How does a parent leave their child in a hot car? It might seem impossible, or heinously negligent, but it is a very real consequence of a mind slip for often completely loving, normal parents.
It has been dubbed the ‘fatal distraction’ phenomenon, after the 2009 Pulitzer prize-winning Washington Post article on the topic.
But could an American invention be about to change all of that?
‘Don’t Forget Baby!!!’ is a company started by Arizona mother Meaghan Eckhardt. The company produces car tags that help parents to remember when their child is in the car.
One side of the tag looks like this:
And the other side looks like this:
As their website explains:
Simply place the tag on your rear-view mirror of your car when you put baby in the car seat.
Make sure the front side “DON’T FORGET BABY!!!™” is facing the driver and that the back side “CHECK CAR FOR BABY!!!” is facing the street.
When you arrive at baby’s destination, remove the tag and place in the child’s car seat.
If you should forget to remove it, the back side will alert passers-by to check the car for a baby and invite them to take action if necessary.
Mamamia spoke to psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg about the phenomenon of ‘fatal distraction’ after a child died in an incident in Perth last October.
Carr-Gregg said:
Michael Carr-Gregg“As someone who has had two boys, I really do think that this could happen to any of us. Research suggests that it doesn’t really happen that often but the bad news is that it’s incredibly difficult to predict when it is going to happen.
It happens out of the blue.
There is no way to predict when Fatal Distraction phenomenon is likely to occur, as it really does happen to everyone. Intelligence or IQ, importance of job, mindfulness, organisational skills – none of these things are a factor, in regards to what parents are affected.
Just about the only way in which you could 100 per cent guarantee that his could never happen to you is to be anal and have a list.”
But if these tags work as their producers allege, they could be a real game-changer.
You can order a ‘Don’t Forget Baby!!!’ tag online here. (Yes, they ship to Australia.) $1 from every tag sold is donated to the Texas Cord Blood Bank.
Check out these other offbeat but definitely very cool parenting hacks
Top Comments
Re the legality - I would sincerely hope that if the police turn a blind eye to the masses and masses of things currently dangling from rearview mirrors, as they obviously do, then they'd turn a blind eye to this as well.
In the Fatal Distraction article, they discuss a device which has been invented to help overcome this problem in a more sophisticated way. It is a weight sensor in the child restraint, which sounds an alarm if you take the keys out of the ignition (or lock the car, or something) and the child is still in the seat. It never got off the ground though, because potential manufacturers couldn't see a market for it. Crazy. Our car has alarms which sound if the car senses weight in one of the front seats but the seatbelt isn't done up, so I imagine this is similar, and that the technology is fairly straightforward.
Other ways to try and foolproof your brain are to: keep a teddybear in the child restraint, and put it on the passenger seat next to you when your baby is in the seat; put something on your key-ring; or have a standard phone call between you and your partner after daycare dropoffs and pickups, so that someone else is checking.
Really? U need a reminder sign to check if your own child is in the car with you??? From most repots the parents leave them in cars not by forgetting them but stupidly thinking they won't be long in the shops
Really? And parents need a reminder to check behind their cars before they reverse, that their child isn't near the kettle, that the bath water completely emptied before they walked away. The fact is accidents happen. They can happen to anyone.
And ridiculing suggestions to try and prevent accidents is helpful how?
To me, any idea or opportunity to prevent a preventable death is good. Regardless of how perfect your parenting must be
A friend of mine recently had her 4th baby under 6 she left three with dad mad went to an appointment when she got back to her car saw her new born baby she broke down and was rushed to hospital she honestly forgot she had just had her 4th she was diagnosed wIth severe post natal depression and hospitalised for 3 months her baby was ok but she has never forgiven herself regardless. So no not all parents are stupid and shouldn't be thrown into the one bucket.
There have been a number of recent cases where babies have died due to parents forgetting the child was in the car and leaving the baby while they have gone to work all day. Not stupid and deliberate but distracted and tragic. Deliberately leaving the child while going to the shops is just criminal in my opinion, but I can see how you could forget particularly if it wasn't your usual routine to drop baby at creche. Unlikely but possible, and these might help.
Haven't you read the stories about women/men that are out of their usual routine and drive to work instead of daycare etc? It happens more often than you think, especially being sleep deprived with a young child. I think anything that helps parents make these fatal mistakes is a good thing, even if you think it'll never happen to you.