Shock in France

Forgotten by father: Toddler dies in car

A 16-month-old toddler has died in a car in a company parking lot in France after his father forgot to drop him off at the crèche. According to the public prosecutor's office, the man drove straight to work on Tuesday instead of going to the crèche, leaving the boy unnoticed in the car.

It was not until the evening that the father was alerted by his wife, who wanted to pick up his son at the crèche in Sausheim, Alsace, but did not find him there. The child had spent the whole day unnoticed in the heated car in the sun, according to the public prosecutor's office in Mulhouse. The local newspaper "Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace" reported that with outside temperatures of up to 22 degrees on Tuesday, it could have been up to 47 degrees inside the car, which was parked away from any shade.

Dangerous forgotten baby syndrome
The emergency services alerted were only able to determine that the boy had died. An autopsy is to clarify the cause of death. Psychologists took care of the parents. The father was taken to hospital in shock. Researchers are talking about forgotten baby syndrome, the newspaper reported. According to them, 25 percent of all parents of a baby or toddler completely forget their child's presence at some point during a car journey - but rarely with serious consequences.

According to the American psychology professor David M. Diamond, who has studied the syndrome intensively, stress, lack of sleep or changes in routine could be triggers for forgetting the child. A false memory is created in the brain because routine actions, such as driving to work, are carried out on autopilot.