AIBU to leave child on their own

[Wanttobeanon123]

This is more of a 'would IBU' as I have not done it yet. Just want some opinions/experiences.

We have a ds who is 9. We would say he is fairly mature for his age. He has started to ask to be left at home on occasion. In particular on a day when my dh is at work and my dd has dancing. I take her, leave her there and then pick her up an hour later. It is a 4-5 min drive away so I am out of the house for 10-15 mins. Ds wants to be left at home when I do this rather than come with me. The questions is, is he old enough?

We have started to let him play put with his friends. He is responsible and comes back at the alloted time (usually 15 mins). However during this time he is always with his friend and we can usually see them from the house (they are allowed a certain distance away down the road, most of which we can see from our front door).

Leaving him at home would be different as he would be on his own. I could tell him to lock the door after me and obviously let no one but me in. I could also leave him a list of numbers for people like me, dh, nanna etc so he knows who he can answer the phone to.

Nspcc guidance says that kids under 12 should not be left for a LONG period of time. But what's long??!!

Any help, advice, experience would be appreciated.

(ps, can you tell his is the eldest!!?? The youngest one will probably be left to fend for herself when she is 6!! Lol!!)

Thanks

[Crumbs1]

A nine year old should be able to left in house for 15 minutes without any problems as long as there were no specific risks like an open fire. I'd made sure he knew not to open the door to anyone at all and knew where the dance lesson was held.

[KentMum2008]

My DCs are 10 and 8, and I quite frequently leave them to nip to the corner shop (literally a 2 minute walk). My neighbour is one of my good friends though, so I tend to text her and just mention I'm going to the shop and the kids are indoors. I've never been more than 10 mins. DCs know not to answer the door, and to knock on neighbours wall in the (highly unlikely) event there's an emergency!

[Wanttobeanon123]

Thanks guys x