MEDIA practitioner Mohammad Hafiz, 36, admits that he is always anxious when driving with his children and has made it a personal habit to check the back of the car whenever he parks.
As the daycare centre his daughter goes to does not have a reminder system for parents, Hafiz says having an alert set on his phone at a regular time each morning is helpful in preventing Forgotten Baby Syndrome (FBS).
Communications manager Vathani Panirchellvum, 42, is also taking no chances. When driving with her daughter, Vathani turns on the child alert system on the navigation app Waze, which provides reminders of the presence of a child in the car.
“My daughter is much older now but I’ve used it since she was a baby. ‘Mommy brain’ is real and I needed all the reminders I could get. I think some people become extra absent-minded during pregnancy and the early years of parenthood. Plus, it’s a huge change especially for first time mothers,” she says, noting that the lack of sleep, disruption of routine, and hormonal changes experienced, all while trying to instil a sense of normalcy, can lead to regular bouts of forgetfulness.
She explains that it is harder for parents who may not have the option of a home caregiver and have to take their children to a daycare centre or a babysitter.
Vathani and her husband have also built in small but deliberate habits, including checking in with each other after their daughter has been dropped off.
“It gets easier as the years pass by, but it’s crucial for every parent to have a support system. FBS carries irreversible consequences,” she warns.
She feels deep sadness for parents who have lost their children in such incidents and are now also facing prosecution for child neglect, stressing the need for a more compassionate community.
“The fact that the parent has to live with the aftermath is punishment enough. While the legal process cannot be bypassed, as authorities must still rule out wilful neglect or abuse, in genuine cases a less harsh sentence would surely be more appropriate,” she says.
Lawyer Sofya, in her 30s, always places her handbag on the floor of the back seat so that she will not miss noticing her son when leaving the car.
Fortunately, her car also has an interior movement sensor that sets off a loud alarm if it detects motion in a locked, parked car. In some high-end luxury cars, certain sensors can even detect a child’s heart rate and breathing, and notify parents through the car’s app.
“I feel all cars should have this feature, with the option to turn it on or off. If there is a way to install it in existing vehicles, it should be made part of a wider campaign, similar to the child car seat campaign. We need to make it more accessible, as not everyone is aware that this feature exists,” she says.
