Leaving small kids alone in car while you run to the shop is 'dangerous'- experts warn

Experts have warned that leaving small children unsupervised in vehicles for even a few minutes in shopping centres can be dangerous or even fatal.

Parenting website MummyPages.ie said the potential dangers are the children choking on food or a toy with nobody to hear them, another car crashing into the parked car, heatstroke, a break-in to include kidnapping or car-jacking.

Other hazards are the hand brake being released unknowingly by a child out of their seat.

MummyPages.ie said it was alerted that children were left in two separate cars in Rathfarnham Shopping Centre at 5pm yesterday.

MummyPages.ie spokesoman Laura Haugh said: “Most parents have wrestled with their conscience when they have a sleeping child or more than one child all strapped safely in their car seats and they just need to jump out of the car for a minute or two.

"However, despite the inconvenience, unbuckling or indeed waking a sleeping baby, really is the safest option."

MummyPages.ie said that passersby shold break into a car if an extreme emergency situation arises.

Laura added: “The public plays an important role when it comes to protecting children, if they see a distressed child alone in a car it is in the child’s best interest to take action.

Standing next to the car for a few minutes, while another person attempts to locate the parent in the local shops should be the first course of action before then calling the police.

"Any use of force to break into the car through a window should only be done in an extreme emergency situation.”

Research has revealed that nearly half of mums (48%) surveyed condone the practice of leaving children unaccompanied in a car if it is ‘only for a short time’, while 55% of mums describing this type of behaviour as ‘commonplace.’

However over half (52%) of Mums objected to leaving children in cars unaccompanied because it's dangerous (88%), it's morally wrong (62%), it compromises the safety of the child (58%) and it causes emotional, physical and mental trauma (44%).