4-month-old baby found dead in apartment in Osaka

the baby fell down on the bed? 5 to 6 months baby's on the same position, all they can do is crying, or playing the towel.

I can not believe the "excuses" some of the responders are coming up with. Paraphrasing here, "drag the children out and one may get hit by a car" "it's our culture" Such lame excuses. If a mother doesn't have food you wait till daybreak and take the kids with you. I know I did it for many years. Yes, it's hard to "drag" (I don't like that word for a child) children shopping with you, but hey they are your responsibility.

In my country you leave a child alone in a home for any length of time thats called "child endangerment". End of story. Mom is responsible.

bec

Geeeez! Can you imagine all the weong things that can happen to two children of that age being left alone for 30 minutes? I'm on number 1,576,356 things right now. the mother is crazy..

It's very probable the mother severely traumatized the child into an unconcious state, put him in the futon thinking he'd recover, went out shopping and to cool off. Returning home she realized what she had done and called the police with a made up story.

A bigger possibility is the 4yr old fell/stepped on the baby. Kids shouldn't be left home but I bet she had just got them to sleep, needed some shopping and thought itd be ok cause they're asleep. A stupid decision is what the mother is probably guilty of.

I lost count of the number of times we saw our neighbors out and about at about 9pm at night alone with out the kids. they looked at us dumbfounded that we had ours with us (asleep in their pushchairs) and we were equally dumbfounded that they had left theirs alone. And these werent any scummy people, both well educated with (in his case) a very good job. Just a completely different cultural mindset.

My Mother in law used to tell me matter-of-factly that she regularly left her kids alone when they were babies for 2-3 hours to go shopping. And then wondered why I never let her babysit.

rickyvee: "so many commentators ready to hang this woman without even knowing the full story."

Actually, so many commentators ready to ask why this woman left her children alone -- one with a skull fracture.

Looking at this we have no evidence at what the mom did.

so many commentators ready to hang this woman without even knowing the full story.

The poor kid died of a skull fracture, conveniently while the mother was away, so she says. It's most likely she bashed the kid and realizing what she had done, left for a bit to try and make up a story, then came home and called the cops.

calvinmontblanc, I get your point, but as a mother of an almost 5 year old and a newborn, leaving them ALONE at night would never cross my mind. I would go shopping in the daytime, with them both, instead. Because it is wrong to leave them home alone, IMO.

I 100% agree. I never left my little ones alone in the house, even to take out the trash. Just one moment of neglect can cause a lifetime of regret.

The baby was found in his futon, doesn't mean he fell.

It even means he couldn't fall by himself, but he had a broken skull. I don't believe the 4 yr old taking the baby, hurting him and replacing him. Accident or abuse, the kid was very probably hurt before the mother left.

30 minutes unattended? Is it worthy taking the chances for a split of a few minutes?

Whenever I went to any place with my son, be it restaurant, shopping malls, cafes, swimming pool, parks, even at home, I would be constantly monitoring him to make sure he is safe. Knowing your family members are safe, it means peace in us.

I have seen parents who took their children to swimming pools and be left alone even in child pool though it was shallow, and the parents would chat and talk without having constant watch on their kids, after a few minutes later, they were crying and shouting like stupid fools trying to revive their unfortunate kid who slipped and drown even in waist-deep pool.

Hope all parents will learn, a few minutes is all it takes to lose a decent life of a child, not to mention that 30 minutes! I guess this is not the first time the poor child was left unattended. Adults then to take things for granted, now that 30 minutes would mean a lifetime of regrets, agony and pains!

I don't feel sorry for the mother, I feel sorry for the poor child!

I would hate to think this, but I believe the mother killed her 4 month old baby, think about it the 4 year old is less a burden if she is single mother with no husband, but a 4 month old would be more work and a added burden.

Cos

Falling from the futon ? It doesn't say the baby fell from the futon. The baby was found in his futon, doesn't mean he fell.

Brainiac

There is also a slight possibility that the sister might have hit the child on the head with a hard object. According to Japanese news, the sister was asleep when the mother returned home..

30 minutes at 10:20pm, I wonder what the mother went.. convenience store??? According to Japanese news, there was no father/man living with the family, I guess she was a single mom.

was the front door still locked when she returned?? something smells fishy..

30 minutes alone. I feel Japanese parents sometimes think kids are like pets and can be left alone for a short time. There is some serious need for parenting schools in this country.

Please give examples here on the perfect parenting skills people in your country possess. No deadbeat dads, no latch key children and no child abuse?

I really hope the old child was not involved in any way. That will be something she'll have to live with the rest of her life. Even if it was some sort of accident, that would take a toll on a young child as they age.

One of the worst things in life is to see the corpse of a young child, especially a loved one.

A 4 month old in "his futon" ?

the infant had suffered a fractured skull.

Falling from the futon ? The story of the mother sounds fart-fetched. It's likely she dropped the kid and tries to cover the facts.

calvinmontblanc, I get your point, but as a mother of an almost 5 year old and a newborn, leaving them ALONE at night would never cross my mind. I would go shopping in the daytime, with them both, instead. Because it is wrong to leave them home alone, IMO.

I highly suspect we will find out in a few weeks she was out for 3 hours, not 30 minutes, and was probably meeting her boyfriend, etc.

Uh, yeah sensei258, shopping may indeed be a priority if you have no food or formula for your kids and no one to watch them. She lived in an apartment, which most likely means she was no where near family. Her husband may have been sent abroad, on a business trip, or abandoned them all. I don't know her situation. Her situation might not be her fault, or it might all be her fault.

But for some reason in Japan babysitting just isn't done. It sounds crazy, but hey, wet nursing is no longer done in my country and I think its a fine tradition and better than formula. But you know what? Whenever infants die in the care of a babysitter everyone starts to question babysitting. And if you run yourself ragged dragging a baby and a four year old shopping and the four year gets away from you in the parking lot and gets hit and dies, then they ask what the mother was doing trying carry groceries, a baby and four year old home. Sometimes you just can't win.

Assuming her story is true...What were her priorities? Guess it was shopping, pachinko, or dating (no mention of a father in the story). When my grandkids are over, I don't leave them alone in the house ever. Not even just to take out the trash.

I have 2 kids of around the same age.

I would put money on the fact that, baby woke up crying, big sis tried to pick him up or something and dropped him on his head. Very sad indeed, but no one to blame but the mother.

30 mins alone, alone!? No words for this woman

30 minutes alone. I feel Japanese parents sometimes think kids are like pets and can be left alone for a short time. There is some serious need for parenting schools in this country.

It's such a shame that parents here too often have no-one to babysit.

There is also a slight possibility that the sister might have hit the child on the head with a hard object.

At that age a baby's skull can be fractured very easily so it could have happend.

Why do so many Japanese parents leave their young kids alone for extended periods of time? I fear there is a lot more to this incident.

There is also a slight possibility that the sister might have hit the child on the head with a hard object.

Mother is a monster and a liar!