Is It Ever Okay to Leave a Baby Alone in a Hotel Room? Moms Online Take on Heated Debate
(Unsplash/Carlo Navarro)
One mom on the online forum Mumsnet posed such a question after reading an article in the Telegraph titled, ‘Was I wrong to leave my baby sleeping alone in a hotel room while I ate dinner downstairs?’ The article details the way one new mom went about switching on the baby monitor, locking the door, and leaving her baby asleep in her hotel room while she took in dinner at the on-site restaurant.
From there, the woman who wrote the article went on to describe the amount of criticism she received for doing something that many folks deemed, “reckless.” And the mom who posted it on Mumsnet was among those who felt leaving a sleeping baby in a hotel is just plain, “irresponsible.”
“I would never dream of leaving my children in a hotel room all by themselves regardless of staff assurances,” says the original poster.
Many others on the forum were quick to agree.
“Some people only see the risk of baby being taken/abused; I’d be worried about choking or fire too,” said user siblingrevelryagain.
“Nope. Not ever. It’s negligent. Anything could have happened, they were lucky. If you can’t look after your child, at least get someone trustworthy to babysit whilst you have a short break away,” added user Meowstro.
Other moms took a different stance, though.
“We do it, but only in small hotels that are basically like being in a big house. Always have video monitor and DS isn’t big enough to escape a cot. I don’t think I’m wrong to do this, equally it doesn’t bother me that some of my friends wouldn’t (prob 50/50 split). Other than the risk of fire (and hotels have very sophisticated fire safety systems) I can’t really come up with any other risks that are different to him being in his room at home with us being two floors away,” said user welshweasel.
User drizzelhair added:
“I’ve done this quite a few times. Only when DD was 9 months or older, and always with a video monitor. Baby was in a travel cot so no way of escaping…I guess everyone has to choose what level of risk they’re happy with right? I’d not try and tell anyone else they should follow my example, but equally I’d defend my choice.”
In the end, there’s no real answer to whether this is right or wrong, but merely every parent’s decision. So long as they are taking as many precautions as possible to ensure the safety of their child, parents should be able to care for their children as they see fit.
