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Nicole Gonzales and Tom Callan reportingA 5-month-old baby is in critical condition today after being left in a car for two hours in the heat. It happened in Layton yesterday when a mother went inside a friend's house and left her baby in the car.
At this point, everyone is hopeful. But police who spoke to the doctors this morning say it's just too soon to tell.
"When they have a child that young, it's very hard for them to know whether that child is going to bounce back and how quickly. They told us it could take up to 48 to 72 hours to really know if the condition is going to improve," said Layton Police Lt. Garrett Atkins.
Police are not releasing any names at this point. They say the mother lives in Clearfield and drove with the baby to her friend's house in Layton to do computer work.
Layton police say she went inside without her baby at 2:30 p.m. She remembered two hours later that her baby was still outside. It was about 95 degrees yesterday, which could have driven the temperature inside the car to about 130 degrees.
The 5-month-old was unresponsive when she drove him to the hospital. The baby was then flown to Primary Children's Medical Center.
Police say the mother is distraught and never meant for this to happen. "Certainly it does it does not appear it was anything that was intentional. She simply forgot she had the child with her," Atkins said.
A clinical counselor we spoke with says the mother won't be able to get through this on her own.
"Moms in these circumstances, or any individual in this circumstance, like I said, they're totally overwhelmed and they need a lot of assistance to help get through this; immediate intervention, having someone on the site to be talking with them," said Laura Clark, with the Utah Department of Child and Family Services.
Clark also says, though, that it's not an excuse; our society today can cause a lot of distractions that can lead to this type of incident.
Layton police are still unclear as to whether charges will be filed.
Upon hearing these cases, many people wonder: How does that happen? How does someone forget their child is in the car? These cases are shocking but not that uncommon.
Two months ago, an 18-month-old West Valley boy died when his mother left him in the car for hours. She was unloading groceries and got sidetracked.
Weeks later, police found a 2-year-old boy left in a car in a store parking lot. His mom apparently lost track of time. When a man spotted the boy, he was showing signs of heat exhaustion.
This latest case also shows a situation hard to imagine, and yet, family advocates say they understand. Bonnie Peters, with the Family Support Center, said, "We're all human, and forgetting things is how, oftentimes, people deal with stress."
We don't know what was going on in the life of this Layton mother. Family members wrote on our comment boards, "I know her well enough to testify that this is not a case of postpartum syndrome, drug abuse, or intentional child abuse. This is extremely unfortunate and we are all (including my sister-in-law) devastated by this accident." They suggested it may be a case of miscommunication between husband and wife.
Whatever the explanation, Peters, who deals with families in crisis, urges all parents to take the time for themselves so they can properly care for their children. She said, "It depends on what's going on in your life and how you're able to take care of yourself to deal with your responsibility. That's the first thing."
E-mail: ngonzales@ksl.com
E-mail: tcallan@ksl.com
