To ask about leaving children home alone?

[ThisLittleKitty]

Whats the youngest you would leave a child home alone to pop to the shops? I know everyone's area is different so shops will be further away, but just looking for a general idea.

[Blackteadrinker77]

Mine were 13, 11 and 9 the first time I left them.

Were very rural though so it means over 45 minutes alone.

[childmindingmumof3]

I would leave my 7.5 year old up to 20 minutes I think, but as I have younger children it has never come up.

[ghostyslovesheets]

10 I think

I leave my 9 year old but only when one of her sisters are here (13 and 15)

[heron98]

I would say 7

[couchparsnip]

It depends on the child. I left DS at 9 as he is really sensible but DD is 10 and I would still not leave her as she has no impulse control.

[WishingOnABar]

Ds is 8 and I can leave him for 20 minutes to pop to the shop, wouldn’t let him out alone though. Totally depends on your child

[Aprilmightmemynewname]

Dd's 11+12 but not ds 9 unless ds 16is home

[arethereanyleftatall]

8

[AuditAngel]

DS is 13, we started leaving for short periods from 9, DD1 turns 11 this month, again from 9. DD2 is 7, we haven't left her alone yet, I leave her with DS for a couple of hours, but only for very short periods with DD1.

[backaftera2yearbreak]

Left my 8 year old for a wee while yesterday. But I live in a cul de sac where he could approach neighbours for help.

[formerbabe]

My eldest will turn 10 this month and no way would I leave him home alone.

Maybe I'll reconsider when he turns 11.

[ThisLittleKitty]

Ok a lot older than I though.

[ThisLittleKitty]

Former babe all the children I know round here go to school alone from 11 so could go to the shops themselves by that age, so 11 seems late for not leaving them to go to the shop yourself.

[formerbabe]

I would say 7

[strawberrie]

I’ve started leaving DD (almost 9) home alone for 20 mins or so at a time while I drop younger DS to a club.
Our rules are that she’s to stay out of the kitchen, and I make sure she’s got the phone to hand. Plus we live in a tenement building and she knows that she can pop into a neighbour within the building if she needs anything.
She’s usually still staring at the same screen when I get back. I wouldn’t leave her with DS (6) though.

[stitchglitched]

I've recently starting leaving my 9 year old alone for 20-30 minutes whilst I drop younger DC to preschool. He has a phone and can call me if there is an issue.

[Winosaurus]

My DD is 8, the shop is 100m from our house and I still wouldn’t leave her alone to pop over to it.
I wouldn’t even entertain the thought until she’s in Yr6

[DowntonCrabby]

Age 10- we'd start to leave DD for 15-30 mins, up to 8pm-ish.
She's now 13 and we'd happily leave her for 5-6 hours, most times of day but not late night as long as she could contact us and one of us could be home within 15 minutes if she wasn't happy.
She's very mature, sensible and responsible. I can't imagine leaving my DS until he's maybe 35!!

[Longdistance]

My dd is 8. I’ve mentioned about leaving her to pick up dd2 who’s 6 from Rainbows, which is in the next road. She wasn’t keen, but hey ho. I wouldn’t want her to be frightened.
She has asked about staying in the car whilst we’re at the supermarket, which I’ve said no to, as it’s a public place, not our home.

[Ilovehamabeads]

I leave my ds9 alone for 15 mins most mornings whilst dropping older dc at school. He's sensible and just gets himself dressed and fed. Only just started letting him walk home from school by himself though, he seems less sensible when messing with his friends at the school gate!

[arethereanyleftatall]

A friend of mine used to leave her babies to pop ten mins to shop, in their cots.

She'd unplug everything so no fire.

Her theory was they couldn't hurt themselves, so it was fine.

She stopped when they could climb out of cots.

(I'm not saying I agree with this!)

[WinonaIsHot]

7-8.

[IJustLostIt]

My kids aren't old enough to entertain going to the bathroom on my own (though not through choice), but I was left for an hour here and there from 10 years old.
I was fairly sensible, had DM/DFs numbers written down. We had good neighbours too so I could always go next door if there was an emergency.

[NotSureThisIsWhatIWant]

It depends on the child, the time of the day and the circumstances.

I didn’t mind leaving my very sensible 9 year old alone for up to an hour to pop to the pharmacy/supermarket/quick school meeting. I also walked the dog at 7am and 9pm (while he was asleep) when he was 8.

Up to three hours around 11, but I suppose that it depends very much on how independent is the child (and the parent!), the circumstances, the time of the day and why they need to be left alone.