The mum of a toddler has said she was left shocked after her own mother left her 20-month-old outside while going inside to have a coffee.
The unnamed parent said that the child had been sleeping in a pram on the drive while the grandmother went back into the house.
While inside, she charged her phone and left the youngster unattended, according to a post on the parenting forum, Mumsnet.
The toddler's mum said it had led to a "massive fight" but her mum had just thought that she was being "paranoid" about the situation.
The older woman responded that her daughter, from Birmingham, had been "watching too many crime shows," the Mirror reports.
The younger mum asked: "Am I being unreasonable to think that it's not safe to leave sleeping toddler alone outside house in pushchair?
The mum explained: "My mother and me just had a massive fight. I have a 20-month-old toddler and an 8-week-old baby.
"My mother is staying with me at the moment to help me out after the birth, which I'm massively thankful for.
"My mother has been taking my toddler son out for a walk and came back to 'charge her phone and drink a coffee'.
"She wanted to leave again afterwards, taking him for another walk, so she left him outside in the pushchair sleeping."
The mum-of-two added that she had been sick with a nasty bug in the past few days and was spending time taking care of the baby.
As a result, she was unable to take her older child outside and asked her mum to do it for her.
The post continued: "I told my mother if she takes my toddler out, she has responsibility for him.
"In the end, she sat by the open door on a chair and had her coffee there.
"I am just wondering, is she right? Am I paranoid?
"My toddler was strapped in, but I'm worried that an opportunist was going to snatch him."
Dozens of people responded, with some reassuring the mum she wasn't paranoid - but others thinking it wasn't a big deal.
One person wrote: "I don't think you're being OTT she shouldn't be leaving him outside where she can't see him."
Another noted: "This is a generational thing- in 1970 people happily left their babies in prams outside shops etc, just as these days you might leave a dog outside.
"Times change, however, and these days it’s not generally seen as safe. Whether that’s because it’s genuinely more dangerous now or because we have a different attitude to risk, who knows? But as it’s 2022 and not 1970, YANBU."
A third said: "I'd leave the baby in the garden to nip inside and get something, but not for long. I think drinking tea in the hall is fine though."
Someone else posted: "There's not a chance in hell I would leave a toddler unsupervised outside the front of the house. That's neglect, plain and simple."
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