Mum sparks outrage as she abandons baby in pram on beach while she has coffee
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: Credit: Hero Images Inc. / EyeEm / Alamy
While many parents have different parenting styles - some things are just universal, such as not leaving your children unattended.
But for one mother, this was far from the case.
Police recently responded to calls from passing beach-walkers over an unattended baby in a pram being found on a beach.
The pram, found on a beach in Kołobrzeg - a coastal city in Poland - was accompanied with a note reading: "Please do not approach, the child is sleeping."
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Upon searching for the young child's mother, police officers found her in none other than a coffee shop getting a brew in.
It has been reported that the cafe in question was around 100 metres from the pram.
The police officers also reported that the mother was clearly not as phased by the situation as the worried passers-by were, with them saying she 'downplayed' the situation.
The head of the prevention department of the Police Headquarters in Kolobrzeg, Arkadiusz Kowalski, issued a statement on the matter.
"The sent patrol determined that the cart was indeed parked by the sea, on the edge of the beach. It was determined that the child’s mother was in a nearby cafe drinking coffee," Kowalski said.
"The lady was calm and thought nothing had happened. She downplayed this case very much."
Kowalski also criticised the mother - calling her actions 'reckless', adding: "We could have avoided a tragedy. It was a reckless action of this lady, a gust of wind could overturn the stroller or the wave could wash it away."
The mother has since been reported to the family court.
With hundreds of comments, it’s clear that many people online were left in total shock over the mother’s actions.
Offering some parental advice, one Facebook user commented: "No matter if baby is sleeping or not, you don't leave your baby on the beach while you go for a drink at the cafe.
"You push the pram to the cafe and let your baby rest there while they right by your side!"
Another agreed with: “How hard was it to take pram with you to cafe? Just being yards away from my kid would give me anxiety and worry, takes seconds for child to be snatched."
"I get that sometimes us mums need a break and all that," one more sympathetic person added, “but I would never dream of leaving either of my babies like this…bang out of order."
Some, however, commented on how different countries seemingly operate different rules regarding leaving your child alone.
One Facebook user wrote: "This sort of thing is common practice in many places, including Denmark. To say she needs locking up etc... that's a bit extreme folks."
Another added that the times have significantly changed and wrote that 'people felt much safer back then'.
Regardless, it's fair to say that this mother's actions have sent the internet into a total spiral.