'I feel so betrayed': Grandparents' rogue act puts 3yo in grave danger

"My parents are not idiots... I never expected them to do this."

A mum has been horrified to discover the highly dangerous act her parents performed when they collected her three-year-old from daycare.

She is so confused and incensed by what happened that she turned to an online parenting forum for advice on the incident, and on how to handle her parents.

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She writes:

"I’m livid. My parents are not idiots. Are good people. Have always been there for me and my family and never ever given me any reason to doubt them. We are incredibly close and they have watched my three-year-old lots of times.

"They called tonight to say they were running late to help pick up my daughter from daycare and if they could just forego getting the car seat from my house first to make it in time. I said 'are you joking' absolutely not!

"We'll I found out they lied about getting the car seat to me and picked her up anyways. Claiming it's not that far of drive and she would be fine... she's three. I'm so livid and I honestly don't know how to respond I feel so betrayed.

"I truly never in my life would expect them to do this… I don't know how to respond when I get home tonight."

"Not to scare you, but..."

The comments section of the mum's post was quickly filled with horror stories.

"My husband and kiddo were in an accident on the way to daycare when they were two. Someone coming home from night shift pulled out in front of them in the intersection, and both cars were totaled.

"Daughter was totally unscathed. The huge dog was also in the car. He started in the seat behind my husband and ended up in his lap after bouncing off the dash. Dog and husband were a little beat up but ok. Dog now has his own seatbelt, and that is non-negotiable," shared one.

Another relayed: "Not to scare you, but you can tell them this story if you want. I was just in a car accident five mins from my house two weeks ago. My five-year-old was in her car seat behind me. I ended up with a fractured spine, the damage to my car was just inches from where her car seat was.

"She didn't have a scratch on her, but that was because she was buckled in safely. My car was totalled."

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"No more grandparent pickups"

Many parents also suggested setting strong boundaries around travelling.

"I mean...no more grandparent pickups then. Safety first - I don't mess around with trusting people once they've risked my family's safety like that.

"Edit: Our in-laws aren't allowed to drive our kid around because I don't trust their car safety at all."

Another added, "Yup. My mother-in-law had a minor at-fault accident with my three kids in the car and didn’t tell me! I heard it from the kids. Accidents happen, hiding it from me was the real nail in the coffin."

Some were confused as to why the grandparents didn't have their own seat in their car, with one writing, "Ok I completely understand the anger. But also, if they are regularly driving your kids, why do not have their own car seat already installed in their car? Also, I wouldn’t trust them to install it correctly so they should have had their own installed by you."

To which another added: "My mum has her own seat installed in her car for my son and she lives a whole state away. We visit so often it made sense. If she lived close by, she would have had one from the beginning."

Finally, this mum suggested how the woman could speak to her parents: "Do you know how many tiny coffins there are in the ground because people didn't know about or didn't follow car seat safety laws? You endangered my child today and because of that we will be taking a break from you. I will contact you when we are ready."

Australian law is very clear about every traveler in a car being appropriately restrained. You can check your state or territory, and also see official care safety advice, here.

Originally published as 'I feel so betrayed': Grandparents' rogue act puts 3yo in grave danger