Paying for petrol: do you leave LO in the car?

I am lucky enough to have a DH who usually takes responsibility for filling up our cars, but on the rare occasion that I have had to, and had DS with me, I've filled up then opened DS's window a little, locked the car and quickly run in and paid. I've never done this when its been hot or would otherwise be uncomfortable for DS.

I mentioned this to a friend and she was completely horrified, and now I feel like the worst mother in the world. I'm almost ashamed to post this because now I feel quite silly for ever having done this. :redface:

I am just wondering what everyone else does.... sometimes I feel like there are all these little practical mothering things I have no clue about (like I had to come on here early on and ask how to use the public toilets with a baby)!

I'll admit I do it, I know they say its wrong but I always use the pump right next to the door, I watch them the whole time. And I'm in and out. Think'd be worse for me to drag a baby and a toddler in.

Your not the worst mother in the world! :hug: Your wonderfull!

I am sure there was a thread about this a little while ago?????

I will leave Ds in the car but will do it very rarely i am more freaked that the servo will get held up wioth me inside and dh will get distressed?

I wont be doing when i have 2, Dh will buy fuel in jerry cans and fill up when i need it!

But your not a bad mum we have to do things sometimes that some peole dont agree awiht and lucky that we all have differnt opinions :hug:

This is the thread. I think you will find it differs per person:

http://forums.bellybelly.com.au/foru...ou-honest.html

You're doing what you think is the safest thing for your child. Others may think differently and that's ok too.

I usually try to get DH to fill my car up on the weekends when it's the family car and we are together, but if that's not possible, I lock the car with Sam inside while I go in to pay. I try to use a quieter servo so that I'm in for as little time as possible even if that means paying a little more for my fuel. If it's a really hot day or Sam's upset, I carry him in with me, but I find it makes the process of paying much more difficult when you're juggling a baby in one hand and your cards/pen in the other.

I've had others at mothers group with more children and older children than me say that they think it's safer to leave the children in the car when paying for fuel. Can you imagine taking a couple of kids who walk safely through a service station? I certainly can't!

BW

I must have missed that thread! Thanks, I will check it out.

Just discussed this with DH- he leaves DS in the car, saying "well, the car is much less likely to be stolen with a baby in it...." Hm.

hello, i do it and so does everybody i know... i will also on occasion duck into a shop to grab a drink etc, if i am parked directly out front that is and can see the car.... i will point out though that i live in rural vic so think maybe its a bit different down here.... although there are all the same dangers i suppose, maybe i am being naive to think i am safer in the country!

Getting petrol is much quicker in the country. I found in Melbourne some of those servo's were so huge, in the time it took to walk from the pump to the cashier, wait in line, pay and return to the car, you would finished and 5 minutes up the road filling up the same car in the country.

First of all, how sanctimonious to get all horrified!
Second of all, so many of us here do it.
A lot of us aren't filling up in peak hour and are using servos when there's not much of a queue, so we're not leaving our kids in there with 5 people in front of us deciding which payment method to use.
I tend to use my local Mobil because the price is usually competitive and even if it's not the cheapest, I use it anyway for location AND, the clincher...the card swipe at the bowser ;)
Anyone who does the 'how on earth can you live with yourself' caper can get off their high horse. There are far more tactful ways to suggest alternatives that don't have you feeling like crap.

Thanks all, and thanks for the link to the other thread- I am glad to see others leave their kiddos in the car too. After talking to this friend I really thought I must be the only one in the world! Feeling normal now, thank you!

Must learn to trust my instincts....

With my first 3 kids I did sometimes. Now that I have Jack...I don't do it...ever. I don't know why, this awful feeling comes over me every time I even think about leaving him in the car to go in and pay for fuel. DH thinks it's silly, he says why have the hassle of trying to get him back in his car seat (he hates getting buckled in) when you are only going to be a minute paying for petrol. I dunno, maybe its a weird premonition/mother's instinct or something....but I can seriously say that with Jack I have never done it.
If the older kids are in the car it's a different story, I don't bother getting Jack out then if either the 9 year old, 14 year old or both are in the car.

Yep i do it, with both kids in the car...
I lock the car and take the keys with me though....

I don't only cause I have heard stories of cars being stolen with children in the car. In saying that, I have only ever had to put petrol in the car maybe 4 times when I have one or both of my kids in the car, so it's not a regular thing for me. If it was though, it might be different. But I make sure either I or DH fill the car when we don't have the kids with us.

I leave the kids in the car every single time. What exactly, is supposed to be wrong with that, if you lock your car and take only 1-2 minutes? I don't get the problem here?? How is the locked car going to be stolen in a short period of time in an area that is recorded by cameras? I quite seriously don't understand the problem with this.

Mayaness - I was going to give you rep points for your post but gotta spread it. Well said.

I don't see the problem with it either, I don't leave the keys in the ignitiion. I also live in a small country town, so it's a small servo, I'm always by the door etc. Wouldn't do it if I couldn't see the car & knew I would have to line up for ages.
I also leave DS in the car to grab mail out of the mailbox (again parked in front of the box), I leave him in the car to grab money out of the ATM, etc. It doesn't bother me. But again I'm always parked close, I have the keys etc.

I do it too, its a quiet servo and I can duck in and out. I also go there if I need milk or bread as I can see the girls and my car the whole time. That said I have only filled my car a handfull of times this year as DH does do it for me. I would stress out more havong a 6 month old in my arms and a 2 year old running around in the store.

I'm one that doesn't do it. Dunno, it just doesn't feel right to me. I avoid having to fill up so don't have to get petrol very often. DH will go and do it, but on the odd occasion that I do, I'll unbuckle DS, get him out and take him in with me, even if he has been asleep. A few more minutes work, just makes me feel more comfortable. Don't know what I'm going to do when number 2 comes along though!

I usually leave DD in the car. Seriously, by the time we negotiate into the servo, I herd her away from all the temptations, I pay for the fuel, safely negotiate back to my car, wait (im)patiently for her to get into the car (because she has to climb in herself because we can't possibly let Mummy lift us in when we're in a hurry!), get in and leave - 6 cars could have filled, paid and left!!!! So, some days, for my sanity, DD's safety, and the tempers of fellow fuel station users - it is just easier to leave DD in the car with the car locked!

Yes I do it.

AND when it is hot, as it more often than not is in Perth, I even leave the keys in the car and it running so the air con is on! ***SHOCK HORROR***

And my baby or my car have never been stolen, approached or broken into, nor has my child ever become dehydrated, unconscious or damaged for being alone in a car for 5 minutes! lol

Seriously though, why should you feel bad? How do you think the world would function if every mother had to get her 1, 2, 5 children out of the car for the 2 minutes it takes every time she went to pay for petrol?
Again it is one of those things - bad things CAN happen, DO happen, but the chances of them actually happening to an individual in ordinary circumstances are so minute as to make it ridiculous to cater for every such chance....the petrol station could get held up while you are in there...It could blow up...There could be an earthquake or your car could get struck by lightening...

Then again...it most likely will not.

*shrug* Stand by your choices babe, you are a good mum and you know it.