carseatIt seems like at least once a week we come across a story about parents leaving babies in their car -- and of course something awful happens. Well, here's another one. A couple in the Bronx pulled up to a cellphone store. Their 7-month-old baby was sleeping in the back seat. Dad jumped out to pay a bill inside the store. Then the mother left the car to join him just for a few minutes. They left the car running. And then a thief jumped behind the wheel and took off.

A frantic search for the stolen Jeep and baby followed. That baby was found about an hour later, still in the Jeep about a mile away from where it had been stolen. The baby is fine. A family friend says, "I thought we would never see her again." It's a huge relief, I'm sure. But parents, can we please stop leaving babies in cars?!?

I know everyone who does it thinks they'll only be gone a minute. They want the baby to keep sleeping. They're SURE nothing bad will happen. They're in the city, so there are too many witnesses. Or they're in the country, and there's no one around. There's always some justification.

But the very idea of leaving a child inside a car just makes my stomach lurch. I guess some of us are paranoid, and some of us are in denial. Maybe I'm a worst-case-scenario mom, but it just doesn't make sense to me to take that risk.

But whatever. Parents will keep doing it. And we'll keep posting these scary stories about babies getting stolen or dying in hot cars or freezing in cold cars. No one ever wants to see that happen. And I'm SO relieved for the family in the Bronx that they found their baby again so quickly. But come on, guys! Stop doing that.

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

Have you ever left your baby in a car, running or not?


Image via o5com/Flickr