It's a mother's worst nightmare. You leave your baby peacefully sleeping in the car for a moment and come back to find the car gone.
That's what happened to a mum in Sussex this week.
The 25-year-old left her car to check on horses at a stables in Forestside, near the Hampshire border.
When she got back the vehicle had been taken – with her seven-month-old baby boy inside.
Fortunately, the thieves obviously got the shock of their lives when they found the child in the back, because the car was found dumped about 50 metres away with the baby still inside. He was fine.
Of course this kind of incident is pretty rare but it has happened several times this year already.
In February a mother was attacked by a man in Bolton. He was wearing a police jacket and told her he needed her car.
She managed to get her two-year-old out of the vehicle but was unable to reach her four-month-old baby before the bogus official drove off.
Again, the offender apparently freaked out and passed the baby to someone else who returned to the same street and dumped the child there.
On the same day in February, another car was taken in Redbridge, this time with a three-month-old baby inside.
A mother saw a man jumped into her Mercedes while it was parked on her grandmother's driveway.
Again, police quickly found the car dumped in the next street with the baby inside.
Nobody expects their car to be stolen but these stories do highlight the dangers of leaving your baby alone in a vehicle.
I also heard a story this year about a woman who left her two kids while she went to pay at a petrol station.
Her toddler managed to take the handbrake off and the car went shooting off down the hill and crashed into a fence. Fortunately no one was hurt.
I know I'm an overly cautious first-time mum but I do try to avoid leaving my baby in a car alone. I go out of my way to use pay at pump petrol stations!
Have you ever had a scary experience when leaving your child alone? Or are the risks so small that you don't think twice about it?
Source: The Argus