Forgotten baby syndrome

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I saw coverage of something similar to this on the TV news this morning: https://vancouversun.com/news/local...ave-twice-recommended-alarms-in-all-cars ... Parents have a lapse in memory and their child dies in a car backseat from excess heat. It seems to happen to parents from all walks-in-life, not just druggies.

I can already hear the comments from those who have never raised kids. IMO, no matter your parenting competence, sometimes bad things happen.

The TV news blip caught my eye because an affected parent was suggesting that it is an oversight that an alarm for this situation is not mandated by government. In this case, he did not admit any responsibility and it seemed that he was shifting blame off himself.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=forgotten+baby+syndrome

Comments?
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I thought one of the proposers for backup cameras was a women who run over her own 9 year old daughter...

Now quick question: who will repair all the electronic alarms? RadioShack is not alive anymore....

What would be less costly with long-term benefits:
-another mandated alarm with cost of another agency + $5k per vehicle
-classes on teaching parents the train of thought on how to work tired, AKA industrial operator thinking?
 
I have one in my new Silverado. I turned it off since my youngest is 15, and I'm sure she'll let me know with a text if I leave her in there
smile.gif


If you got in and didn't open the rear door, it would do nothing. If you did open the rear door, it would chime and warn you to check the backseat on the driver information display in the dash. Pretty neat, and sadly needed by many!
 
In before the poop storm...

This is the opinion of a married, late-20s male with zero kids.

I cannot understand how someone, parent or not, can forget a child in a car. I understand parents are tired beyond comprehension and have hundreds of thoughts running through their heads, but to space and have a temporary lapse in memory that their child or any child is with them seems absurd. I'm also one of those people that won't dare leave their dog in the car for over 5 minutes and have at times planned my daily route based on whether or not he will be with me.

I understand that people can make ridiculously stupid mistakes and have lapses in judgement that seem unconscionable but they are otherwise good, great, outstanding people. I can even understand the fact that we become so ingrained in our routine that if we add a variable, we may erase that variable in order to maintain our order. But I have a hard time grasping the psychology and biology behind a human simply forgetting about a defenseless child.

I think a child sensor of sorts is silly. But again, I'm someone without kids that has never experienced something like this. I can't speak for those individuals and I will never be able to imagine myself in their shoes. With other, rather trivial things (back up camera, anyone?) perhaps a child sensor isn't that bad or crazy of an idea. With all the horrible ways to go out, this seems so avoidable.
 
These are truly tragic incidents. People being people, they always look for someone else to blame. If you give them a car with a system to detect a baby in the car, and that system happens to malfunction, again they will blame the manufacturer.

We are a very distracted society, partly due to all the electronic devices vying for our attention. That's on top of people just being people and forgetting things once in a while.

And while car seats are designed to save lives, they are also a trap. If a 4-year-old was left in a car without a car seat, he could most likely open the door and get out. But if he's in a car seat, he's trapped.


Also, this just happened yesterday:
https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/...termined-death-on-the-westside/951491328
 
Usually it is people who don't do it on a regular basis and then suddenly one day they were under stress and had to do it. Like, the guy who worked overtime and had to drop off a kid before rushing to work again....
 
As a married male in his mid 20's with 2 kids, I can't fathom how people forget their kids in the vehicle either. I'm not perfect, but my kids come before ANYTHING else.
 
My two cents is that despite the blaring headlines very few children die this way. I think the estimate is 40 babies a year. Yes, one is too many, but still this is a classic example of worrying the most about the wrong things. We could save a lot more children with many other interventions. Something like 11 children a week die in car accidents, so just putting them in the car in the first place is much more dangerous!
 
Originally Posted by AuthorEditor
Something like 11 children a week die in car accidents, so just putting them in the car in the first place is much more dangerous!

Making sure the car seat is actually installed correctly and the child strapped in correctly can also go a long way.
 
I am with those who can't believe how people can forget their children in the vehicle.
Their safety and well being is my 1st priority.
 
Originally Posted by Char Baby
I am with those who can't believe how people can forget their children in the vehicle.

Google link in the OP gives an explanation of why/how it happens:
Quote
Forgotten Baby Syndrome is the medical explanation for how a parent can walk away from a car without realizing their child remains inside. Dr. David Diamond, a professor of psychology, molecular pharmacology, and physiology at the University of South Florida, Tampa, spends time researching the neurobiology of FBS. According to Dr. Diamond, each day people perform tasks that become routine, involving little conscious thought and are therefore governed by a part of the brain called the motor cortex. A good example is driving home from work each day using the same route. Eventually, we can do it seemingly without thinking. Dr. Diamond explains, "in effect, our motor memory frees us up to think about the future while completing the task at hand."

Then there is the part of the brain responsible for making a clear decision, for example, to stop at the store on your way home from work. This is called the hippocampus, and it controls the cognitive portion of our brains. Dr. Diamond explains that in FBS, the motor memory part of our brain competes against the cognitive part of the brain, overruling it. In this example, that would mean leaving work with the intent of stopping at the store and then finding yourself in your garage having forgotten that you intended to make a stop elsewhere. This phenomenon happens as a normal part of our brain's function and not because there is something wrong with our brain structure.

In the case of FBS, two things often happen. First, a caregiver varies from their normal routine. For example, a caregiver that does not usually transport a child to daycare may do so on this day. They then drive to work as normal, the motor cortex out-thinking the cognitive brain and leading the parent to completely forget their child is in the back. They go about their day with no recollection of their intent to drop a child off and looking forward to seeing the child in the evening.
 
Originally Posted by doitmyself
I saw coverage of something similar to this on the TV news this morning: https://vancouversun.com/news/local...ave-twice-recommended-alarms-in-all-cars ... Parents have a lapse in memory and their child dies in a car backseat from excess heat. It seems to happen to parents from all walks-in-life, not just druggies.

I can already hear the comments from those who have never raised kids. IMO, no matter your parenting competence, sometimes bad things happen.

The TV news blip caught my eye because an affected parent was suggesting that it is an oversight that an alarm for this situation is not mandated by government. In this case, he did not admit any responsibility and it seemed that he was shifting blame off himself.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=forgotten+baby+syndrome

Comments?
35.gif




And as such, those who have never raised kids should be excused from serving on a grand or petit jury if it involves such a case?

Second of all, it's not a "syndrome". "Forgotten baby syndrome". You gotta be kidding.
 
Our own Electric Aussie, Shannow, posted some pieces on studies on the industrial operator train of thoughts, to understand what leads to industrial accidents, even with safety procedures in place.

That may excuse some parents/understand how they did it.

As a parent, I would just strangle them at the horror of that kid died being cooked alive.
 
I do not consider myself one of the brightest lights on the string but I never forgot either of my Children anywhere, Sad to say but maybe it is a good thing those genes will not be passed on..
 
Having children of my own I also can't fathom how one can forget about their child. I have a feeling it's more of an excuse then an actual cause.

Small children don't just pop into a car, one has to actually get them inside and strap them in, usually struggle a bit with the five point harness. How can one forget they have a child with them after such an excersise?
 
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by Char Baby
I am with those who can't believe how people can forget their children in the vehicle.

Google link in the OP gives an explanation of why/how it happens:
Quote
Forgotten Baby Syndrome is the medical explanation for how a parent can walk away from a car without realizing their child remains inside. Dr. David Diamond, a professor of psychology, molecular pharmacology, and physiology at the University of South Florida, Tampa, spends time researching the neurobiology of FBS. According to Dr. Diamond, each day people perform tasks that become routine, involving little conscious thought and are therefore governed by a part of the brain called the motor cortex. A good example is driving home from work each day using the same route. Eventually, we can do it seemingly without thinking. Dr. Diamond explains, "in effect, our motor memory frees us up to think about the future while completing the task at hand."

Then there is the part of the brain responsible for making a clear decision, for example, to stop at the store on your way home from work. This is called the hippocampus, and it controls the cognitive portion of our brains. Dr. Diamond explains that in FBS, the motor memory part of our brain competes against the cognitive part of the brain, overruling it. In this example, that would mean leaving work with the intent of stopping at the store and then finding yourself in your garage having forgotten that you intended to make a stop elsewhere. This phenomenon happens as a normal part of our brain's function and not because there is something wrong with our brain structure.

In the case of FBS, two things often happen. First, a caregiver varies from their normal routine. For example, a caregiver that does not usually transport a child to daycare may do so on this day. They then drive to work as normal, the motor cortex out-thinking the cognitive brain and leading the parent to completely forget their child is in the back. They go about their day with no recollection of their intent to drop a child off and looking forward to seeing the child in the evening.




Thing is that you can apply this to anything. It's not a baby-only phenomenon
 
Originally Posted by doitmyself
I saw coverage of something similar to this on the TV news this morning: https://vancouversun.com/news/local...ave-twice-recommended-alarms-in-all-cars ... Parents have a lapse in memory and their child dies in a car backseat from excess heat. It seems to happen to parents from all walks-in-life, not just druggies.

I can already hear the comments from those who have never raised kids. IMO, no matter your parenting competence, sometimes bad things happen.

The TV news blip caught my eye because an affected parent was suggesting that it is an oversight that an alarm for this situation is not mandated by government. In this case, he did not admit any responsibility and it seemed that he was shifting blame off himself.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=forgotten+baby+syndrome

Comments?
35.gif



Maybe a government mandate that parents need to actually be parents, would be most appropriate for buck-passers like himself.
 
Originally Posted by BMWTurboDzl
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by Char Baby
I am with those who can't believe how people can forget their children in the vehicle.

Google link in the OP gives an explanation of why/how it happens:
Quote
Forgotten Baby Syndrome is the medical explanation for how a parent can walk away from a car without realizing their child remains inside. Dr. David Diamond, a professor of psychology, molecular pharmacology, and physiology at the University of South Florida, Tampa, spends time researching the neurobiology of FBS. According to Dr. Diamond, each day people perform tasks that become routine, involving little conscious thought and are therefore governed by a part of the brain called the motor cortex. A good example is driving home from work each day using the same route. Eventually, we can do it seemingly without thinking. Dr. Diamond explains, "in effect, our motor memory frees us up to think about the future while completing the task at hand."

Then there is the part of the brain responsible for making a clear decision, for example, to stop at the store on your way home from work. This is called the hippocampus, and it controls the cognitive portion of our brains. Dr. Diamond explains that in FBS, the motor memory part of our brain competes against the cognitive part of the brain, overruling it. In this example, that would mean leaving work with the intent of stopping at the store and then finding yourself in your garage having forgotten that you intended to make a stop elsewhere. This phenomenon happens as a normal part of our brain's function and not because there is something wrong with our brain structure.

In the case of FBS, two things often happen. First, a caregiver varies from their normal routine. For example, a caregiver that does not usually transport a child to daycare may do so on this day. They then drive to work as normal, the motor cortex out-thinking the cognitive brain and leading the parent to completely forget their child is in the back. They go about their day with no recollection of their intent to drop a child off and looking forward to seeing the child in the evening.




Thing is that you can apply this to anything. It's not a baby-only phenomenon


Let me guess, there will be an FDA approved medicine down the road for this.
 
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