Accidentally locking your infant or toddler in the car along with your car keys might seem like a rare and terrifying incident, but it actually happens quite often. Especially during the summer months, when internal vehicle temperatures can skyrocket quickly, it’s important to take precautions to help minimize the risk of this happening, and to learn what to do if it does. Here are my top tips you need to know to prevent, and in a worst case scenario save, a baby from a locked car.
I was recently interviewed on Good Morning America about this topic. You can watch the full segment here:
Prevention – Prevent This Scary Accident from Happening
*Clip your car keys directly to your person via a clip or carabiner, instead of holding them, placing them on your carseat, or putting them in a purse or bag.
*Fix a magnetic lock box with a spare key inside of it to the inside of your vehicle’s undercarriage.
*Keep a spare car key inside your house in an easy to find location, and a make sure you keep a spare house key in a lockbox outside of your home.
*Purchase at least two window breaker tools (one of my favorites: www.classydefense.com), one for inside your car and one for your garage or tool shed. Oftentimes these incidences happen at home and it’s useful to have access to a window breaker tool that doesn’t involve entering your home (in case you’re locked out of your house as well).
*If you have Onstar or another type of emergency response system in your car, research how you can utilize their unlocking services from outside of your car and without your own cell phone. What number do you need to call and what information do you need to provide?
Action – How to Save a Baby from a Locked Car
*Call 911 to have fire and police dispatched to your location. If your phone is locked in your car, quickly find a passerby and borrow their phone. AAA may take too long to arrive, and while your child isn’t in immediate danger, this is an emergency and needs to be addressed as quickly as possible. A locked car in the summer can reach dangerous temperatures in as little as five minutes.
*Take several deep breathes and try to remain calm. Panic can prevent you from thinking clearly and making important decisions. It’s also important to try and keep your child calm as well. Panicking, even from the outside of your car, can easily scare your baby, and this doesn’t have to be a traumatizing experience at all.
*Note the time so that you can keep track of how long your child has been locked inside your vehicle. Emergency personnel may ask you for this information.
*If you have access to blankets, towels, or tarps (your garage, tool shed, yard, or a passerby’s car), drape them over your car to block some of the sun and to keep your car as cool as possible.
*It’s ideal to wait for emergency responders, instead of going with what might be your immediate inclination to smash a window, because broken glass can pose a danger to you and your child. But in a worst case scenario, breaking a window is definitely an option. Choose a side window as far away from your child as possible, wrap a towel or cloth around your arm and hand to prevent cuts, use a window breaker tool if you have one, or if not, choose a small, hard object, such as a stone. Use the minimal force needed to break the glass in order to reduce the spray of glass shards.
*Lastly, remind yourself that accidents happen. This particular incident happens very often, and is in no way an indication of your parenting skills. Give your baby a hug and make sure you give yourself a break!
Until next time…be safe and be well!
Photo Credit: Neeta Lind, “Criminally Cute”
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