that we now need don't do this with your child ads

[LexiaFira]

specifically don't co-sleep with your kid and don't leave your kid in the car.
did some google searching and youtube searching. i cannot find the exact ones that I SAW in my area and the public ad as i was playing a facebook game but the tv ad was traumatic for me.

The co-sleeping one I understand for some people cannot afford a crib or bed for their kid right off the bat but there are other solutions than co-sleeping. (take extra sheets, towels or something and make a little bed fort thing on the floor or something...i leave that one alone as some people co-sleep and it works because they are light or super light sleepers or have a HUGE bed and take the precautions. but i refuse to do that because i don't sleep lightly

the don't leave your kid in the car bothers me. the ad was basically about take the few seconds to double check your car and don't forget your kid. HOW messed up as a society or people are we that WE FORGET WE HAVE A KID AND HEY ITS IN THE DAMN CAR!?!?!?!
I understand tuning out because omg my kid or baby won't stop crying but NEVER NEVER NEVER leave them in the car. And by that i mean this:

going to the store or out or wherever and you parked your car windows down or rolled up and walk away doors locked or unlocked to go run an errand. unless there is someone there with your kid, don't leave them in a car! I cannot forget i have a kid, its not in me as a person or a mom, even when she is getting on my last nerve she comes with me regardless because my kid WILL let me know, HEY you LEFT ME in the car! and her voice is the one thing I cannot and WON'T tune out.

it just bothers me that we are dumbed down enough to HAVE to put PSA's out like this. The don't shake a baby i let go because hey, some people didn't know to be honest. (that and its very hard to get a minute to calm down with a crying baby and you don't know what to do after trying everything)

but my gawd...seriously? you left your kid in the car, and it was done enough times that poor kids/babies died that we HAVE to do this? jfc (jebus effing christmas)

[NoMoreRetail]

Co-sleeping is really done by parents who are trying to bond with their babies. They think that by having the baby sleep in the parents bed for the first 18m of life it will allow them to bond better with the child. I call BS on all of that and I will probably be blasted for that but whatever. Co-sleeping is very dangerous, one wrong move by either mom or dad could suffocate the baby. Also when these kids are about a year old they are able to crawl over things, which means if you are a deep sleeper then the baby could crawl over you and fall on to the floor.

Cribs and baby beds have been around for many years and kids have still been able to bond with parents with out having to be attached to the hip. Some of the stuff that parents do with their kids now a days in my opinion boards on abuse!

As for the leaving kids in the car, I can guarantee where I live, there will be at least 5 cases of some idiot parent leaving their kids in a hot car this summer. We just had one where the mom left the kid in the car so she could go in to a restaurant and have a couple of margaritas! I swear some people just shouldn't be allowed to reproduce!

[jackfaire]

WE FORGET WE HAVE A KID AND HEY ITS IN THE DAMN CAR!?!?!?!

When my daughter was young I was so uber aware that "Hey I have a kid" I freaked out when I got rear ended because I forgot she wasn't in the car so I have never understood how you ever forget your kid anywhere.

[HYHYBT]

I could easily see myself forgetting... in certain specific circumstances. A quiet kid, for starters... and, say, I'm never the one to take it to school but today I'm supposed to on my way to work, both places being in the same general direction from home so my drive is normal long enough for autopilot to kick in.

People sometimes forget them on car roofs, too.

[Seifer]

I've also heard the explanation that sometimes new parents leave the baby in the car because they've simply forgotten it was there. They're so used to going about things one way, and then suddenly a new element is added to their day-to-day activities. Unfortunately, in the case of a baby in the car, a moment of forgetfulness can cost a child their life.

[bex1218]

I never understood co-sleeping. I understand putting the kid's crib in the same room. Bonding with the baby can happen anytime of the day. Why would you need to sleep in the same bed?

[bara]

the don't leave your kid in the car bothers me. the ad was basically about take the few seconds to double check your car and don't forget your kid. HOW messed up as a society or people are we that WE FORGET WE HAVE A KID AND HEY ITS IN THE DAMN CAR!?!?!?!

Happened at the Walmart I worked at often. I was a cart pusher so I was the one who normally saw and reported it. Lots of times the police were called about this, for animals too.

Hell, had a lady leave a kid at the store and not realize it for a couple of hours.

Bonus: Kid was still in diapers.
Really bad: Kid needed changed.

[anakhouri]

I feel very sorry for people who leave their babies in the car. I can see how it could be done if the parent was stressed and the child was unusually quiet (as usually seems to be the situation). I don't feel I can condemn them.

When I was a kid my mom left me in the car while she ran into the store, starting probably around age 6. I don't have a problem with that. But deliberately leaving a very young child in the car while you shop is messed up.

I never co-slept with my boy (2 people in a bed is enough) but I have no problem with people who do it as long as they are careful. They make these bed things that you can attach to your bed so it's like you're co-sleeping but the kid has its own space, which seems like a good idea if you want to do that.

I'm sorry if anyone is upset by the ads but it is probably a good thing they are out, since there is obviously still a problem with children dying in these situations.

[Ree]

I could easily see myself forgetting... in certain specific circumstances. A quiet kid, for starters... and, say, I'm never the one to take it to school but today I'm supposed to on my way to work, both places being in the same general direction from home so my drive is normal long enough for autopilot to kick in.

While that may well be true, it's easy to say that because you haven't actually had a child, so you don't really know whether you would have the capacity to forget the child or not.

I recall reading a story about a father who did exactly what HYHYBT described, though. He wasn't used to having to drop the child at daycare.
He ended up driving straight to the office and forgot about the child in the car. He found her there at the end of the day.
He rushed her to the hospital, but she died.

(I googled to find the story, and the same thing happened in Italy. That father was convinced he had dropped the child off at a playgroup while the mother was dropping the older child at a swim group. At the end of the day, when he went to go pick up both of his kids, he found the baby still in the car seat. Again, he rushed to the hospital, but the baby died.)

It wasn't in a hot car, but I know my husband's mother forgot she had him with her when she went uptown shopping one time.

He was the 7th out of 8 children, and his oldest sister was in high school when he was born. I believe his oldest brother was already married.
(I know he had a niece who was 4 years older than he was.)

His Mom went to run some errands and put him in his carriage.
It was a small town and simpler times, and people didn't really bat an eye about leaving their babies unattended in their carriages while they ran into the store.

She came out of the store with all her bags and walked right past the carriage and headed home.

His father came home from work and asked his mother where the baby was.
She said, "He's in his carriage out in the yard."

He said, "No he isn't."

She just about passed out when she realized what she did.
My husband was sleeping peacefully away in the carriage when she got to the shop.
She never did that again!

I can't imagine myself doing it, but it does happen.

[HYHYBT]

While that may well be true, it's easy to say that because you haven't actually had a child, so you don't really know whether you would have the capacity to forget the child or not.

No, I don't know for certain. But it's entirely consistent with the way my mind has worked all my life so far, and while some people may get the "kid radar" upgrade when their first child is born, many others do not.

[LexiaFira]

I DO understand that some parents can co-sleep in the US and other countries. I won't touch on the choice, only that it IS dangerous, and that I am more upset that such incidents as baby/infant deaths have happened that a PSA is now needed. and the whole don't leave your kid in the car. more upset that its thought to be NEEDED since people can't seem to parent well or we have fallen in intelligence as a society.
HOWEVER i have seen some new items for co-sleeping that help prevent such incidents. the baby sits in this little fort device closer to the head of the bead so that if a mom or dad rolls they hit the soft thing before the baby and it wakes them up enough to stop it

@NoMoreRetail nope not going to blast you, some parents CAN do this because they are super aware now. some of my friends have done this but this was back in the day when it was acceptable...Ie said friends are 40 something and their kids are teens. I don't say anything to it because hey their kid is alive and i am not one to question parenting that isn't harming the kid. i do agree with the one wrong move though
and heaven forbid the mother get drunk at home with the kid as the kid depending on age couldn't do anything.


@jackfaire i freak out getting into the car just a little every time with or without kid...mostly because if i don't have faith in the driver's abilities i worry.

@HYHYBT i never put my kid on the car roof. mostly because it was a van and i could not reach and i just...i didn't understand why put the baby carrier there instead of next to your feet or just hold on to it baby and all.

@Seifer i can kind of see that. but not with a kid. i don't understand how a new parent cannot be used to a kid after their first official outing? i mean...ok i get parenting doesn't just come to you. but how can someone give birth to a kid and forget about it? that hurts my brain and coming from me the forgetful person that is saying something.

@bex1218 that is what I THOUGHT co-sleeping was, bed in the same room for a while. that's what i did, had her bassinet in the same room until she outgrew it

@bara that makes me want to cry and tear my hair out.

@anakhouri i was left in the car at age 6 or so. and i mostly survived. i am talking about babies and kids that don't know hey i can unlock this and get out and tell someone or just get out
and thats what i meant with the new bed for babies.
i know, the ads help...but for it just makes me more panic-y

@Ree its stories like these that happen that i see on the news that make me want to turn the tv off because my mind just runs off with that

have to go offline this is making me cry

[telecom_goddess]

I did the co sleeping thing with the latter two kids because I discovered that middle of the night nursing was much easier that way. And I could go right back to sleep. I didn't do it for long though.

It seems the new trend now is "attachment" parenting where you co sleep, and nurse them for far too long in my opinion, and cart them around everywhere and never let them walk on their own. I could never do that personally I would rather have them be more independent.

Ad for leaving kids in cars, wtf...I never understand how people do this year after year after year. I NEVER ONCE left my kids in a car alone. I never forgot they were in there. And it was rare we were ever in a car in the first place. I never forgot them at other places. And I sure as hell wouldn't leave them in a carriage in the yard either.....

[fireheart17]

Let's see...

Co-Sleeping: I always thought it was the bassinet or similar in the bedroom, sort of more akin to "rooming in" except at home. Most hospitals down here do just that, although the hospital where my sister was born is now an aged care facility. Funnily enough, when my sister WAS born, she was apparently quite big and more than once, the nurses thought she was a boy

[LexiaFira]

@ Telecom_Goddess
was taught that attachment parenting was nursing, OPTIONAL co-sleeping and not letting them cry it out. but there is a limit to it. as weaning was supposed to be within reason and the way it was done was supposed to teach the child to be more talkative and understanding. but this new attachment parenting is having a major backlash

@fireheart thats what I thought too, i suppose the definition varies?

[Andara Bledin]

Ad for leaving kids in cars, wtf...I never understand how people do this year after year after year. I NEVER ONCE left my kids in a car alone. I never forgot they were in there. And it was rare we were ever in a car in the first place. I never forgot them at other places. And I sure as hell wouldn't leave them in a carriage in the yard either.....

Were you the primary kid-carer?

The vast majority of the "kids forgotten in car" stories I run into are situations where the person who leaves them is not the parent that normally watches over them. It usually involves a change in a routine that's been in place longer than the kid's have been alive.

Have you ever started to go somewhere that was the same direction as another place that you go regularly and accidentally headed to the regular place instead of the new place? It's just like that.

^-.-^