Brooklyn, NY – Detectives in the 66 Precinct are investigating the death of a one year old Orthodox Jewish baby who died after being found unconscious in the family’s Kensington home.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
According to The Daily News , the boy who has been identified as Mordechai Halperin, had woken up coughing Thursday at 3:30 AM and after a bottle failed to soothe him, his father took him to the bathroom hoping that the steam from a hot shower would alleviate his cough.
Police said that the father strapped the child into his stroller and wheeled him into the bathroom, and left him there unattended for an unknown amount of time.
The baby was discovered, unresponsive, in his stroller in the bathroom at approximately 5 AM. The parents of the baby called Hatzolah who transported him to Maimonides Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 5:49 AM.
The baby’s body temperature reportedly measured 108 degrees at the time of his death.
The medical examiner has been called in to do an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death, but according to sources, police believe that the father did not intend to harm his son.
That poor poor father. BDE”
Thank God that we all know the details of the Baby’s death. I am sure that the father who is sitting Shiva is board and is happy to read this amazing news report… great journalism, keep up the great work!
We all grieve for this death, but we don’t know if leaving the baby in the bathroom was the ultimate cause. Nevertheless, it’s important for parents to use common sense and get educated about the dangers of leaving young children unattended.
Bde! How horrible!! While my heart goes out to both parents & those related to this child, the child should have never been left alone. I understand he strapped him into the carriage to prevent him from scalding himself or drowning, but he should have stayed there played there with his son. How very very sad! How terrible! That poor baby!!
Please don’t EVER take a loved one to maimondies there are rabbanim who speak out against that killing field for good reason. The time when maimondies hospital was a good hospital & knew what they were doing is long past & even some Drs who work there will tell you how bad the nurses are there. Our hatzolah members need to take that killing field off their lists to go to.
May this be the last karben we need to give before mashiach, this poor baby shouldn’t have died!
Have A wonderful year all full of health & happiness, parnasah & nachat.
BDE
I am sure that the Medical Examiner will consider factors other than the steam room.
The first question should be “why was the baby coughing in the first place?”
Obviuosly, the baby was already very sick if the father was up in the middle of the night and could not console him.
Could this be an adverse medication reaction ie. anti histamine, antibiotic, cough suppressant, NSAID or any combination?
Was the baby recently vaccinated?
Congenital issues?
We should not be so quick to blame the poor father for this terrible tragedy.
Having children should require a license
I’m sorry, but leaving that baby alone in a steaming bathroom, is no different than leaving a baby or a small child alone in a hot car, with the windows closed; then, when the child is discovered dead, the parents tell the cops that “I forgot”. In only half of such cases, are the parents even prosecuted. I suspect there will be no prosecution in this case. All of you feel sympathy for the parents; what about sympathy for the helpless infant, who was sent to his death by a negligent parent, who should never have done what he did! If this was a gentile parent, you would all be condemning him. However, because the Father is allegedly a frum person, you all take his side. The double standard on this board is despicable!!
To #19 -Mr. Anonymous- I never stated that the Father of the baby intentionally meant to kill his child. I stated that the Father was negligent. The New York State Penal Code, has a section called “Criminally negligent homicide”. The Father should be charged with that, as well as child neglect. Whereas the remedy for using steam to clear a nose is good, it doesn’t apply to the hot steam and hot temperature from a shower, which can have dire consequences to an infant. Pediatricians recommend using a humidifier for steam. This Father negligently caused his child’s death. I hope that he can live with himself. It really annoys me, because there are thousands of couples who can’t conceive. Those who are lucky enough to have children, should learn how to properly care for them!
Come on my own mother tells me to do exactly what this man did all the time when my kids are congested. Not everyone is well versed in what pediatricians recommend. Obviously medically you are correct that its wiser to use a humdifier with steam. However, at the moment at 3;30 when you need a quick fix if done carefully hot steam in a bathroom may help. Obviously this dad errored.
However, calling the dad negligent is just plan wrong and stupid. he did what he percieved as best for the childs well being.
Your last line is just plan malarky and silly. Parents are humans and subject to natrual forces.
I was a parent of young children two decades ago. When I discovered my daughter breathing very congested I phoned the Dr that I was on my way to the E.R. He told me not to go but rather try sitting near the hot shower and call back in one hour if necesary. I sat and also had to shut the shower at times when it was too hot and steamy. I stayed holding my daughter and did things like this often. I also spent a night up holding my son vertically so he would be less congested.
Maybe people are having more kids than they can handle or too close together. I do not know the family and have no idea if this is true in this case or not.
It is time for our leaders to make up ground rules to avoid parents that seemingly can’t handle what they started.
I assume the parent involved is not and will never read this post. It is not meant to hurt; it is meant to help avoid future situations.
To all the commenters and to the editor, SHAME ON YOU, you have no heart or feelings let alone brains, this is a very sad story with an unfortunate ending, how dear you judge someone or wirte an article without knowing or verifying the story? are you a yiras shemiem? do you have a drop yiddeshkite in you?
We all know that everything is from Hashem, and this child was written up for him to pass away this year R”L and this was only how Hashem made it happen.
With this said, this father should be praised for what he did he was up with his son till 3 o’clock in the morning! trying everything to make his son feel better, and to all thous who say that he was chas veshalom negligent? you must be a single or divorced or just have no brains! you are saying that someone who was up with a child for hours doing everything in the book was negligent?? do you even think for a minute? do you know what it means to be up with a child let alone the facked that this itself is a clue that he was really sick, and according to you, if the father would have done anything just leave a child crying full of pain and not trying to do anything to help him that’s good?? that would be better? how dear you? HY”R
its a shame of an arterial, the NY Post had this story written up much nicer and a better image and an understanding of the parents and family how are going through daso much? what happened with הוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות and the comments! really sounds like ppl are just continuing with the vibe the editor wrote this article, we are so close to rush hashuna and yet you dear writing such an article and ppl with there comments! PLEASE DO TSHUVA REMOVE THIS ARTICLE WITH ALL THE COMMENTS (yes including mine commet)
may hashem help that in this sechus we should not hear any tzuras only Simchas
Yes, one is advised to bring a child with croup into a steamy bathroom to relieve it, but not to leave the child unattended and for who knows how long. If the father had stayed with his baby he could have realized it was too hot in the room and taken him out in time.
C/p
If your child wakes with a barky cough, first, try a steam shower. Bring the child into the bathroom, shut the door, turn on the hot water and let the room fill with steam. Sit with your child for 10-15 minutes while he breathes in the steam, being careful not to let him near the hot running water. This often helps to quiet the cough and noisy breathing associated with croup. You may have to repeat this more than once during the night.
To #22 - I’ll repeat my last line; those who are lucky enough to have children, should know how to take care of them. It was not wrong or stupid for me to call the Father negligent, as one has to be an idiot to leave a baby alone in a room full of hot steam. It is absolutely incredible, astounding, and unbelievable, that you feel more sympathy for the careless Father, than for his dead baby!
To #31 and #32 -I’ll have a clear conscience on Rosh Hashanah! Yes, I am a Father, and when my son had a very high fever, I called our Pediatrician, and did not leave him alone in a steamy shower, and certainly never left him alone with the windows sealed in a hot car, as many parents do (and get away with the consequences). Our Physics teacher taught us that “for ever action, there is a reaction”. The careless Father must be held to account for his negligence,carelessness, and plain stupidity. Everyone should stop feeling sorry for the parent, and show some rachmonos for the soul of the poor baby.
There is a maxim in medicine …when you see hoof prints think horses not zebras.
In other words seek out the obvious..at 108 degrees it seems pretty obvious what unfortunately occurred.
BDE