General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Another baby dies after being left in a hot car. WHO forgets a child is in a car??? [View all]unblock
(52,910 posts)horrible as it is, that is the reality and the conclusion of research into this problem.
rear-facing child seats have made the problem markedly worse, but it existed even before then.
combine insufficient sleep (almost universal given our lifestyle and especially for parents of kids who fit in car seats) with a bit of stress and a slight interruption from routine, you can easily forget anything, even something as precious as a child, especially if it's a normally noisy kid who happened to fall asleep this time.
there are a number of precautions you can take to reduce the likelihood of such a tragedy but people are fallible and nothing is foolproof.
among the tricks are to put a shoe or purse or cellphone or something otherwise essential in the back seat with the child either always or at least any time you put a child in the car, so that there's something to remind you to go to the back seat when you leave the car.
another is to put a stuffed animal in front passenger seat when the kid is in the back seat, again to remind you to check the back.
another is to simply *always* check the back seat, even if you "know" there's no one there.
other solutions may come down the pike, involving sensors and such, weight can be tricky, so i think the best sensor would be if the child seat is buckled it should assume there's a child there and sound an alarm when a car door opens or when the engine stops.