No mom ever thinks she will be the one who leaves her baby in a hot car all day. But we have another sad and tragic story today out of Nashville, Tennessee, where a 5-month-old baby boy died in the back of his mom's minivan. It will break your heart, Moms and Dads, but keep reading. There's a lesson in here that could save your baby's life.
Police say Stephanie Gray arrived at her son's daycare on Tuesday afternoon to pick him up. Only little Joel wasn't there because he'd never been dropped off.
According to the cops, it appears the boy spent the entire day in the back of his mom's minivan. The baby's death has been described as "heat related."
But get this. Tuesday would have been baby Joel's SECOND day at daycare. You know what that means? This was not a routine for this mom of four. What was probably routine was taking her three older kids to school -- which she did on Tuesday before driving home, seemingly forgetting little Joel in the backseat and never making it to the daycare.
When you're a mom, especially mom of a baby, routines are everything. They keep us functioning when we've had so little sleep we can barely stand up. The little stuff (ahem, showering, washing the dishes), might not get done, but as long as you've got a routine down for the big stuff, your body can function on a sort of auto-pilot.
But when the routine is changed, big things can happen, disastrous things. Just look at what happened for Stephanie Gray. The cops say she was rushed to the hospital after the discovery of her son's body. It doesn't sound like she was some uncaring idiot. It sounds like she genuinely forgot. And I'm going to wager it's because the daycare drop wasn't routine yet; her body couldn't guide her to get it done.
It's a tragic mistake. But you're kidding yourself if you think it could NEVER happen to you. Routines change. We forget things. Whether it's a baby in a hot car or turning the coffee pot off, it's human.
Moms! Dads! If your routine is going to change, please be hyper vigilant with your kids. It could save their lives!
Have you had a routine change in your busy parenting life? What has fallen through the cracks?
Image via jurvetson/Flickr
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Comments 386
I'm not sure I'm understanding this correctly. So the baby who had only attended one day at daycare was left in the car because of a change in routine? So, where was he before the one day of daycare? I would think he would have been at home with her. She forgot to go to daycare to drop him off and forgot that he was in the car? Forgot that she had a son who is usually at home?
No excuse, not ever. A baby is a HUMAN BEING. Does she not EVER check on her child while they are in the vehicle? I mean HELLO, I would lthink you would at least glance back once, or twice make sure little baby was doing good. People like this do NOT deserve to be parents.
My grandson at three almost drowned, watching over him and three other toddlers were,me,nana,his mom adn my husband his popa. We were in the yard at the play set with all four grandsons and one of hte moms. Our above ground pool has all the safety we could buy,locked gates,completely decked but fenced anyway....The alarm in the pool if somethign three lbs fell in we got alarms inside the house...Our oldest Quint,needed to pee-pee,so right inside the door,He went...NOT,he went inside straight thru the front and out around the side of the pool climbed over the gate,WHO KNEW, and into the pool....Our closest gate is locked,mom is breast feeding,nana is panicked popa can't climb only one leg...Mom thru baby to nan jumped the gate and got to Quint.....One of God's precious Blessings....But I can see the local paper headline...Toddler died while parent and grand-parents loooked on,,,,,,A child is quicker than you are....(PERIOD) Only by God's Grace Quint is a 16 year old young man today......