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.
You have a point.
Also, judging a person for an accidental act or omission is repulsive to me.
As a matter of fact, judging other people at all is a dangerous practice and is against the teaching of Christ.
I hate that this happens and feel remorse for all involved. I have two daughters. I can barely imagine how this parent must feel. My heart would rip in two if this ever happened in my family.
After 5 months of sleep deprivation people do odd things. I'm not passing judgement.
The tragedy sometimes works in reverse----news stories told of a dad who rarely had the job of dropping baby off at daycare. But one day the task fell to him.
He went about his normal routine and completely forgot the baby was in the back seat. Co-workers spotted the child, several hours after he had arrived at work, and ran in to alert him----but it was too late. The baby had died.
The guilt these parents live with must be horrendous, beating themselves up with "if only."
Eery flashback to exact same scenario a year ago in Lubbock PING.
Me, too.
Sometimes we find ourselves in places we wouldn't have chosen and our only choice is to do the best we can.
I've been judged and knew the people who were judging me were misinformed.
After some time, I've had one person apologize to me and many others warm back up to me because now they know more information.
Shouldn't they have trusted in me all along?
Yes.
Did I forgive them?
Yes.
Will I forget who was loyal and trusting in my time of difficulty and who abandoned me?
No.
Or have the briefcase/purse/bookbag always next to the car seat.
This SAME EXACT thing happened a year ago here where I live. The Grand Jury only recently chose not to return an indictment. I heard a medical expert say that the baby was probably asleep and mercifully probably never awoke. One can only pray the baby didn't suffer.
Actually I got in the habit of looking over my shoulder and double-checking my surroundings because I don't want that serial killer or other criminal popping up behind me in the car...or anywhere ;^)
I just became more cautious after I had kids because it wasn't just me I was responsible for anymore.
I think some of the other posters are right in that people spread themselves too thin, and also don't look at childrearing as a full time job.
I think both children and parents are better off if one parent stays home with the kids.
That's why you don't rely on your memory, and you always keep your eyes peeled and look around you. Check your car when you get in and out.
If you can't afford to give your time to your kids, you can't afford kids.
I can't understand how you could forget something this important.
"lady was considered a very good mother and she was not a moron. Before she dropped the child off she had to run an errand that wasn't part of her normal routine"
A good mother's first priority is raising and caring for her child. She doesn't farm it off for others to deal with when it's an infant.
One of my friends has two children: ages 3 and 1-1/2. The three year old's first year (much of which was spent in daycare), he had lots of ear infections, etc. When the youngest was born, she stayed home for good. The youngest has never had an ear infection yet.
I do not consider forgetting who is responsible for a baby's care to be accidental. I was a nurse involved with children for almost 40 years. My anxiety dreams were of forgetting to give a medication, or of feeding a baby. Obviously this kind of "forgetting" weighs very heavily on my mind.
In the 21st century it seems that too many people are putting their children second to their own needs. All I am asking for is more publicity to the potential hazard that distracted parents are to their own children.
how very sad. Those of us who have raised our children to adulthood can look back on our own lives and see MANY times when our kids had near death experiences. I know I can and I was a stay at home mom! Life is imperfect. It is a mercy that any of us lived past the age of 10.
>>That's why you don't rely on your memory, and you always keep your eyes peeled and look around you. Check your car when you get in and out.<<
Yep.
However, not being a computer nor a machine, sometimes accidents happen - and sometimes with deadly results.
I understand you completely. I discussed this type of tragedy with my wife. We have two children and the right thing to do would be to be as strong as possible and go on living, but in a situation like that, I don't know that I would be able to.
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