After watching a news segment about a father who unintentionally left his 11-month-old boy in a car at his office, I jolted from the couch and checked on Emmeline. I knew she was sleeping. I could hear her white noise machine groaning. I was the one who tucked her in and kissed her goodnight.
But I had to see for myself. I had to know she was safe. I had to touch her hands and stroke her cheek and remind myself she was OK, even if I knew it all along. Stories like these are no longer just nightly news segments. They hit home.
And for many, many parents, they hit home much too closely. Because leaving a child in a car on a hot day happens a lot more than you think -- even with the best parents.
Since the mid-90s, when car seats were shifted to the back seat to prevent airbag injuries, cases of forgotten children have jumped, according to an Associated Press article.
Before 1995, the country had 11 heat deaths a year. Since then, it's been 36 a year. Experts say tragedy can strike anyone -- and has.
"When you look at overall who this is happening to, it's some very, very, very good parents — might I say, doting parents," says Janette Fennell, founder and president of Kids and Cars, a nonprofit group that tracks child deaths and injuries in and around automobiles.
Interestingly, parents might not be treated the same in the eyes of the law. Moms are more likely to receive prison time, even though moms and dads are convicted at roughly the same rates, according to an analysis of car seat deaths.
But let's work on never getting there in the first place. Please share your tips on making sure you don't leave a little one behind. You may help someone who doesn't even know he or she needs it.
