and I are both together, we leave one of our cell phones with them.

I haven't gone in to pay for gas in YEARS. But I HAVE had to go in to get a receipt because the blasted machine was out of tape and didn't print one. THAT makes me ticked off. There is actually a gas station that I refuse to ever go to again, because every single time I went there (no matter what pump) it seemed to ALWAYS have a non-working receipt and I had to go inside to get it. If the folks around me pumping gas look reputable and have local plates, and it isn't too outrageously hot, or if there aren't any cars around, I have let the kids wait in the car with the windows down. But not always. The line inside can take forever! And all those cars right there are leaving momentarily .... ya know?

About eight or nine, and it really depends on the child's maturity level. I know some kids at that age who would have the car rolling out in traffic in two seconds because they are lever-pullers.

And I did the same thing around age 8, stayed in the car with a book instead of going into the store. Perhaps I think 'younger' than some because we were pretty free range kids and knew what to do. (Stranger being a bother? Blast the horn. etc.) Perhaps I was more mature than some kids our age... ? We never had any problems, though. I'm sure my stories of how far out of sight they were would make most parents shudder.

As I replied in Jills post, my kids are 12 and 9 and I just recently started to leave them in the car by themselves. They know how to lock the doors when I get out and my daughter sits in the front and plays with the radio. I haven't had any issues other than she killed the battery a couple weeks ago because she had the key on "on" instead of "Acc". I think there should be an age across the board where it is allowed, I just don't think everyone would agree on what age that should be. I think its insane the people that leave kids under 7 alone in cars. I'm also LIVID when I see kids of ANY age without seat belts. And I do try to catch up to the driver and yell at them to put their belts on, or I will motion and mouth to the kids to do it themselves. Most of the time they do without a word. I hope it makes them think to do it always but if not, if I at least saved them on that one road trip, I feel like it was worth it.

I wonder too about leaving seniors in the car as well.
My MIL, bless her heart, would leave my 93 yr old FIL in the car while she ran into Walmart or the mall or whatever since he was TOO SLOW to keep up with her. He'd sit in the car for hours at a time. If attacked he would be just as helpless as a child if not more so, at least an 8 yr old can run and scream.

Leaving your kids in the car is a personal decision, only you know your kids maturity level and what they are capable of handling.

Hi, S.:

Children need to learn discipline. One way is to teach them correct public standards of common decency by taking them out in public places. It also gives them a chance to have conversations with people who are interested in children.
Just my thoughts on the subject.
D.

for my daughter when i lived on a cul de sac and knew every car and nieghbor, if she was bucled and i forgot something I;d run into my house and get it quick...less than 60 seconds.
now we live on one acre and if i forget something i still run in the house at home and get spmething.
I've never went in a store but I do use the gas stations that have the outdoor stations u have to walk up to outdoors and pay while shes inthe car. I was also torn on this. we went to the pretzel factory the other day. their parking lot is right on top of their store and only allows 3 cars. you can pay at the register and be 5 feet away from your car and see it. i still made her ge out, unbuckle and then felt kind of silly. the only way something would have went wrong would be a completely freak accident that could have happened anywhere

It depends on the child's maturity level, the temperature outside, where the car is parked, and how long the parent will be gone. I had a woman once chastise me for leaving my 2 year old and 5 year old locked in the van while I went into the kiosk 20 feet away to pay for gas. I felt that they were safer locked in the van for less than 5 minutes than they would be walking through a parking lot! At 7 and 10 they are quite capable of choosing whether or not they want to stay in the car while I run short errands where they will be out of my sight.