Printable View
So......Wanting to run a scenario past all the lovely mummies out there and get some opinions
It's a bit of a tricky one.......
It's time for Miss5's kinder pick up and Miss2 falls asleep 1/2 hour earlier.
Miss2 usually sleeps for at least 2 hours during the day and kinder pickup only takes 5-10mins max.
Miss2 super exhusted from being woken up 2 hours early that morning by her sister.
What would you do?
Transfer her to the car asleep or wake her?
Can miss 5 stay at kinder long (like care program?)
Can a friend/neighbor or other family member pick up Miss 5? Other wise, transfer to car/pram and hope she continues to sleep.
If no friend/family/neighbour available to watch DD2 then take her with you.
I'm assuming the thought of "i'll just leave her here, she's sleeping and i'll only be 5-10mins" has crossed your mind (hence your question?). It may only be 5-10mins, but what if something unfortunate happened to her (or you out on the road etc)? Not a risk worth taking imo
(Hoping I can post this link, it's a gov't site pdf document. I tried to look for the specific guidelines and think this is ok)
Leaving children home alone in Australia
I hope that helps.
FWIW, I, personally, would definitely not be leaving a 2 year old at home alone for any reason. Dealing with a bad mood is way preferable to them waking and you not being there, or any of the other myriad of horrid things which could happen in the 10 mins you aren't home with her.
Move her nap time.
I have this same scenario every day only I usually have my 3 yr old DD fall asleep on the car too.
I get my DS walked to the kiss & go zone and I pick him up from there, or I simply wake the girls and walk them in. I do have a double pram I could take but it's not worth the bother for 5-10 minutes. I wouldn't ever consider leaving my girls in the car let alone unattended at home.
I had similar situation this morning. DS just had to be moved (which woke him) and we went and picked up DD from kinder.
I don't really see an alternative unless you have someone else to look after one of the kids.
It can be a real pain when bubs nap conflicts with a school / kindy pick up, but I'd never consider leaving them unattended. Can u ask a friend or neighbour to stay with your bub while u do the pick up or vice versa?
Put her nap time back until after pick up or make it earlier.
Honestly id just make her wait until after pickup for nap it's only extra 30mins
I live bear kinder so we can walk so I put DS3 in the pram for all naps so if he is still asleep I just wheel him out and off we go. This wouldn't help though if you drive. Maybe find another parent and one could drop off one pick up??
This annoyed me too as tempting as it was I couldn't leave him alone even though kinder was a 30 second drive (literally!) anyway I moved nap time or got him to sleep in the pram before pick up time.
I also found within a few months his nap time moved anyway.
Good luck it's so tricky to juggle :hug:
This is a daily thing here. If DD is already asleep, I wake her about 20 minutes before we leave to change and feed her. If she goes to sleep just before it is time to go, I move her to her car seat and if she wakes up doing so, so be it.
Can you put her in the car awake and go to the pickup early so she sleeps in the car and can get a longer rest before you go into pick up your other child? If she still sleeping when it's time to go into the kinder,you could call the kinder and organize for one if the parents that you have authorized on your child's enrollment form to collect your child and bring them out to your car for you. That way your older child gets picked up on time and your younger child gets the rest they need.
Sorry, but I just don't see this to be tricky. You either take your child with you, work out different nap times or have someone else stay home with her.
Regards,
Dianne
Sorry, but I just don't see this to be tricky. You either take your child with you, work out different nap times or have someone else stay home with her.
Regards,
Dianne
Someone came to sit with Miss2 while Miss5 was picked up from Kinder.
The situation yesterday just made me think of what would someone do if they had no support system in place? As do many mum's I know of.
Miss2 usually doesn't nap until after pickup, she had had a big weekend and zonked out on the couch early, so no need to change the regular nap time.
Our kinder doesn't have a "drop off zone" we are required to walk the kids in and out sign them into/out of the classroom (which we also can't do early/late).
Thankyou all for your replies.
It's time for Miss5's kinder pick up and Miss2 falls asleep 1/2 hour earlier.
Just realised what I said there, she "fell" asleep 1/2 hour before, usually doesn't nap until after pickup......
I have had times like that. I have been tempted to ask my neighbour to come sit here while Im gone & Im sure they would assuming their little one wasn't asleep also. But my house has always been too messy for me to go ask HAHA, so he gets woken but generally falls asleep in the car again. If that happens, I call the kindy & ask them to bring the older DS out to me at the car.
Story of my life. My kids love to sleep at pick up time. Sigh.
You just put them in the car and take them with you. FWIW I leave mine in t he car for the two seconds it takes me to walk across the carpark to collect the older two and bring them back. But I would never leave them home alone unsupervised - too much trouble they could get into, and it's a much longer period of time.
There's the other problem....
In Victoria (don't know about other states) it's illegal to leave any child unattended in a car, even to for a few seconds (ie; to post a letter in a roadside mailbox, or pay for fuel!), thanks to too many neglectful parents leaving them in cars for hours while they shop, play pokies, go to the pub, etc.
...and Miss5's kinder is right next to the local Police Station.
It is not always illegal to leave your child alone in a vehicle. It depends on the circumstances. I know there was a thread about it awhile back, i'm just trying to find the info again.
However, in almost all circumstances it is recommended that you take them out if possible.
It's definately super hard without a support network, on the occasion DH has been home otherwise sleeping/crying baby plus toddler went everywhere with me, just not worth taking any risks.
Regards,
Dianne
This has been my situation for over two years now and I'm guessing will be for another two - first DD2 when I was picking DD1 up from kindy and now DD3 with both her sisters at school. I hate having to drag her around, disrupt her sleeps etc but there's no way around it. At my girls' school its a pretty frequent scene to see either a LO still half asleep on mum's shoulder, or mums taking it in turns to stay with two vehicles with sleeping kids in them while older children are collected (we have to collect our children straight from the teacher so you have to go to the class room)
:
Interesting.
Several mothers that I know of have been given warnings for leaving their children for the shortest periods of time in situations where quite frankly it was safer to leave them there (eg, three kids in car, two not yet walking, while paying for petrol & a newborn while posting a letter 2 meters away).
In my town the local police (and sometimes not so helpful townsfolk) are right onto it.
FROM THE RTA ( ' It is illegal to leave a child unattended in a vehicle in circumstances where the child may be placed in distress or their health is in danger.' )
Particular emphasis should be placed upon the last part which is where the discretion becomes relevant. My children are neither placed in distress nor is their health in danger; in fact my arguement is that to remove them from the car under certain circumstances (such as when they are asleep and I am only a short distance for a minimal amount of time) that would actually act to cause them distress and place their health in danger (in a busy carpark). Often the police aren't really up to date on the law either.
My girls are 4 years apart.
My youngest girl has grown up being woken for kindy drop and now school drop and pick up.
Younger kids adapt.
I would never ever even consider bothering to get someone to come and watch her because its going to happen forever.
If by chance sh falls back asleep in the car I wait with the car and get another mum or teacher to fetch my eldest.
I used to fit morning and afternoon nap into school day now she is almost two I just have to fit middle of day nap.
I am lucky because I've found that any amount of sleep takes the edge off the grumpiness and that she wakes up really well, I just wake her saying time to get sissy and she gets up and walks to the front door to get to the car, because its routine.
I find it safer to leave my girls in the car then get them in and out of the store but if I'm doing more than paying for petrol I take them... Posting a letter I would leave them in the car as long as I was a metre from the box and not entering a shop.
Leaving in a house asleep or awake in this day and age is a no no.
When my DS is sleeping in the house I have been known to go outside and read a book or even (*gasp*) go down and muck out the stables!
I must be a terrible parent.............I have left him in the house alone!
Being on the property is different. If you have some chance of hearing if something happens that is completely different.
If you can't hear and you go for a long time then maybe you need to think about it.
It's not a joke. Some mothers are clueless which is why the law is getting out of hand.
I take the baby monitor with me but I can't see the piccy at the stables, just hear the noise...........Mind you I have friends who ride while their LO's sleep inside........I don't feel comfotable doing that as if I fell off being home alone my LO would be stranded in his cot.........I often wonder what would happen if I had a fall or something happened to me while I was home alone for my 12 hours on the property.............I recently had a week without hubby here.......makes me wonder.
I used to think similar if I ever hurt myself when my little one was a toddler like if I was stuck in the downstairs laundry and she was in her cot and no phone.
Then I had brain surgery when she was 3 and worried about falling up or down our many stairs... She only knew MY phone number :/
I just don't like my kids to cry alone... They shouldn't have to I figure ?