Home alone

Kimberley82

What age did you/ are you planning to leave your child alone in the house?

While you pop down the shop?
Gone a few hours?
In the evening?
All night?

Mine are 7 and 9 and not ready yet but I am just wondering when other felt OK with it. I will go across the road ( tiny cul de sac) and talk to my neighbour in front of her house.

I think I was 10 when I was left for half an hour ish.

moomoomama27

My eldest is 14 and I've left her since the age of about 12 1/2 for an hour own once, it hasn't increased any. The most I'm gone now is a quick school run of about 20 mins while she's at home.

Sammy85_2

As soon as i started secondary school i would be home alone for an hour or so, from when i got in until mum and dad got home from work.

I got left home alone for weekends from the age of about 15 when i decided i no longer wanted to go to the caravan each weekend with the family. My sister used to stop home too and she was 14. Our neighbours kept an eye on us (although we werent aware of it!) and had mum and dads phone numbers should anything be going on at the house they were concerned about. We were very well behaved though, no parties and dad had told us since we started secondary school that lads werent allowed within a 5 mile radius of the house, so we never attempted to bring any home for fear of being found out!

Spendless

DS was 9 3/4. I wanted to go and get something from a shop about 7-8 mins car-ride away (it was an xmas pressie I'd seen advertised on a flyer) Son didn't want to go with me, DD was at an after school activity.

Eventually we agreed, the front door was to be locked (so he couldn't open the door to anyone). The back door was to be open (so he could escape in an emergency). The curtains were to be closed, so no-one could spot him home alone and DH was to ring him after 5 mins to check he was ok. That sorted I went to the door and DS said 'and can I make myself something in the microwave' and I was 'nooooooo' and he replied 'I'm not 2 and I'm not my 18yo cousin who blew the microwave on her 1st day of Uni, cos she didn't know you couldn't heat cans in it'. :think: And from then on we went up in baby-steps.

I'd now leave him for a couple of hours. He's 11.5 and just started secondary school. There is no term-time childcare here for years7+ with the exception of if you are already using a childminder who agrees to continue. So being at home was something we had to aim towards.

gingin_2

My son is 11 and has to let himself in from school whilst I fetch his sister. I'm gone about 45 minutes. I'll pop into town for the same time as well, up to an hour and a half, it's literally up the road and he is free to go into town as well by himself/with friends as long as it's light outside. He's a good boy, responsible and we have neighbours all around us, who he knows to contact, as well as a mobile on both of us.

Becles

Since mine were 11 and 13, I've left them alone if they didn't want to go to my parents house while I was working. They just play on the xbox etc., and make lunch for themselves and they've been perfectly happy with it.

They're 14 and 12 now, and occasionally I've left the eldest in charge of my 4 year old if I've needed to nip round the shop/Post Office or to walk the dogs in bad weather and the little one didn't want to come. I think 15 mins max is enough responsibility at the moment, but the eldest has offered to look after the little one for longer but I'd rather wait until he's a bit older.

I left my 12 year old home alone today as he didn't want to come and watch his brother play football.

claire16c

I started babysitting when I was 14 so I was obviously also left at home on my own at that age too. But before that, in terms of being left for half an hour or so if my mum popped to the shops, I think it was when I started secondary school so I would have been in year 7, so 11.

Caroline73_2

My eldest has been left alone since he was 10. It started as 10 minutes while I collected the youngest from nursery and then progressed. He's 13 now and I'll leave him all day when I'm at work. He's very mature and lazy. He's too lazy to burn the house down by misusing the oven!

Youngest is 5 and I will leave the two of them alone for half an hour while I finish work but my neighbour picks up little one and drops him home, she's always nearby.

balletshoes

My DD is 10, and I can leave her for anything up to an hour or so alone in the house. We too did it in baby steps - 15 minutes or so first times etc. She rarely wants to come food shopping with me these days, so thats when I leave her at home. The front door is locked (but she has a key for emergencies), the back door is open (completely fenced in and secure garden). She knows she is not to answer the door or the phone, and I make sure her mobile is near her and charged so we can contact each other. She is a sensible girl, and I trust her.

This time last year, when she was 9, the school started taking her year to the library once a fortnight. We were all given the option then of allowing the children to leave the library at 3pm and come home instead of returning to school with the teacher. My DD did this, even got her own front door key. I would get home from work about 10 minutes after she got home from the library, and invariably would find she hadn't used her house key, but rather was playing in the front garden with another classmate, waiting for me .

This morning, DD informed me that when she is 12 she'll be going into town with her school friends on the weekends :rotfl: - she probably will, heck where is the time going?

victory

It is funny that this thread has come up because I had just found out over the weekend my sons friend was left in the house alone whilst mum and dad left for work full time, it is not for me to say, it just came up when he said he knew how to cook and went on to list me the things he knew and how to put on the oven, how to work the microwave etc, when I asked him alone he said yes?:eek:

He is 11, I have left my 11 year old to go and talk to the neighbour or go and buy some milk that kind of thing but all day every day in the summer holidays no way:eek:

StaffieTerrier

I was left on my own from the age of 11 during the school holidays. Mom used to work part time (9am-2pm). Until the age of 11 my Grandad looked after me. After he died there wasn't anyone else my parents trusted to look after me. I had strict rules of what I was and wasn't allowed to do while Mom and Dad were out. I never came to any harm.

It's up to how much you can trust your child.