Leaving your children in a car?

[P•Mom]

I am fortunate enough to live in an area where these scenarios aren't much of a problem. The pharmacy has a drive-thru, I go to self-serve gas stations where I am right next to the car fueling and paying on my own, the ATM has a drive-up window. If I need to run an errand, I either leave the child(ren) at home with their father, or I haul them into the store.
I think it's fine for an older child (let's say 10+) to sit alone in a parked/locked vehicle for a few minutes while someone runs a quick errand. An infant not so much.

[mtgcnv67]

My boys are 3 and 1, and with how much work it is putting them in and out of carseats, I can't express enough how often I WANT to sometimes! But I'm just too afraid of something happening to them, them getting upset, or somebody calling the cops on me for doing it! (Honestly, the latter is my biggest fear!)

Certainly I'd never consider it if I were going to be gone for more than a minute or two, or if I had no view of them. The only times I've even considered it are when I run into a Papa Murphy's or a 7/11, when I can see there's no line at the moment and I find a parking spot right in front with a clean view of the car. But still, I've never had the nerve to actually do it!

The only times I've left them in the car were at the ATM machine (no line, parked right in front, clear view) and at gas stations (where, technically, I never really leave them, because I always use my card right there at the machine...I haven't been inside a gas station store in 5 years!).

[Holly]

As I read over the answers, no one mentioned temperature as being a big safety issue, so I'll just leave my comment here because I think it's very important. I live in Arizona, so it's all about temperature for us here, that is the biggest deciding factor. On the hottest days, there is no reason I think any human or even a dog should be left in a car for any amount of time and most people agree. I would not let my grandma stay in the car. Way way too many babies and toddlers have been killed in my state in this way. One year in just my hometown, 5 infants died from being left in a hot car. Five in one year! That is insane. So yeah, if I'm walking through the parking lot at the supermarket on a hot Arizona summer day and I see kids left alone in the car, you bet I'm calling the cops! I've done it before, sadly on three different occasions, and usually the paramedics arrive because the kids are already crying, overheated and dehydrated already. Usually I go through drive thrus with the kids so that the car doesn't get hot again in the 2 minutes we'd be inside the store and the AC stays on. But usually we just don't leave the house in the heat of the day, even the seat belts are too hot to buckle without burning your hands. But if I were in a blizzard and someone left their kids in the warm vehicle for a minute or two, I probably would not worry about it. In extreme cold temperatures, they are probably safer in the warm vehicle with the heater on, rather than facing the elements.