Cars with central locking *WARNING*

Don't ever ever ever leave your keys in the car while you put things in the boot, EVER.

Ok let's see if I can get this out without becoming a blubbering mess again!

We had done a bit of shopping, got back to the car and I did the usual things I do - open the boot, open the back door, drop the keys onto the driver's seat, put Zander in his seat, pram in boot, shut back door. As I shut the door the car locked. I think I must've pressed the button on the remote by mistake cos it locks once the doors are all shut.

So there I am in a shopping centre car park with my keys, bag, mobile and BABY locked in the car. The rest I didn't care about but I was freaking about Zander. I checked all doors & boot, everything was locked and no windows open. I then walked relatively calmly over to 2 guys that are at a work ute and ask them if they know how to break into a car. They sort of laugh & then the tears come and I say "my baby's locked in there". They come over & have a look and say "you need a coathanger" and walk off :fuming:

I then noticed a couple with 2 kids getting into there car and asked the man if he knew how to break into a car. He came over had a look & told me he'd go get security for me (there was no way I was leaving that car for a second). The lady finished packing her car and brought her kids over to see if I was ok. At this point Zander was ok, he thought I was playing with him and was laughing at me. All the while me trying to stay calm.

After nearly 10mins when I was getting ready to smash a window (Zander starting to get stressed now) the man came back with 2 security guards. They weren't sure what to do, so called NRMA saying if there's a child in the car they have to be there within 5mins. So we stand around waiting, the lady asking me questions about Zander I think trying to keep me calm. He has now started screaming and twisting round trying to get out of his seat (he was buckled in ready to go). One of the security guards rang theother saying they had better be quick cos the baby was getting very agitated.

NRMA arrived after about 5mins and it took him seriously less than a minute to get the door opened =D> I didn't care about the alarm blaring and everyone staring at us, I just got in to get Zander out. He was sooo hot & sweaty and very upset. He had been in the car undercover for no more than 15mins and it's not a real hot day. I dread to think what would have happened if we were parked outside in the sun.

I thanked everyone & took Zander back into the shops for a drink of water & he was fine. Wish I could say the same thing about me though. I just feel sooo horrible.

So please guys, learn from my mistake & keep your keys in your pocket when you pack things into the car.

The exact same thing happened to a lady at playgroup Sarah. Luckily it was at playgroup where a phone was available to ring the RAA. :fuming: to the first two guys too !!

Love

Oh Sarah. How stressful for you.
I'm glad that both you and Zander are ok.

Hugs honey.
xx

Oh Sarah, HUGE *hugs*
I cant even imagine how scary and upsetting that must have been :(

Thanks for the tip as well... I will make sure we wkeep the keys on our bodies whenever doing stuff with the car when Aidyn's in there.

I'm glad you got Zander out ok in the end... but GRRR at those guys who walked away at first!! :fuming:

:hug:

hugs sarah, that mustve been horrible :( I always leave my keys in my pocket anyway for ease..
sending u loads of hugs

Lesley

Oh no Sarah! I would've have been freaking out too... how horrible for you and Zander!! Big hugs.

I'm so glad you're both OK Sarah, that really must have been terrifying for you and Zander to go through.

Thanks you for sharing it with us too, I know I will be more careful from now on.

Oh Sarah I feel so sorry for you for having to go through such a terrible experience, & as for those first two guys :fuming: .

Am glad though that Zander is alright & hope you are taking it a little easy on yourself about the whole thing too.

I for one will certainly make sure I keep my keys in my pocket from now on.

OMG - that's my exact routine when I get to the car too!

Your poor thing though, I can't imagine what it would have been like for you. I'm glad Zander was OK (even if Mum wasn't!)

OMG Sarah, you poor thing. I'm so glad that it all turned out good in the end. :fuming: at those guys too, what knobs to just walk away leaving you there. Have a cup of tea and give Zander lots of big cuddles. Sending you big cuddles from me and Jonah.

Sarah what a horrible experience. My mum had a similar situation a few years ago when she was looking after Matthew - he was about 20 months old. She was taking him out shopping, parked the car, put her keys in her handbag which was on the front seat and got out to get the pram. This was when she had an RX7 and there was no central locking in her car. As the doors are longer when she shut the door Matthew leaned forward from the car seat and hit the button. She had shut the boot before she noticed what he did. While Matthew was giggling in his carseat, mum was trying to get the attention of people going past to get help. Now in '91 not many people had mobile phones - she needed someone to actually go and make a call for her to get help! She thinks it took about 30 minutes for someone to finally help her and go and ring the RACV and dad as a back up to bring up the spare keys which took another 45 minutes. You can imagine how Matthew was by the end of this. Needless to say there was no shopping happening.

Oh Gosh Sarah my heart is pounding. I do the same thing every time I go out. Im so glad little Zander is ok and can I say you seem to have handled it like a champ..i would have been an absolute mess.

Jo

Oh Sarah, you poor thing. I can just imagine how scary that was for you and Zander.

I am always paranoid about these things myself, as I am rather forgetful with my keys. I make sure I leave one of the doors open until I am ready to get in.

Yikes! I must admit that's one of my biggest fears, locking Abbie in the car. I usually put my keys in my pocket, but I'm always paranoid that I will lose them so I check and recheck and re-recheck that they are still there several times as I'm loading up the stroller (must be a little bit of obsessive compulsive disorder I reckon). What a relief that you were under cover in a carpark! Glad you're both ok :)

Thank you so much guys :)

Zander's had a sleep and you'd never know anything had happened. I've definately calmed down!!

I'm amazed that so many of us have the same routine when we get in the car! I just have to get myself out of the habit of dropping the keys on my seat now.

LOL Shannon I had thought about spare keys but Aaron has them at work, in the city an hours train trip away! I'm thinking of getting a spare cut now and giving it to my dad - he works less than 10mins away at the police station!

Fletch I think it was the same as Brooke the other day, I was fine when I had to be then fell apart when things were fixed! The guy at Mr Whippy was looking at me funny when I was on my mobile crying to Aaron while trying to buy a bottle of water LOL!

Sarah, I'm so glad to hear that Zander is ok! You did so well to stay calm until it was all over. I can't believe those guys walked off on you though! How thoughtless.

Just in case this ever happens to anyone else or if anyone sees a child left unattended in a locked car, I just wanted to add that you can also ring 000. I can't speak for the other states, but in NSW, the police 000 operators have a direct number for the NRMA that is specifically for reporting children locked in cars and they can get the NRMA on the way just with a quick phone call.

OMG Sarah how scary! I'm so glad that Zander is okay *hugs*

Thanks so much for that Bec, I'll remember that one if it ever happens again (better not LOL!), would have been faster than taking 10mins to find security.

Sarah huge hugs for you and Zander. I'm glad that every thing worked out ok!

Oh Sarah what a horrible situation for you and Zander :( and a really good warning too cause I do the same thing with my keys
And thanks for that tip Bec.

Sarah I'm glad you're both ok. A very similar thing happened to me when my DD was 8 months old. Summer in Caboolture is not pretty, but luckily we were in an undercover shopping centre carpark. I had just buckled her in to her seat, and a guy tried to get into the car next to me. I put my keys down on the seat to move out of the way while he got in to his car, but he said thanks and shut my car door. It was locked, my keys were inside, no spare set and 38 degrees even in the shade. I made the man give me 40 cents (mobile, purse were inside the car too) and I ran up into the shops and called RACQ who said they'd be five minutes. I called out to Security and asked if they could come help me.

The stupid girl at the information counter interpreted this to mean, "Lady's problem is fixed, would be really helpful of me to call and CANCEL RACQ callout".

Security guy couldn't break in with a coathanger. 10 minutes later and Gabrielle was starting to scream and go pink. I didn't know the girl had cancelled the RACQ callout, but I couldn't wait any longer to get my baby out and so just smashed the front window.

I was livid when Security checked with the information desk to find out what had happened to the RACQ guy. DH was also furious and called them when he got home from work that night.

Will never forget that feeling of helplessness, and I, too, balled when Gabrielle was finally in my arms inside the airconditioned shops drinking cool water.

I now am really conscious of keeping my keys on me and my phone in my pocket/bag until I am in the car myself. I hope it never happens again.

Sorry, just re-read that and it sounds all about me. But reading your story brought it all back, even though it was 4 years ago.

OMG Sarah you poor thing sweety... I could just feel the mummy anxiety building up from reading that - and I would have taken the heads off those first two blokes!!! I am glad all is okay now, but I bet your heart skipped a few beats...

Definately skipped a few Kelly!

Christine that's just nuts that the information desk lady cancelled RACQ on. I know how scary it was & the weather wasn't too hot, can't imagine how bad it would be like in the hot weather you had. :hug: to you.

Awww Brooke did I ever tell you what a legend you are :D

That's very true Brooke.

Sarah, I was shutting the car door today and I thought about you and the locking scenario. Put the keys in my pocket!!!

LOL It's hard trying to do change something you've been doing for months isn't it?!

Sarah that must have been horrible for you.

I'm pleased that everything was okay in the end and you got Zander out of the car quickly.

I also make sure i have my keys in my hands or in a pocket. Something i have always done just in case.

Good thinking Brooke, might just have to go & get me a lanyard!

Before DS came along I used to always do that. The worst one was when I dropped a video off, left the car running, radio on and shut the door only slightly. It came to be the only reason I was calling RACV was to get them to get my keys out of the car. Un to 6 times a year, :shock:

Anyway, I can imagine the terror that was going through you at the time and just want to say that it can happen to any one of us.
I ended up slipping my keys in my bra when I don't have any pockets, because there was no where else to put them.

I, like you, need to invest in a lanyard too. I still don't have one, but now pumpkin is on it's way the shopping, putting kids in car, pram etc will only get more busy.

Thanks for reminding me that I do need to get one.
Big hugs, you did everything right in that situation. There's no-one else who can get into a car in under a minute that I know of other than the RACV/NRMA.

We drive a ute with no central locking, so thankfully this wont happen to us! But gosh Sarah - that must have been absolutely terrifying. And great to know 000 gets you there in a hurry if required.

On a side issue - I always leave a door open with Jenna in the car - I'm paranoid about circulation, and I have a springy bracelet on my keys so usually I hook them around my wrist.

To be honest - I think I would have just smashed the window in. I wouldn't have been able to think in this circumstance! Poor Zander and poor you.

oh Sarah, how awful for both of you - and how easy it can happen! You poor thing. I am so glad both of you are all right.

Hugs to you honey!