What age is ok to leave a child at home for short periods?

Yes I done this at 10. For 20 mins maybe to run pick up another child or go to the shops. Very sensible child.

From 8 on I'd say you could leave them as long as you were comfortable they were sensible enough to leave. A friend was affronted I let my eldest stay on her own during the day once a week while I was at work during summer holidays whereas I was in shock hers needed a babysitter. My reasoning was I had a very sensible kid who makes her way across the city to school on her own which is much less safe whereas her daughter was the same age but couldn't be trusted to not start mucking about with oven etc. Different kids have different limits

At 10 I left mine for two hours while at work. They even got themselves dinner.
(Work 10mins walk away!)

As well as considering whether your child is safe to be left alone, make sure you run through a contingency plan of what they should do if you don't return at the time expected and you haven't contacted them to let them know. Such as call you, then call Dad, then call Grandparents, then knock on a trusted neighbour's door and if all else fails, call police. Sounds extreme and we've never had to use it, but I feel better knowing that there's a plan should anything go wrong.

It depends on the child, Possible scenarios and what to do, rules must be taught first. If child is cautious and responsible 30-60 minutes should be fine.

I leave my 7 year old at home for up to half an hour if I'm nipping out to the shop or something. Usually only if I'm nipping out on foot in the daytime - if I had to drive anywhere or it was dark she'd generally come with me

My DS is 10 almost 11 and we leave him for an hour ish. He has just started having a key to let himself in after school on my office day when I get in 40 mins later, as need to get him prepared for high school. I ring him when he should have just got home to check all is OK and to remind him to empty the dishwasher

We built up to an hour over the last 10 months

i think it depends on the child? and how far you are going?

if the child is sensible, and you are popping litterally round the corner then i see no harm in it, but if you are going to travel some distance away i probably wouldn't but thats because i am a 'what if' kind of person.

what if the car breaks down, what if i am in an accident... that said, at 11 my DC were catching a public bus to take them to school everyday, and if its ok for that, then i'm sure a short space of time would be ok

8

At 10 usually yes but take into consideration how long you are going for, whether there's another adult they can contact if they can't get hold of you (dad, grandma etc). They should have access to a phone and to be able to get out of the building in emergency.

For some children at 8 this is fine, for others at 12 they still can't be trusted

10 is about right, depending on the child. When I started leaving mine the rule was no getting snacks and no answering the door.

8 onwards in my eyes. My eldest is 9 next week and I left him for 10 minutes, we went through what to do in an emergency etc and he was fine but he doesn't want me to do it again so I haven't.

My youngest is 7 in 2 months and whilst he would probably be fine for 10 minutes I wouldn't trust him at all, he's more likely to do something stupid like stick a knife in the toaster.

10 is a sensible age to start slowly and build up to longer periods.

And yes, this sounds fine. I did make a list of rules like don't open the door, go and knock x door if fire alarm goes off, don't use oven.

I leave my 9yo to pop to local shops (there and back in 20 mins max) and I left her brother at a similar age. Now I usually leave them together.

Both sensible kids, lots of neighbours who are retired / WFH incase of emergency.

Older DC is off to secondary in September and I leave him for a few hours now. Albeit very rarely and he doesn't need to feed himself etc.

Agree it's more know how to contact you rather than have own phone.

Depends on the child, but I was happy leaving DS for a short while at 10 so long as he had some way to contact us (he didn't have his own phone then but could use an old one of ours to facetime). He's now 12 and would probably be fine for a whole work day (though would get very bored so still does some sports clubs in holidays).

I’m surprised that people won’t leave a child alone until they have a phone. DD is not getting a phone till secondary at the absolute earliest. If there is a problem she can knock on a trusted neighbour’s door - in a true emergency they can call us. In my view she’d be in much more danger alone with a phone aged 9 or 10 than alone at home without one!

I used to leave my dc for about half an hour from about 10, normally so I could walk the dog if they didn't want to come.

I'd say from about 7 for an hour tops.

Yes from age 10 for short periods, if they are sensible. Ours had an iPad so could FaceTime us at any point. We started out with leaving for 5-10 mins and over the last year have gone up to an hour or so during day or early evening. We don’t leave in later evening yet though. They are our only child so it is just them in the house if we go out to shop or dog walk or whatever.. Conditions are must be contactable on iPad/phone, must not cook anything, use anything dangerous, leave the house unless emergency, open the door to anyone and we also had a chat about what to do in emergency/fire. Also knows to go next door to our neighbour if emergency.

Of course 10 is fine.

Like most of these 'at what age' questions, you build it up.
Remember, at 11 most dc are walking to and from secondary school or getting public transport. That will be a BIG shock to the system if you can't leave them in their own home for 15 - 20 mins at 10.

10 - fine as long as they have a mobile phone and possibly a neighbour to knock on door if needed anything. I’d probably do 30 mins maximum though at the start.

10 was when we started leaving DSS alone for short bursts so that half hour or so to nip to the shop or go do the nursery run ect. It was then a sliding scale to now he's 12 he can stay home for most of the day if needs be but we mostly only leave him for half a day as I can work flexibly from home.

Since she's a sensible child, IMO it would be fine to leave her on her own for short periods of time at 10 years old. Though you will probably get some posters saying they wouldn't leave their children alone until they turn 21 or some such nonsense!

All completly fine She sounds ready.