A 6-month-old boy died after being left for hours in a hot car in Louisiana, authorities said.

A 6-month-old boy died after being left for hours in a hot car in Louisiana, authorities said.

The baby was found dead in the backseat by his parent at about 5:46 p.m. Tuesday, according to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office.

When the parent went to pick up the baby from day care after work, they realized they forgot to drop him off at day care that morning, the sheriff’s office said.

  • waddle_dee@lemmy.worldEnglish
    926·
    3 months ago

    I’m in the same boat as you. I was more understanding before I had a child. I thought, you can forget your phone, autopilot, all other excuses. But after having two, there’s no fucking way I’d ever forget them. They’re always on my mind and the first thing I think of whenever I’m doing anything. I check on my children while driving too

    Edit: I understand how easy it is to get into autopilot, and having understood that I do everything I can to change my routine. We take different routes, we stop and do something on the way, etc. But I realize that I’m speaking from a place of privilege where I can do these things and not everyone can. I recognize that it can happen to me, and I pray it doesn’t. I truly am sorry for this families loss. No one should ever outlive their child.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
      541·
      3 months ago

      Looks like a bunch of people (I’m guessing non-parents) disagree.

      The whole idea of forgetting a baby is in the car is insane. Like I said, even if it is true, this person is not fit to take care of a baby and that baby had a good chance of dying some other way.

      • snooggums@midwest.socialEnglish
        38·
        3 months ago

        Looks like a bunch of people (I’m guessing non-parents) disagree.

        I am a parent and disagree. Surprised myself at least twice by arriving at work and seeing her still in the seat while grabbing the sun shade. Could have sworn that she had been dropped off both times.

        People aren’t perfect, and something being important doesn’t mean people suddenly become perfect. The fact that it is as rare as it is now is a sign that people take it seriously, but people make mistakes no matter how important the thing is.

      • SeaJ@lemm.ee
        311·
        3 months ago

        Not insane at all. Child seats should be rear facing for quite a while and if the kid is asleep, they are not making any sounds. A big deviation from your routine can seriously fuck up remembering basic things. I personally have a mirror strapped to the rear headrest to avoid anything like that since I can see her every time I check my rear view mirror. But I’ve had people warn me how dangerous those are because it is an extra thing to break off in an accident. I’d rather take that risk than accidentally leave my child in a hot car.

      • Thrillhouse@lemmy.world
        251·
        3 months ago

        From the Pulitzer article (please read it):

        Diamond is a professor of molecular physiology at the University of South Florida and a consultant to the veterans hospital in Tampa.[…]

        “Memory is a machine,” he says, “and it is not flawless. Our conscious mind prioritizes things by importance, but on a cellular level, our memory does not. If you’re capable of forgetting your cellphone, you are potentially capable of forgetting your child.”

        “The quality of prior parental care seems to be irrelevant,” he said. “The important factors that keep showing up involve a combination of stress, emotion, lack of sleep and change in routine, where the basal ganglia is trying to do what it’s supposed to do, and the conscious mind is too weakened to resist. What happens is that the memory circuits in a vulnerable hippocampus literally get overwritten, like with a computer program. Unless the memory circuit is rebooted – such as if the child cries, or, you know, if the wife mentions the child in the back – it can entirely disappear.”

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
          820·
          3 months ago

          You posted the article after I posed the above comment. I have read it.

          Edit: to the downvoters: should I have not read it? Because I get you downvoting the previous comments but I’m not sure what your problem is with this one.

          • Thrillhouse@lemmy.world
            191·
            3 months ago

            Hickling is a clinical psychologist from Albany, N.Y., who has studied the effects of fatal auto accidents on the drivers who survive them. He says these people are often judged with disproportionate harshness by the public, even when it was clearly an accident, and even when it was indisputably not their fault.

            Humans, Hickling said, have a fundamental need to create and maintain a narrative for their lives in which the universe is not implacable and heartless, that terrible things do not happen at random, and that catastrophe can be avoided if you are vigilant and responsible.

            In hyperthermia cases, he believes, the parents are demonized for much the same reasons. “We are vulnerable, but we don’t want to be reminded of that. We want to believe that the world is understandable and controllable and unthreatening, that if we follow the rules, we’ll be okay. So, when this kind of thing happens to other people, we need to put them in a different category from us. We don’t want to resemble them, and the fact that we might is too terrifying to deal with. So, they have to be monsters.”

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
              912·
              3 months ago

              Yes, again, I read it. You showed I was wrong. I’m not sure what you or anyone else wants from me.

              • AwesomeLowlander@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                131·
                3 months ago

                Just came along. Presumably most people read your 1st comment (which is horrifyingly unempathethic, TBH) and didn’t really follow the rest of the discussion

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                  35·
                  3 months ago

                  Maybe, but people even seem to be unhappy with me admitting I’m wrong in multiple replies. Like the one you responded to.

                  Like I said, I don’t know what they want from me. I can’t unwrite the post. I don’t have a time machine.

                  • AwesomeLowlander@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                    9·
                    3 months ago

                    It’s actually pretty vague, since only one of your comments seem to actually acknowledge you having read the article, and none of your comments indicate it changed your opinion (one about you having the capability to be wrong, but I can’t tell whether you’re saying you were wrong in this case, or just a general rhetorical device).

                    I’m not judging you here, I’m pointing out there might be a huge disconnect between what you think you’ve said and what’s actually coming across that would explain the reception you’re getting.

              • TheFonz@lemmy.world
                52·
                3 months ago

                It’s Ok. I think it’s easy to dismiss obvious situations such as these, but as a tired parent I can tell you the mind will play tricks on you. I always triple check everything because I know I’m already exhausted. I can’t fault another parent for a mistake though.

              • SeaJ@lemm.ee
                3·
                3 months ago

                We want you to go back on time and stop your former self from making the initial comment obviously. /s 🙂

              • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.world
                21·
                3 months ago

                Perhaps you could edit your first comment, otherwise people won’t know that you see things differently now.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                  1·
                  3 months ago

                  I think that would be dishonest of me. I’d rather people see that I said something incorrect, especially when it’s something people commonly get wrong according to the provided article.

                  • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.world
                    41·
                    3 months ago

                    You can certainly keep the original comment, just with an addendum. Of course you don’t have to, but it could prevent further misunderstanding