Leaving child home alone

[Justreading]

At what age would you leave/have you left your child home alone for say 15/20 mins?
My son is nearly 10 and I've never needed to anyway. He currently has covid, I have another child I need to get to school.
I'm thinking in order to keep everything else normal maybe leave him in the house (he's in his bedroom isolating anyway) rather than him sitting in the locked car on the street.

 

[Kim Mild]

Does your child travel to school themselves?
Do they play out and have the freedom to go around where you live themselves?

How far is your car journey? There is probably more of a risk of you being delayed getting back than anything happening at home.

 

[Justreading]

Thankfully no real concerns there, the journey is only 5 mins by car but not walkable (quite rural but not isolated, we're a small village out of the way) I would never be caught in traffic or anything but it was something I wouldn't have considered myself so thank you. Same for him travelling etc, due to where we live it's quite difficult for him to do it.

 

[ElliotM]

I left my son for the first time alone at home at the age of 7 years. I left him for an hour, everything was okay. Now he is 11 and we can leave him alone at home for even a night but we are not doing this.

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

No children myself, but my mum started leaving me alone for an hour when I was 10 and it was fine. As long as your child is responsible, you know them best.

 

[TinyDancer2602]

I have a ten year old. I was leaving her home alone to take my other kids to school while she was isolating. I would be gone for 20 mins at drop off and pick up. I’m not sure if she is mature enough to be left for a longer period. I think it depends on the child.

 

[Snippysnips]

If you feel yourself he will be fine then I'd say it's fine to leave him, I myself got left in short times from age 7, an this was back in the days where you had no mobile phones, at 11 I was high school an then left to pick up my brother from primary, walk us home an cook dinner as my folks were full time working so we were home from after school till almost 6, and at 16 my folks started going on holiday so I'd be left watching my brother, my aunt has now started leaving her 12 year old home after school till she finishes work as she feels she is fine, she has a sister that gets in a little later as well who's older

I'd say start with small home alone time like a hour, then increase it to longer an make sure that they know they can contact you whenever if they need to, it also helps if they know there's a neighbour they can go to just incase, we always had one neighbour that if we needed to go to we could

 

[Welshgal]

My parents started leaving me for an hour or so when I was 7. They always made sure to go over some basic things (don’t open the door, no use of the stove etc) and made sure I had their number next to the phone as well as checked up on me once it had been an hour.

Generally I’d say 10 is a good age and since you won’t be gone for very long this seems ideal “to practice”. However you know your child best, so just got with your gut and it will be fine. Kid’s these days often don’t get enough credit for what they can do, imo.

 

[Lizzie Mintdrop]

I think it largely depends on the child. My elder neice would have been fine to leave for an hour or so when she was 10, the younger one, definitely not. The younger one would definitely end up hanging upside down out of a window with a foot trapped.

My nephew is 10 and I think he'd be fine left for 15 minutes but not an hour because he would be tempted to put the oven on to make himself something and would forget about it, with food burning.

My parents left me and my brother alone for an evening when he was 13 and I was 11 but that was in the early 90s and things were different then

 

[Begborrowsteal]

Gosh, I know it really does depend on the child but 7 seems so young! (I have a 6yr old)

 

[Snippysnips]

Gosh, I know it really does depend on the child but 7 seems so young! (I have a 6yr old)

I think the generations stay kids longer now which is honestly a good thing, kids now have it easier than what I did an I had it easier than my folks did etc while 7 was young to be left alone I feel like we had to grow up quicker back then, at 7 I could do all house work, washings, cooking, hovering, ironing etc, I couldn't imagine my cousins kids doing all that at 7 but life was different back then

Honestly if they can stay kids as long as possible let them, it's short enough as it is, it's nice to know that people are thinking 10 is now a good age to leave kids alone for short times than 7 is

 

[Begborrowsteal]

I think the generations stay kids longer now which is honestly a good thing, kids now have it easier than what I did an I had it easier than my folks did etc while 7 was young to be left alone I feel like we had to grow up quicker back then, at 7 I could do all house work, washings, cooking, hovering, ironing etc, I couldn't imagine my cousins kids doing all that at 7 but life was different back then

Honestly if they can stay kids as long as possible let them, it's short enough as it is, it's nice to know that people are thinking 10 is now a good age to leave kids alone for short times than 7 is

Oh definitely. My boy is a 'young' 6 and i love it. That innocence is just i dont want to rush it away

 

[Snippysnips]

Oh definitely. My boy is a 'young' 6 and i love it. That innocence is just i dont want to rush it away

That's lovely, keep him as young for as long as you can it isn't long before they are grown

 

[Meangirl815]

Oh this is something I'm starting to think about. My oldest is nearly 9 and hasn't been left alone yet.
I'm thinking about starting with a walk to the shop at the end of the street (so roughly 10 mins there and back) and building it up from there

 

[Jaybtee]

nearly 11, walks to and from school - goes to park/little shop with friends. I have tracker on her phone though which helps a bit with the worry. Can leave in the house with the dog no problem if I have to work and the school is closed (Victoria day) etc.

 

[Jellybean093]

When my daughter was 10 (year 5), she was walking herself to school - it was through the church where all the kids would walk. I didn’t really start leaving g her alone until she was late 10/nearly 11 and not for long. She’s 12.5 now, and would leave her alone for a couple of hours, but will tell her to keep her phone on her/not answer the door and not cook, but she wouldn’t leave her bedroom anyway
I think 10 is a good age for a bit of independence and it’s not for a long time either

 

[clare78]

i started leaving my girls for a short time , letting them go to the shop 5 mins away and walking to school with friends around that age . also depends on how responsible the child is too .

 

[LittleMy]

I couldn’t imagine leaving my child home alone for any amount of time at 7, mostly because he has additional support needs. The youngest I was ever left at home on my own was 10, and then I was babysitting my younger brother and cousins by the time I was 12 (I was a very responsible child so I can see why that was considered ok at the time). It all depends on the child I think, some are more mature than others although I still feel 7 is pretty young imo.

 

[candyland_]

I started leaving mine at about 10. Only to nip to the shop and I have never left my 12 year old for longer than an hour but she loves it when I go out.. I only pop to an appointment or for food though. My nephew is the same.

 

[BettyCrockerr]

nearly 11, walks to and from school - goes to park/little shop with friends. I have tracker on her phone though which helps a bit with the worry. Can leave in the house with the dog no problem if I have to work and the school is closed (Victoria day) etc.

You leave a child alone with a dog??