Posted on 06/29/2006 8:59:40 AM PDT by charming_harmonica
A 5-month-old baby died in a minivan Wednesday after the mother apparently forgot to drop the child off at day care.
The tragedy was discovered about 5:30 p.m. outside the Wonder Years 2 day care. The baby's mother stopped at the day care after work to pick up the child and was told by staff that the baby had not been dropped off. She realized then that the baby had been in her minivan all day.
"The mother had forgotten to drop off the child at day care in the morning," said Curt Kreun, owner of Wonder Years 2. "She actually came in the building to pick up the child and then realized what had happened."
The child was in a car seat in the back of the vehicle, according to Sgt. Jeff Burgess of the Grand Forks Police Department. A Wonder Years 2 staff member made the 911 call, according to Kreun.
Staff members had taken the baby out of the van and started CPR before the ambulance arrived. Kreun said he reached the scene about 6 p.m. and emergency personnel already had gotten the word from Altru to cease resuscitation.
"The child had probably passed away a while before she got to the day care," Kreun said.
Kreun, who has been in the child care business for years, said near-tragedies happen all too often.
"I know people who have gotten to work and realized they forgot to drop off their kids and had to go back."
Kreun said it would have been impossible for passersby to see the baby in the van, which had tinted windows.
"I walked around that van about 14 times after they left, and you would not have been able to see in there," he said.
The incident is under investigation by the Criminal Investigation Bureau, but police told Kreun they didn't expect charges to be filed.
"They're looking at it as a tragic accident," he said. "This is by far the most devastating thing I've had to witness."
"There are no arrests being made tonight," said Burgess. "I can tell you that."
The cause of death had not yet been confirmed Wednesday night, but a likely cause of death in cases where children are left in hot vehicles is hyperthermia.
The temperature in a parked car rises very rapidly, even when the windows are left open a crack. Studies show that the temperature can rise as much as 50 degrees in an hour.
Wednesday's high was 79 degrees, so the temperature in the van easily could have exceeded 100 degrees.
I am not a father, nor am I likely to be (ever), but I agree.
Daycare centers are cesspools.
I know, my kids were in them for several years until I married #2 who stayed at home and picked them up after school.
Nevermind the germs,they have a host of other problems as well, and that goes for no matter how expensive and fancy they are.
Reproductive technology has come a long way. They know what causes pregnancy now and even have ways to inhibit it.
You're preaching to the choir on this one. :)
The overwhelmingly main reason my wife works is that when you work for an airline you fly free. We have grandkids all over the country. Trust me, we avail ourselves to this freebe often. ;)
I doubt that it is any more frequent than it is more likely to be reported as news than before.
Certain stories are programmed as keywords and flagged by "readers" for wire pickup.
I agree with you. Absent minded people like me would certainly rather not be absent minded, but it isn't something we can change, no matter what people on this list think. Over the years, I forgot to pick up my kids from places a couple of times. Nothing bad came of it. (I also remember probably the sweetest, kindest mother in the neighborhood leaving her kids at the public pool, one time, as well.) Never forgot them in the car, but baby seats were not kept in the back, then. When my routine is disrupted, when I have to do something extra, or some other change enters in, then I forget things. Yes, I know about various kinds of memory aids like notemaking. I use them. Sometimes they help, sometimes I lose the notes.
This has all started happening after baby seats were required to be in the back seat. Babies and toddlers very often fall right to sleep in the baby seat and are then obviously quiet.
I thank God this never happened to me, but being cruel toward these parents is something I read every single time stories are posted on this list.
Sure there are times when kids are left in cars more or less deliberately such as the mother who was taking hours getting her hair and nails done and knew her kids were in the car. I remember that story very well, but don't remember if any of the kids died as a result. That is deliberate neglect and is a very different kind of behavior.
I just don't understand selfrightously heaping curelty on people who have failed horrifically, and their children have died as a result. Most go over and over that day in their minds I am sure, but once something so overhwelmingly terrible like that has happened, there is absolutely nothing you can do to get that day back and live it over and do things right so your child is safe.
So you all think it couldn't ever happen to you, eh? Well I KNOW it COULD have happened to me! Yes, folks I AM that absent minded, and guess what else, I really, really love my kids, and they turned out fine. I have God to thank that nothing like this ever happened, but at least I am honest enough to say it could have.
I think a lot of you are denying the anxiety that it COULD happen to you, now matter how careful you think you are.
Flame away, if you like.
For the sake of the kids I hope we can get some of the soloists to join the choir...
Until one of you starts leaking at both ends.
That's true- but IMHO there is a difference between an accident that is likely difficult to prevent and one that is entirely preventable by taking some simple precautions.
Kids are resilient but they do fall or choke or otherwise injure themselves because they aren't living in a bubble. But being left in a car isn't that sort of "accident".
Someone seriously should invent a safety device to help solve this tragic problem!
Sometimes circumstances make it so that a child has to go to daycare.
I went on total bedrest during my 2nd pregnancy, so we had to put my son in daycare. He ended up staying in it longer than we expected because his twin sisters got very sick and almost died when they were 6 weeks old. After the twins got home, one had severe asthma and one had brain damage. I couldn't handle all 3 kids at home with me (it was hard enough to take care of 2 sick babies).
We found a great daycare close to our home. I could pick him up early or drop him off late whenever I wanted. He loved it. He was always very sociable and made friends easily. He hated being at home all day long without other kids to play with.
I never rag on daycare because it was such a lifesaver for my family. I also know a number of women whose husbands have died young (and some whose husbands have left them), and they've needed daycare.
>>I can't understand how you could forget something this important.<<
I can.
I'm 52. I HAVE. Your chance will come although, hopefully as in my case, nothing bad came of it other than your cold sweat when you realize what could have happened.
So your kids are worth $12,000 a year?
I can imagine it perfectly; Mommy has a cell phone jammed in her ear while driving to the day care center and is also putting on makeup at the same time, stops at day care center, still jabbering on the cell phone, hangs up after several minutes, thinks she has dropped Jr off, drives to work jabbering on her phone some more and rechecking her makeup, arrives at work and forgets she never dropped off Junior. It all comes from people being so engaged in other activities unrelated to driving and to dropping off Jr that they just aren't paying attention to anything else.
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