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I got my key at age 9. I walked home from school and stayed there for 2-3 hours until my parents came home. But it depends on where you live, when that was and how mature your child is. I grew up in the 80s Sweden, and it was safe for a 13 year old to take the train down town Stockholm back then. Nowdays I am not sure.
I have an 8 1/2 years old and a single mom who can't afford the huge expense of child care. I will be leaving him home alone for 5 hours a day. We have discussed safety and rules to what is allowed. He has answer all these questions accurately. I trust him to stay home alone because he is not a kid who have ever gotten into anything. He is even afraid to use a steak knife... He knows the danger of fire and playing with fire. He is a very good kid and I trust him completely to stay home alone. Are there other parents out there stuck in my situation.
It depends on the child. My daughter was fine alone, at age 4, I used to take the dog for a walk in the winter, early in the morning. She preferred to stay in her bed watching tv. I would walk a block or so, pick up a paper. Come home, she was fine, basically never moved from her bed.
My son though...forget it. If he was unsupervised he would decide to make french toast, turn on the stove--even if told not to--he was Mr. ADHD on speed! I never even left him home alone at age 11, for fear of what he would do.
Since I've started back to work, my 8 & 11 year old stay home alone. Most days, that means 1-2 hours between when dh leaves for work and I get home. But there have been a couple 7-8 hour days in the past month.
I was a sahm for the past 11 years until finances forced me back into the workforce. I was so worried about my kids - and leaving them alone scared me. But they've really stepped up to the plate. My 11 year old is very dependable and mature for his age. He can make sandwiches for the two of them, and even heat up leftovers. I leave them a list everytime I'm gone, listing out the day's chores and rewards. Their job is to complete the list of chores, and then use the free time to enjoy rewards. They weren't great at it at first, but now that a month has past, they excel! I'm so proud of BOTH of them!
Another family we knew barely before this, leaves their 9 yo daughter (she was in my dd's class this last year) in charge of their 7 year old everyday - the 3 year old goes to daycare.
When I was a kid, my older sister started being left in charge of us at 8 - there were 4 of us - 8, 6, 4, 2. We lived, though the youngest always caused so many issues and my older sister was usually too busy with her friends and left me in charge of the younger two.
I think it depends on the kids and the area you live in. If we lived in a more metropolitan place, I'd probably feel less comfortable. But we live in a semi-rural area. Our kids know what to do in an emergency. They know the consequences if they can't be trusted to be left alone.
During the school year, they won't need to be left alone, most of the time. There might be a day or two where they'll come home to an empty house, but it will be rare, as my work schedule will revolve around the school schedule nicely. The school bus drops them off at the end of our driveway, so that's not a problem either.
I'm glad I didn't have this dilemma when they were younger.
BTW - last week, a friend took my dd for the day for a playdate. She was gone almost all day long. I thought her brother would be THRILLED. But at the end of the day, he was upset - and MISSED his sister! He's a loner, generally, but did NOT like being alone ALL DAY. We live, we learn.
I started leaving my 10 year old daughter alone for 30 minutes or so if I had to run out to pick up my son from something. She had my cell phone number close at hand and I remember getting several calls from her letting me know that everything was fine. She is now 11 and my son is 9. I left them both alone while driving 5 minutes away to get stitches out on our dog just a few days ago. I got a phone call and when I got back, both kids were waiting by the door for me. I think that there is a bit of anxiety from both kids so perhaps I will feel more comfortable in another year.
My son alone? No way. He is immature for his age and a scaredy cat about everything.
Both my kids are slightly immature for their ages so it may take them a bit longer. I have however watched many kids around our neighborhood let themselves in after school in the 5th grade. It is pretty common around here.
I have an 8 1/2 years old and a single mom who can't afford the huge expense of child care. I will be leaving him home alone for 5 hours a day. We have discussed safety and rules to what is allowed. He has answer all these questions accurately. I trust him to stay home alone because he is not a kid who have ever gotten into anything. He is even afraid to use a steak knife... He knows the danger of fire and playing with fire. He is a very good kid and I trust him completely to stay home alone. Are there other parents out there stuck in my situation.
I would never, ever leave an 8 1/2 year old that long alone. I wouldn't leave them alone really at all.
Depends on the child, really, and how mature they are. Personally, I see nothing wrong with leaving a mature 7 or 8 year old alone for 10-30 minutes, 9 year old an hour, 10 for two hours, etc...
I have an 8 1/2 years old and a single mom who can't afford the huge expense of child care. I will be leaving him home alone for 5 hours a day. We have discussed safety and rules to what is allowed. He has answer all these questions accurately. I trust him to stay home alone because he is not a kid who have ever gotten into anything. He is even afraid to use a steak knife... He knows the danger of fire and playing with fire. He is a very good kid and I trust him completely to stay home alone. Are there other parents out there stuck in my situation.
In some states and situations, you could be charged with neglect if something goes wrong and your son has some trouble. Five hours is a long time to leave an eight-year old in my opinion. Here is one story as an example:
I hope I'm not derailing the thread (I can make a new thread if so) and this might already have been covered, but at what age would you all consider leaving your kid alone overnight?
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