Just the other day the baby and I were out running some errands when we got back to the car the temp registered 103! This got me thinking about people who think that leaving the baby in the car (even for just a few minutes) is safe well…..IT’S NOT.

Astonishingly more than 598 U.S. children have died that way since 1998, on average 31 children die per year according to the nonprofit safety group Kids and Cars. Your car is a greenhouse and temperatures can get exceedingly hot in an exceedingly short period of time. Kids are more susceptible and at higher risk for heat-related illness and injury than adults because their bodies make more heat relative to their size and their abilities to cool through sweating are not as developed as adults. On a day that is just 72 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature [inside a car] can increase by 30 to 40 degrees in an hour, and 70% of this increase occurs the first 30 minutes.

Heat stroke may occur when body temperature passes 104 degrees Fahrenheit. That overwhelms the brain’s temperature control, causing symptoms such as dizziness, disorientation, agitation, confusion, sluggishness, seizure, loss of consciousness, and/or death. If you see a child alone in a hot vehicle, call 911 immediately, advises the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). “If they are in distress due to heat, get them out as quickly as possible,” states the NHTSA’s web site. If you have to break a window to get them out do it but of course choose one where glass will not fly into the child’s face or car seat.

Stay tuned to this blog spot for more info about the danger of leaving a child unattended in the car. You can always take our online class for more info and as always, DRIVE SAFE!