5-month-old baby found ‘sweating profusely’ in hot car, Iowa father arrested

WATCH ABOVE: An Iowa father is facing a felony charge – after police say he left his infant daughter in his hot car in a Walmart parking lot. 

Thirty-three-year-old Iowa native Trent Steinhart is the latest parent facing a felony charge — neglect of a dependant — after someone found his five-month-old daughter trapped in a car with the windows rolled up and the weather index at 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius).

READ MORE: Police officer yells at mother after 2-year-old rescued from hot car

“A baby is in the carrier screaming and no one’s around,” a caller told a 911 dispatcher.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "A baby is in the carrier screaming and no one's around," a caller told a 911 dispatcher.

READ MORE: Mother breaks down after learning she left 1-year-old in hot car for over an hour

Pella Police Chief Robert Bokinsky said the infant had been stuck in the car for 15 minutes and was crying and sweating profusely when officers arrived.

Dr. Clint Hawthorne told KCCI that children under four years of age don’t sweat as much as adults and are at a higher risk of heat stroke.

“They absorb all that heat. Really within a matter of minutes, and certainly within an hour, they can get very overheated,” he said.

READ MORE: Here’s what happens to your body when you’re left in a hot car

Over the past week, Global News has reported similar incidents of child endangerment that have sparked outrage among readers and pleas for parents not to leave children in the car, especially in the heat.

But “Forgotten Baby Syndrome” (FBS) can happen to anyone, according to experts. It can occur when parents or caregivers are distracted, fatigued or experience a break in daily routine.

READ MORE: What kind of person could forget a child in a hot car? Anyone, experts say

And it’s not just your ‘Average Joe’ who can have a lapse in memory or judgement. Actress Jennifer Beals was confronted recently after leaving a dog in her car in West Vancouver.

The best solution to avoid becoming the next parent to be brutally scrutinized in public? One word: focus.

“Don’t get distracted. There is nothing on Earth more important than your children,” Bokinsky added.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Don't get distracted. There is nothing on Earth more important than your children," <a href="http://www.kcci.com/news/man-facing-felony-charge-for-leaving-infant-in-hot-car/34520186" target="_blank">Bokinsky added</a>.

– With files from Irene Ogrodnik