# new product can never foget a child in car again



## littlemizflava (Oct 8, 2006)

very interesting product
sensor installed in carseat triggers by weight deactivates when child removed. with a keychain remote that goes off if you walk away from car with baby in it. 10 beeps then if you keep walking beeps till you go back can not be shut off.


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## ThreeBeans (Dec 2, 2006)

While it is clever, it goes between the child and the seat which is considered a no-no, and is essentially an unapproved aftermarket product. If they are serious about making this a legitimate safety device, they need to team up with car seat manufacturers to make this part of the safety seat and tested under FMVSS regulations.


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## ann_of_loxley (Sep 21, 2007)

I would be a bit more concerned about the parents who actually can forget their children are in the car... How could you forget?!


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## lovingmommyhood (Jul 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ann_of_loxley* 
I would be a bit more concerned about the parents who actually can forget their children are in the car... How could you forget?!

It happens quite often actually. I personally think some of it stems from the busy lives people have these days.

I locked my kids in the car last summer on a 75 degree day. I didn't forget them, just locked the keys in. It was one of the worst things that's ever happened to me as a mom. I will always make sure I'm holding my keys from now on when I shut the door.

I wish they'd come up with a safe way to help people remember.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ann_of_loxley* 
I would be a bit more concerned about the parents who actually can forget their children are in the car... How could you forget?!

I often wonder if some parents honestly do it on purpose and then pretend it's an accident. I just can't imagine going to work all day and not once thinking about my child and going "hey, did I drop them off at daycare?"


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## Keeping up (Apr 7, 2004)

I am one of those parents that forgot their child in a car - OK it was only for 5 minutes but I FORGOT.

Weird thing, as I was driving that day - down to pick up my older two children (the one forgotten was the third, when he was an infant), I thought to myself - how does anyone ever forget their child in a car? How could they be so absent-minded. Three minutes later, I forgot my child in the car. I got distracted, was in a hurry, eager to see my older children - and I forgot. To this day, I am baffled how it happened.

[It was in a temperature controlled garage, and I remember just as I was picking up one of the kiddos at daycare. He was sound asleep in the car.]

I now do everything in sequence so as not to mess up. I am particularily afraid of not having a child in the car when I move it (and thus run over the child). I count heads before that car is moved each and every time. I don't close the back hatch of the minivan where I put the stroller until I know all kiddos are properly buckled in. I also drop off kiddos in a certain order at daycare - then circle back and count heads. I little obsessive but I know - one absent thought, and something horrible could happen.

[My parents also forgot I was in the backseat when I was four - my father drove me mid-way to work, where my mother, who worked nights as a nurse, would meet him, and bring me home. My father just kept on driving that day - got to work, realized I was in the back seat and turned around to go meet my mom.]

Regardless - the device does seem odd.


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## DahliaRW (Apr 16, 2005)

I can see doing it for 5 minutes and then remembering, but not ALL day without one thought of your child or one inkling that you may have forgotten them, kwim?


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## indie (Jun 16, 2003)

It tends to happen when the parent driving is not the one who normally drives the kids.


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## Brilliantmama (Sep 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ThreeBeans* 
While it is clever, it goes between the child and the seat which is considered a no-no, and is essentially an unapproved aftermarket product. If they are serious about making this a legitimate safety device, they need to team up with car seat manufacturers to make this part of the safety seat and tested under FMVSS regulations.

I really wish that car seat manufacturers would get on board with this. It seems we have the technology to make an integrated sensor in all seats, or at the very least all _infant_ seats. It seems most of the forgotten kids are infants who are likely to fall asleep and be silent. An optional add on is not the solution, no one thinks they will be the one to forget.


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## WhaleinGaloshes (Oct 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ann_of_loxley* 
I would be a bit more concerned about the parents who actually can forget their children are in the car... How could you forget?!

Sleep deprivation can do terrible things to you. When DD was an infant, screamed at night and I wasn't getting *any* recooperative sleep, I could forget so many things. I was lucky to not need to drive her around. The most compelling explanation I've heard from working moms is that, in the beginning, it is scary-easy to drive to work and go in having skipped the DCP. Because you've been doing it for so long and you're so freaking tired that you're on auto-pilot. Kind of the way you might find yourself driving home to your 'old' house shortly after you've moved.

The best tip I've heard is for a new mom to put her purse or briefcase in the back with the baby.


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

when ds was about a month old, dh and i went to dinner with my mom. he went to put the baby in the car (i was paying, mom was with me).... then he came back in. i looked at him, he was like"what?" i said "david, where is the baby???" it was less than a minute, and kind of funny, but still


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## Phantaja (Oct 10, 2006)

I posted this once before, but I thought that someone might find it useful.

Even though my boys are at the age where I couldn't leave them if I wanted to, I was afraid of it when they were little. A girlfriend of mine told me to put a pacifier on my key ring everytime I got into the car with the kids, and take it off when we all made it home. Seeing the pacifier made me think "baby" every single time I took my keys out of the ignition, so I never could forget them. I never forgot them while we were out and about, but even if I had, I wouldn't make it far without them, cause I'd have to take my keys out of my purse and those baby keys would probably remind me.


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## aja-belly (Oct 7, 2004)

when i was a young teen me and my dad forgot about my sister. he came to pick me up from a friend's house late and brought her along hoping she would fall asleep in the car. she was about 8 months old. we stopped at the grocery store on the way home. she had been asleep for awhile and was rear-facing so we didn't see her. we went inside had a leisurely grocery trip....until we got to the diaper aisle.







we ran out and she was ok, but man. it really shook us up. i was only 13 and i still remember the feeling. i am so cautious with my kids - especially in warm weather where a leisurely grocery trip would be long enough for a baby to get dangerously hot in a car.


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## sunnymw (Feb 28, 2007)

This is one of my biggest fears because I am the biggest scatterbrain...

I think there should be something on ALL carseats... tho I'm sure that people would still forget to put it on their keychains, etc... esp when switching cars... there is nothing fool-proof, but we need to find something.


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## nevaehsmommy (Aug 6, 2007)

I think it can be chopped up to new momma fog. My mom left my sister at the church nursery when she was brand new. We went to a tiny church. Rachel had been passed around. Mom went to nurse her, and then layed her in the crib. Rachel slept. We left to go home. Half way home I asked mom where the baby was. She said in the carseat. But she was'nt. She was still asleep in the crib. Church had been locked up and everything. Brain fog.....deviations from normal events also work to create mishaps.


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## mommy68 (Mar 13, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DahliaRW* 
I can see doing it for 5 minutes and then remembering, but not ALL day without one thought of your child or one inkling that you may have forgotten them, kwim?

I agree.

I find it very hard to believe that someone can forget their own child for many hours or a whole day. Once you give birth it's just natural instinct to always want to nurture and keep your child safe.


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## GooeyRN (Apr 24, 2006)

I can see it happening when one parent usually does day care drop off and they cant that day, so the other parent does it. Since they are not used to stopping at daycare, they may forget and continue driving to work. If its a young child and they fall asleep I can easily see how they can be forgotten. Especially if it is a large vehicle like a van where the car seat isn't as easily visible like in a tiny car. I think the device is a great idea, but it really needs to go through proper channels to be approved for safety reasons.


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## ThreeBeans (Dec 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mommy68* 
I agree.

I find it very hard to believe that someone can forget their own child for many hours or a whole day. Once you give birth it's just natural instinct to always want to nurture and keep your child safe.









Moms don't come home from the store and go inside and just forget they have a child. This is the typical scenario.

Mom and Dad are both working parents. Mom usually drops baby off at daycare but she's running late and asks DH to drop baby off. She puts baby in the rear-facing car seat, DH gets in the car, starts driving, gets in the 'zone', goes right by the daycare because it's not his usual routine, gets to work, gets out, never has a thought for the baby.

Mom's at work all day thinking dad dropped baby off at daycare. No one knows until mom stops at the day care on the way home from work to pick baby up.


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## AllieFaye (Mar 7, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *easy_goer* 
The best tip I've heard is for a new mom to put her purse or briefcase in the back with the baby.

Am I the only one disturbed by the idea that a new mom wouldn't forget her purse or briefcase, but might forget her baby?

Also, don't day cares bear any responsibility when a parent fails to drop off the baby? Aren't they hired to be responsible for the child that day? A simple phone call of "We noticed Johny isn't here today. Is he home sick or do you have an unscheduled day off?" might save a few lives.


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## lovingmommyhood (Jul 28, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AllieFaye* 
Am I the only one disturbed by the idea that a new mom wouldn't forget her purse or briefcase, but might forget her baby?

Also, don't day cares bear any responsibility when a parent fails to drop off the baby? Aren't they hired to be responsible for the child that day? A simple phone call of "We noticed Johny isn't here today. Is he home sick or do you have an unscheduled day off?" might save a few lives.

The mom would need her briefcase or purse to perhaps put her keys in, get her work out, etc. It's really not hard to see how this happens. Sad & horrifying yes.


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## Cassiopeia (Sep 27, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *aja-belly* 
when i was a young teen me and my dad forgot about my sister. he came to pick me up from a friend's house late and brought her along hoping she would fall asleep in the car. she was about 8 months old. we stopped at the grocery store on the way home. she had been asleep for awhile and was rear-facing so we didn't see her. we went inside had a leisurely grocery trip....until we got to the diaper aisle.







we ran out and she was ok, but man. it really shook us up. i was only 13 and i still remember the feeling. i am so cautious with my kids - especially in warm weather where a leisurely grocery trip would be long enough for a baby to get dangerously hot in a car.

This is what I was always afraid of. An infant is so much quieter in the car than a chatterbox older child. I was constantly having to look in the rear view mirror to make sure I hadn't left the baby somewhere because he was so quiet compared to his 4yo brother.

Anyway, a well made device that won't interfere with safety sounds like a good idea to me.


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## EviesMom (Nov 30, 2004)

A little different, but have you seen the Volvo "heartbeat sensor" thing? The commercial plays up that you'll know if an axe-murderer (or anyone else, LOL) is hiding in your back seat. DH and I have seen the commercial a couple of times and said "Um.... yeah, if I'm ever living in a horror movie, I'll remember to get a Volvo heartbeat sensor... but in the real world, this is reallllllly stupid!"

On another board though, someone was saying you might be able to use it as a "don't forget the kid in the car" system. Basically, make it part of your routine to push the heartbeat sensor button every day as you get out of your car, and if you have the baby that day and have forgotten, the alarm will sound. I suppose if it works, it would at least not mess with the safety of the seat.


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## aja-belly (Oct 7, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *EviesMom* 
A little different, but have you seen the Volvo "heartbeat sensor" thing?

yeah, me and dh were saying it's only a matter of time before people start using that thing as justification to leave small kids in the car while shopping etc (i could tell their heart was still beating fine - they were ok!).

and a smilie for jet.







:


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## Sionainne (Jan 23, 2008)

I like the idea of the device, and the inventors need to start _somewhere_ to get investors before jumping into Federal testing. Kudos to the inventors! They seem more grounded than marketers of similar devices.

It's easy to say it could not happen to us, but I acknowledge that it could. Once, maybe ... though I doubt it, several times a week -- no.

The main drawback is that the alarm is not annoying enough, not embarassing enough to the caregiver who leaves the baby. Seriously if your infant alarm has gone off more than once in your life, you need not be driving an infant around. So the alarm should shriek loud profanities like a fiend from the vehicle itself. Then the driver will not likely forget again. Nor should he.

www.kidsandcars.org


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## WhaleinGaloshes (Oct 9, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AllieFaye* 
Am I the only one disturbed by the idea that a new mom wouldn't forget her purse or briefcase, but might forget her baby?

How long have you been carrying a purse? How long has a brand-spanking new mom been driving with her baby? It's not to imply that the purse is somehow more important than the baby, the point is that you've been getting your purse out of the car to go inside since forever and would do it in your sleep. Again, sleep deprivation (not to mention post-partum hormones) can put someone in auto-pilot mode.

Really, is it that hard to picture? Because it's not for me (or for several others who have posted.) I'm frequently a bit sad at how 'shocked' and 'disturbed' people are about this; I fear it creates a stigma that keeps women from admitting that they are worried about this and need help. Or convince new mothers that this could never happen to them. If a good, safe device like this one became available, would women be afraid to use it because "what kind of a mother would worry about forgetting her baby?"


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