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Wow, that is awful. That poor woman. I hope she gets a dismissal and a sincere apology from the Court for the insanity that has been thrust upon her.

First off, I feel so terrible for her. I hope nothing bad comes of it.

That said, I can sort of understand nobody else wanting to drop it and then ultimately feel responsible if something happened, too. But ultimately I feel like they could have looked at security cameras/asked witnesses and figured out that she was really only gone a few minutes. Poor lady.

Wow. I would not personally have done that BUT there are other things I'm ok with that other people aren't (like cosleeping, which is probably more dangerous). We all have to make our own decisions that are best for us and our family and it's crazy how hard they're going after this poor lady! This is just gross and I can't help but feel that if it had been a new dad nobody would have given him a hard time.

This makes me so so so ragey. This mom did NOTHING wrong. CPS investigated. CPS found no problems. Leave this poor woman alone!

@erinbaderin: @MrsSCB: I thought this a couple weeks ago with that crazy thread. For everyone who was flipping out about the baby being left, I thought "I sure hope you have all of your furniture strapped to the wall, don't cosleep, dont let them sleep in a rock n play, don't leave your kid unattended while eating" etc etc. There are so many things we all do in the confines of our home that are probably way more dangerous than what this mom did. But nobody is there to judge them or turn them into CPS.

And we also all do things that aren't regular occurrences but we realize later wasn't too bright. I'm glad no one has seen some of the things I've done that now make me cringe.
Even if this was wrong, I think it's reasonable to look at all of the facts and say "she made a poor decision. But we all do that sometimes. She learned her lesson. Let's move on."

@SweetiePie: exactly. I see photos of more dangerous stuff all the time. Cribs with bumpers, newborns sleeping with fluffy blankets, car seats improperly buckled...the list goes on.

The article noted that the baby stayed strapped in the car seat, car off, for an hour while the cops questioned the mom. I'd like to know why that was ok but the original three minutes were not. If the cops were genuinely concerned it was too cold, then that makes no sense whatsoever.

@T.H.O.U.: Different states have different laws. In my state it is illegal for any child under the age of 7 to be in a car without a person over the age of 13.

I don't agree with this woman's choice to leave her child unattended, but given that doing so was not illegal in her state, I really don't see how they have a case against her to put her through all of this.

Report first, save the child, get circumstances later.

If you pulled up a t a store/gas station / etc. And saw a child unattended in a car, what would you do? How would you know how long the child had already been in the car? I personally would rather err on the safe side of calling the police, having an unnecessary claim, rather than ignoring the situation and having a dead child on my conscience.

@Mrs. Microscope: I disagree completely. There was nothing to save the child from.

If I encountered the situation myself I would stand by the car for a few minutes, and if the mom was clearly close by and attentive I would tell her I hope she has a good day and go about my business. If it was a hot day or the baby was in distress that's different. If a person was trying to break into the car, or otherwise harm the child, different story. But they weren't. The baby was fine. If this is not against the law and the baby is safe it is literally none of anyones business.

We make judgements about risk every second of every day. We cannot alleviate all risk. It is impossible. Our society cannot continue to criminalize parents like this. The vast majority are just doing the best that they can. If It is not against the law, and the mother took reasonable precautions to protect her child from danger (real and imagined) this mom did nothing wrong.

Didn't want to go into full blown research mode but here is a start.

@avivoca: Thank you for this. I wrote something similar but more impassioned and then deleted it because I had gotten too riled up, but this "report first, ask questions later" mentality could destroy somebody's life.

@Mrs. Microscope: I have a very difficult time getting involved, because I fear retaliation. These days, with records being public, anyone can come up to my door and target me or my family. I am not comfortable taking that risk, so while the chances are extremely high that I wouldn't even notice an unattended child, I would be very unlikely to do anything, including stand by the car and waiting. I hate the fact that I think that, but it's not worth it to me.

@Mrs. Microscope: If I pulled up to a gas station and saw a baby, I would:
- Assume the parent was inside for 5 minutes or less to pay
- Try to figure out through the window if the baby seemed ok
- If it's cold out I'd stand near the car for a couple minutes to make sure the parent comes back. A bundled up baby left for 5 minutes in a car that was warm is not in danger.
- If it's warm (75+) and the car's not running, that deserves immediate action in my opinion. I do not leave dogs or children shut in a car on a sunny, warm day for even 2 minutes. At that point I might call 911 because I would think the parent's judgement was dangerous.

@ShootingStar: that's a more detailed description of exactly what I would do too.

@Truth Bombs: Yep. Everyone has to do what makes them comfortable. People seem to be more apt to whip out their phones and start filming rather than offer a helping hand though....that's when it gets sketchy.

@ShootingStar: This exactly. Or in less words, I would use logic and common sense.

@Mrs. Microscope: Your "personal choice" has the very real potential to destroy someone else's life. I also hope you never have to go through the experience of living under threat of having your children taken away from you. I really hope you have read avivoca's thread explaining what that experience is like.
http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/going-through-a-cps-investigation

Please, no more personal attacks on me.

I haven't been in the situation where I have seen a child left in a car, thank goodness. As I see news story after news story about children dying in hot cars, I can only have my own opinion on how I could prevent such a death if I were to see such a situation.

Again, please no more personal attacks.