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Uploaded: Wednesday, August 29, 2007, 2:31 PM                                            
Updated: Thursday, August 30, 2007, 2:07 PM

Toddler left in hot car near Mountain View library
Caretaker arrested following dramatic save Tuesday afternoon

by Melody Dye
Mountain View Voice Staff

Posted by Parent, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Aug 29, 2007 at 3:48 pm

I am so glad the child in this story is fine. It could just so easily have been different.

In this case it was a caregiver, often it is a parent.

Posted by Tim, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Aug 29, 2007 at 6:29 pm

I just can't believe that people still do this! And knowing that this day was going to be a hot one. Hopefully, this person will be order to stop being a caregiver.

Posted by natasha, a resident of the Meadow Park neighborhood, on Aug 29, 2007 at 8:03 pm

Imagine the horror of hiring, paying and entrusting someone as your precious child's caregiver, only to find out that person was taking a break from your child during working hours by putting your child in harm's way for an extended period.

Posted by menlo mommy, a resident of Menlo Park, on Aug 29, 2007 at 9:54 pm

This si th reason I do NOT use nannies.

Posted by k, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Aug 29, 2007 at 10:34 pm

What a terrible thing to do to a child. There has been a lot of publicity about how cars heat up rapidly on warm days - we have been educated as to this danger - plus can one really leave a small child alone in a car anyway?

Posted by anon., a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Aug 30, 2007 at 8:11 am

[Post removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

Posted by HiringANanny, a resident of the Midtown neighborhood, on Aug 30, 2007 at 8:55 am

Folks,

When you hire a nanny, *think* 100 times - you are entrusting your most precious possession to this person.

We have hired nannies for our children off and on. Though, over the years I have become a pro-day care mom, there are advantages to having a nanny.

When you are interviewing a nanny, go with your gut-feeling and do not get swayed by the glorious resume and the wonderful reference check comments. Sometimes I have wondered if all these past 'employers' that I talked to were in fact friends of the nanny who were just stepping in !

I always had my child(re) in the room when talking to a potential candidate. There are a lot of things that one can gather by observing the behavior. There were some, who took all the clatter and noise in their stride and focused on the interview. Then there were others, who unknowingly got a frown on their face when my then 18 month old tugged at their purse, while the nanny was talking to me !

There have been nannies who have told me that they are competitive in their per hour rate and will adjust ! I have said 'thank you but no thank you' to these ..

Posted by anon II, a resident of another community, on Aug 30, 2007 at 9:32 am

"There have been nannies who have told me that they are competitive in their per hour rate and will adjust ! I have said 'thank you but no thank you' to these .. "

This demonstrates a lack of business sense and possibly self-esteem. It might even indicate a financial situation where the nanny is desperate to get hired and earn an income. It doesn't necessarily demonstrate an inability to be wonderful with children. Maybe there were other indications that these nannies weren't hire-able, but this by itself wouldn't eliminate the nanny from my list.

Posted by Parent, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Aug 30, 2007 at 12:12 pm

I saw this on the news last night, and I just want to point out that tragedy was averted because of a regular person who was willing to get involved! He didn't just glance over and see a baby unattended in a car. He was parking a few cars away and heard a child in distress - he then went to investigate, peering into a crack in the tinted windows of the SUV only to see that the child was strapped in the hot car unattended.

He was willing to get involved, perhaps to suffer embarrassment or anger from a flustered parent. (I mean, frankly, most people would assume even with a wailing baby that the situation was probably nothing serious.) How many people would have heard the wailing baby and turned away, figuring the situation was embarrassing, or that the child MUST have an attending adult?

If there HAD been an adult there with a wailing baby (for other reasons), it's simple enough to say something nice, like, "can I help?" yet too many people wouldn't want to suffer the embarrassment or even possible anger.

This man saved the baby's life. Yesterday was one of the hottest days of the year. The nanny didn't come back for what, 30 minutes? 45 minutes? after the baby was removed from the car. (The news and the article in the above link report different numbers.) Either way, if the man had not gotten involved, the baby would probably have died or been brain damaged.

Thank God for people who are willing to get involved, who listen to that inner voice and are willing to suffer embarrassment on the off chance that something is really wrong. I'm so glad that this man (who is not mentioned or named in the article) intervened and saved this baby's life.

Posted by A Parent, a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood, on Aug 30, 2007 at 1:02 pm

Well said, parent.

Posted by Terri, a resident of another community, on Sep 7, 2007 at 4:47 pm

I agree with the parent who said that the man who reported this is a hero. He sought help for this child in distress at the cost of his own self. We should all think hard about this. I too have recently reported a child in danger to the local law enforcement. It's just unthinkable to not. We need to stop being so detached and scared of what we might look like. This child would probably not be alive and her family shattered. Is that a risk you are willing to take by ignoring such irresponsible behaviors? Thank God for that man. I only hope and pray that we all try to watch out for our children as a community, as if that child were your own.