[user104658]

Originally Posted by Ashley.

And that is what puzzles me. Surely that's quite a significant part of the day. It puzzles me how she couldn't remember not stopping at the daycare centre, not taking her child out of the car, not registering him or speaking to the staff. I don't feel like that sort of thing would slip the mind of someone who is in the right frame of mind to be a mother... that's just how I feel.

See I think this is why it happens so much more in the US and why people struggle to understand. Most US maternity laws are absolutely shocking. New mothers are expected to be back at work full time within a matter of WEEKS, when they are sleep deprived, stressed and exhausted. There is no support net, and simply no way that most are anywhere near ready to be doing so. Simply put, they are NOT in a good frame of mind, as they are not ready to be working at all let alone working and caring for a new baby at the same time, but have been given very little choice.

It would happen FAR, FAR less often if the US had proper paid maternity leave like pretty much every other civilised country. It would happen less still if new fathers were given half decent parental leave, too, but hardly any countries offer that yet.