Tragedy in the Backseat

I did not come up with this title on my own. It is actually from a story that I read in Parenting Magazine. It is a story about parents who leave their children in the backseats of their cars and the child overheats and dies. The story was quite touching to me. First, some quick statistics:

• Children heat up 3 to 5 times faster than adults.
• A child can overheat and die in as little as 15 minutes if left inside a car.
• It does not have to be an extremely hot day for the child to overheat. A child who is over dressed can overheat on any kind of day.

It is so important to know that leaving a child in a car can happen to anyone. A change in a routine can have parents forgetting their child. Our brains are wired to keep to a set routine and they make sure that we do. It is extremely easy for our brains to override a change in our routine and fabricate a story that we have dropped the kids off at daycare or something like that. There is a lot more to this but I will keep it short. All I want to do is to please ask you to be ever vigilant of your children. I myself am guilty of leaving Addison in her carseat in the car with Ralph while I run into a store and get stuff. I have noticed that when I get home from such trips, Addison is usually soaked in sweat. Because of this article, I am realizing that she is over heating and should not be left in the car. Even cracking the windows don't help. So please, PLEASE be vigilant. For more information on this you can visit the website kidsandcars.org.