A mother in Iowa faces multiple charges after she left her four children at home while she traveled to Germany, according to reports.

Johnston police were called to the home of 30-year-old Erin Lee Macke on September 21 on a child welfare check.

When they arrived they found four children including two 12-year-olds, a 7-year-old and a 6-year-old.

Police say that Macke had apparently left the country the day before and was en route to Germany.  The Mother wasn’t planning to return home until October 1.

Police say that Macke made no arrangements for supervision of the children while she was away.  The Police contacted her in Germany and ordered her to return home.

When the Mother arrived back in Iowa on Wednesday, police took her into custody.

Macke has been charged with four counts of child endangerment and an additional count of making a firearm available to a person under the age of 21.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this before,” Johnston Lt. Tyler Tompkins told KCCI.

“We have situations where parents go next door or parents may go out for the night, and while that’s not advisable either depending on the age of the children, obviously leaving the country is a totally different situation. This, where a parent has left the country and left the kids home alone, I’ve never heard of it before.”

Tompkins said that after all of the babysitter options fell through, she had left the two younger kids in the care of the 12-year-olds.

Macke’s kids are now in the care of extended family members.

Would You Let Your Baby Sleep Alone In A Hotel Room?

An article published in the Telegraph a few weeks ago has sparked yet another parenting debate. If there aren’t enough already…

The article is about parents who left their baby to sleep in their hotel room while they took the baby monitor with them to the restaurant downstairs.

The article didn’t go down well with many parents and words like “neglectful” and ‘irresponsible’ were common in the comment thread.

From the feedback, it seems that most parents would never do this while others felt that with the advances in technology, it was a lot easier to watch over your child from a distance. The author of the article said  “I’m sorry, but if you think that, you are letting a fear of the unknown – or at least the highly unlikely – run your lives”

Fair enough, but the thought of leaving your baby in a place where complete strangers may have access is just too much for many parents to handle!

One of the commenters said “Many people have access to hotel rooms. You risk a stranger being in the room with them. As a parent that is your job, to protect them from harm. AS if eating dinner is ‘super important’ and defines your life. IF you think going out and eating and drinking is some sort of ‘birthright’ you got it wrong…. Some parents these days have kids for selfish reasons and as such they are just selfish people. Imagine leaving a helpless, defenceless, little baby around the possibility of evil strangers , just because you want to stuff your face with decadent food !! Sicko ! “

Would you leave your baby alone in a hotel room?