Letter: Develop some reminders about child in hot car

Friday, June 10, 2005 | 9:22 a.m.

As we read about another child dying in the heat of a parked vehicle, this time in Little Rock, Ark., I implore parents (myself included) to consider some basic preventive measures.

If you know your routine is going to change, ask a spouse, day care center worker, or someone else to call you to ensure the child was safely brought to his or her destination. There is also no harm in having someone call you each day even if your routine has not changed.

Place a diaper bag or other essential child article around the driver door handle to remind you that the child is still in the car.

Place important items needed for work or other tasks in the back seat, near the child, so you are forced to see the child's car seat before you leave.

Talk to your child during the entire ride even if he or she cannot yet speak. Turn off the radio/CD player unless you are singing with your child.

Keep your child's day care/preschool informed about planned absences and ask them to contact you immediately when there is an unplanned or uninformed absence.

CHRISTOPHER A. KEARNEY

Editor's note: The writer is a professor of psychology at UNLV and director of the university's Child School Refusal and Anxiety Disorder clinic.