Baby found dead in vehicle. Mother apparently forgot to drop off baby at day care.

grandfolksherald.com ^ | Thu, Jun. 29, 2006 | Lisa Gibson

[rawhide]

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.

[new cruelty]

OK, that's 3.

Well done.

Now here's another involving a mother and father (parents), though the police would not identify who left the child- Child found dead in car.

That same article also recalls a similar story involving a 2 year old boy and his grandmother.

Here is another- Dad Faces Charges in Baby's Death

And another- Dead baby's dad in court, He pleads not guilty in heatstroke death in car

[new cruelty]

Here is one involving parents and a grandmother at church- Child left in vehicle dies

Here is another involving a father- Baby’s death ruled homicide

And another- Father in Van Death Appeals to High Court

[Ciexyz]

Thanks for posting those interesting ideas on child seat sensors. Unfortunately, to protect children against their absent-minded parents, it may be necessary to make these sensors mandatory.

[fishbabe]

I understand people forgetting and having to go back...WHY???Because when they got out of the car,the parent saw the KID IN THE BACK SEAT!!!!!!How can you not see into the back seat unless you are 2 feet tall and can't see over the drivers seat?????

[fishbabe]

Can you even think of someone saying to a cop,,Gosh,I had the $10,000 in the back seat alllllll day and I forgot it was there...

[RebelBanker]

My son was in two daycares - the nicest thing the storefront one did was to kick him out, that forced us to find a home daycare where the provider treated every child as if it were her own. The individuals who cared for our son at the large operation did their best, but they had too many children to watch.

I have noticed a distinct pattern in the postings on this thread. The most sanctimonious a-holes are the ones without children. My wife and I looked very hard at our financial condition before she got pregnant and we would have been bankrupt very quickly if she had not gone back to work. The major cost issue was health insurance - family coverage costs a LOT more than employee or employee and one dependent.

I would be willing to bet that none of the jerks excoriating the mother has ever lost a child for any reason. Those of us who have know that she is in a very special Hell already. Parents who lose children despite every effort humanly possible still go through an extremely painful grieving process; I can barely imagine how much worse it must be for a parent who is responsible for the death of their child.

[Ciexyz]

I hope the mother's on a suicide watch, for her own protection.

[Arizona Carolyn]

Front seat, back seat. How do you forget your child is in the car? Even if I did have to work, and leave my child in daycare, I cannot imagine not remembering the baby was in the car.

[RebelBanker]

I hope the mother's on a suicide watch, for her own protection.

Amen!

[Ciexyz]

For all practical purposes, this mother's life is shattered, she will never be the same, and she may never recover from the guilt, stress, and shame. Prayers offered up that the Lord can rehabilitate her future, for His glory and as a show of His mercy.

[new cruelty]

My son was in two daycares - the nicest thing the storefront one did was to kick him out, that forced us to find a home daycare where the provider treated every child as if it were her own. The individuals who cared for our son at the large operation did their best, but they had too many children to watch.

My wife and I have a similar arrangement. We have a mother of three children watch our youngest. They live just down the street from us. Our oldest goes to a great pre-school set back on a decent parcel of land. The school has farm animals (chickens, roosters, lamb, goats, and a couple of pigs), which the children help feed every day. The registration is limited so the ratio of students to teachers is kept low; the grounds are well maintained and secure; and the administrator is a cast-iron B, which I certainly appreciate. My wife and I are active with the parents guild and have enjoyed building several friendships with other parents.

[Trailerpark Badass]

What kind of monster would enroll a 5-month old in day care?

One who values her oh-so-important career over the miracle she was just given.

[Alouette]

I stayed at home with my 5 older kids, but I went back to school and work full time as the 4 youngest were born, so basically "half" my kids were raised by a stay-at-home mom and "half" were raised by a working mom and daycare.

They are all grown up now, and I don't think the younger ones grew up less deprived. They are all very different, successful adults and I am proud of all of them!

[new cruelty]

NINE! WHOO-HOO. That's a lotta babies. Congratulations. I come from parents of big families. My father has 8 sisters. My mother has 6 brothers and 7 sisters. Alas, I have only 1 sibling- a sister, three years my senior.

[John Robertson]

My local YMCA day care is proud to take infants into its day care program who are two weeks old. You heard me. Two weeks. So mommy can scamper off to her all-important marketing job. Two weeks.

[GOP_Party_Animal]

Do I think months of neglect equal one incidence of neglect? Yes, if the result was death.

Well, fortunately the “justice” you describe is outside of Western traditions and laws, where the intent of the injurious party is taken into account. Thus we have those that kill by intent, those that kill through gross negligence, and those that kill by accident. Punishment is set accordingly. As you seem to see it, if death occurs, there’s hardly a need for a trial, let alone a sentencing process; death always equals murder. That may be true under Sharia Law (perhaps you would see her stoned?) but not according to our laws.

What galls me is the AUTOMATIC negation of personal, legal responsibility when this particular kind of neglect results in the death of a child.

Who said it’s automatic? Is anyone here suggesting that there shouldn’t be an investigation? Aside from that, who is saying that this woman is not responsible? I just think you’re insane for demanding that she be forcibly sterilized.

I find it very disturbing that Freepers, the standard bearers for ' personal responsibility', apply different standards in this kind of case.

You are confusing responsibility with punishment. She is clearly responsible, but what I find disturbing is that you seem to think this woman will go on with her life unpunished. As a previous poster pointed out, she likely doesn’t care if she’s thrown in jail – her true punishment will be waking up each morning sobbing as she realizes she caused the death of her baby. Nothing would torment a parent more.

Further punishment, something really ridiculous like forced sterilization, would serve no purpose. If you’re really going to cling to the argument that she’s a danger to her future children or anyone else’s, then let’s go all the way and execute her. Otherwise, leave her alone to suffer the remaining years of her life under this burden.

[lmr]

My wife and I have 3 children. We have lived on as little as 20,000 a year on one income, this was as recently as 5 years ago. We owned our home and done without most things, but we always had food and paid the bills. My wife has been able to stay home and raise the kids while I work.

The problem with people these days is that they do want a BIGGER HOUSE, A NICE CAR, GREAT VACATIONS ANNUALLY OR SEMIANNUALLY as well SPENDING MONEY to dine out on a regular basis. People want to live above their means, so both couples work, sometimes 2 jobs apiece to afford it all. I believe it to be a question of priorities.

What do you want out of life?

I've got great well-behaved children that make good grades in school and who are very close to my wife and I. It also gave me more motivation to work harder at my ONE job and now I run the office and make over $45,000 per year. After my youngest is out of kindergarten, my wife can go to school and become a nurse. We are used to living on one income and now I have enough money to send her to school. By the time we are both well established in our careers, We will have MORE than most people our age and we will be better off and closer to our children. We made sacrifices early so we could be better off later.

Also, none of our children were left in the back-seat of our car to die.

[I_like_good_things_too]

They should not buckle the purse into the safety seat. That would be dangerous and likely cause more deaths than the instance where a parent "forgets" they have a baby. Work badge, a-okay-- or just putting the purse in the back next to the baby would be good (obviously, making sure the baby can't wrap the strap around their neck, etc...).

But if someone's going to remember to do this, won't they remember they have the baby there anyhow?

[Conservababe]

I wonder why we seldom hear of parents who forget their children at home in their rush instead of being forgotten in the vehicle?

Is it because they would be charged with child abandonment, without question, if they left them at home? But, they would be exonerated if they were just forgetful and killed their child by leaving him/her in a vehicle?

[mplsconservative]

What kind of monster would enroll a 5-month old in day care?

I take it you enjoy being provocative, looking for a number of responses. I find your comments disturbing, as I'm sure was your intention.

This thread is about the death of an innocent child You're turning into a daycare debate?

Freepers come from many different cirsumstances and many different walks of life.

Those who would call others here on this board, monsters, are often trolling.

And no. I wasn't being subtle.