At what age is it ok to leave children home alone?

mrcow

oystercatcher wrote: »

And would you have known what to do if there was a fire? Or they had a fight and fell downstairs and got injured?
Could you have coped if one of them got vomiting and diahorrea and made a terrible mess?

Maybe you were lucky

Oystercatcher

Yes - they're 14. Not stupid.

MrsTinks

I used to babysit when I was about 13/14 but I was very mature for my age... I would say it would seriously depend on the children in question and not if the law told me it was now "legal" to let them... I know plenty of 16 year olds who should be left in charge of themselves let alone another life regardless of age... (don't even get me started on the ones that have their own kids by that age! certainly isn't a sign of maturity or being able to be responcible in my books!)

tiff

My 11 year old DS has spent this weekend cycling between our house and his friends house a couple of miles away. He is a sensible boy, as is his friend and his Mum and I always phone to say they have left one house to go to the other. I would never let him babysit a younger child, especially not his 8 year old sister. I do believe he is safer at home though, so if he is able to cycle to his friends during the day, then he is safe to leave at home for less than an hour during the day. I was never left on my own, ever not even when I was living at home at 18!

hollyh

Hi,

I have a 12 year old and a 3 year old. I have left the 12 yr old alone for a few hrs in the day ( never at night ). I wouldn't however leave him to look after his brother he's not at all sensible enough for that responsibility. I have left the 3 yr old for a few hrs with his 15yr old stepsister who is incredibly sensible and capable and at 12 was the same. I think it really depends on the child.

hemophobic

My mum and stepdad have never left me (nearly 19) and my brother (17) alone for a night. They have during the day for a few hours and sometimes we look after out little sister who is 8.

But then again we are immature and throw eggs around and chase eachother round the house etc... funny though.

Spendless

My neice babysat from 14.5 for my kids, then aged 2 and 5. My in-laws who live a few streets away and my next door neighbour were always aware she was babysitting and could be round in an emergency as could her own mum a 5 min drive away, she could also contact us.

I would feel differently about her having babysat for me to work, as it would be more often, it would be less likely that I could have the emergency support system in place and I might be working further away and unable to instantly leave in case of a problem.

Neice is now 18 and recently asked to take kids now 9 and 6 to another town's play centre. I said she could take eldest but not youngest as dd is far too 'high maintaince' perfectly capable of getting lost whilst walking in a straight line and needs reminding about road safety. So it's not just the age, but the child and the circs that need taking into account.

SandC

I used to babysit from age 13 for a toddler but it was only next door but one to my house.

Do bear in mind folks that kids these days are often a little cosseted. Of course a 14 year old should know how to handle a child getting ill. Not least in that in this day and age absolutely everyone has a mobile phone to hand.

I do think 11 is too young to be looking after a young child but okay to be left on their own for a few hours.

Dave101t

i remember reading (years ago) that you can leave a 13 year old alone, but they cant have responsibility for anyone younger

dizziblonde

I was looking after my brother who must have been about 2 from the age of around 11 as my mother had to work evenings covering council meetings - I'll freely admit though that I was a very grown up, independent kid and I'd had to basically be the secondary carer to a chronically ill baby brother since my waste of space father walked out for a couple of years by then. I also used to get the bus to town and do the family shop by myself at that age as well. (And yes I would have been the sort of kid to dial 999 if anything major had happened and we had neighbours who I could always go door-knock on if I needed before you sound the child neglect warning bells). What more could we do? My mother needed to work, part of her job involved these evening stints and the support network of family vanished along with my dear father.

Depends on the kid. Like I say I was very much a kid who grew up very very quickly out of necessity and was more than capable of doing this (I also used to get him ready and bathed on a morning, plus sort out putting all the bazillion creams he had for his eczema on). Didn't really have much of a childhood though.

piptiddlepip

Dear god, there is no way you can leave an 11 year old in charge of a toddler - a child in charge of a child is just wrong! What if the 3 year old swallowed something and began to choke, or needed some other form of medical attention? I don't have children of my own and even I cannot believe someone would suggest that.