Leaving kids for 5 minute late night walk?

Outside in their garden or the two of them walked away from their house to let the dog poo somewhere else??

They took their dog outside for a poo if you read on

Completely disagree

The chances of any of that happening in 2 minutes are so miniscule that they are impossible

That could happen to a 12 year old or a 36 year old too if what youre saying is correct, guess we should just keep someone on watch the whole night then?

Nope, never. No reason this would ever be acceptable in my opinion.
If two parents were home, why the need for both to go.

What if their was a fire never mind them waking up

Absolutely not. My biggest worry would be fire. Remember the woman who went out to Sainsbury's and left her four kids at home? Even 5 minutes would be too long if a fire started downstairs

My husband and I have only recently started leaving the kids alone in the house for short periods of time and they are 10 and 12. Would never go out whilst they were sleeping

Unforgivable and I don’t believe was 5 minutes - no one goes for a 5 minute walk. Poor kids - imagine waking up and no one there. Never mind the risk of something dangerous happening. I’d report to SW, if people think that’s acceptable in public, imagine what they feel is acceptable behind closed doors.

I remember when my child was sick and my neighbour had a child at home - we left our front doors at the same time - ran down he street - she handed me the Calpol and I ran back again.

It took all of 5 minutes and we prepared on the phone first so we were in sync with each other

my child was about 6, we were both on our own as single parents. Thankfully she had Calpol in the house and id run out

now id just order whoosh

Why did they both go? One parent walks the animal and one parent stays in the house surely?

You were irresponsible! And just lucky nothing happened. A 3 and 5yo? That’s negligent

Are you joking? What if they woke up, realised you weren’t there, got scared and left the house looking for you? Absolutely not and the fact you have to ask is a little worrying.

How do you know someone else e.g. a grandparent wasnt visiting and sitting in the house?

I wouldn't do this but they might have a in-room camera viewable on their phone. When I'm away for work I sometimes check in on my sleeping children (obviously there's still an adult at home with them). So maybe they had that on while they did the walk.
But this camera wouldn't be able to tell me if the downstairs of my house caught fire, for example.
Also are you sure they don't have a visiting relative who was at the house, for example?

I can’t believe the amount of people who think this is fine. It’s absolutely not. You don’t leave a 3 and a 5yr old alone, ever. There’s 2 parents here so one stays back with the kids. A lot can happen in 5 minutes whether you can see the house or not.

To the end of the road and back but I live in a cul de sac where I can see the front door at all times!

Most children die at the hands of their parents. Ironically they may well be safer for the 5 mins they are alone than if their parents had been there.

The odds of children being kidnapped are plane crash territory, but IWBU to not take your children abroad for this reason.

Literally five minutes I think is fine, nothing is more likely to happen during those five mins than at any other time. But I don’t get why they both needed to go, a five minute walk for (I assume a) dog doesn’t need 2 people. Is this a drip feed that you think they were doing something else? And how do you know the kids were asleep and not playing with knives and matches, maybe they were actually getting the DDog to safety 🙃

If they woke and went looking for their parents it could lead to a tragic situation. When I was a toddler I did two things: got out at night and walked to the corner store and got into the car, put it in neutral and it rolled down the driveway (a very slight hill), across the road and crashed into the fence of the house across the street. My parents must've been terrified on both accounts.

Not all dogs will toilet in their own garden so can see why it needed to be walked, but I don’t understand why one didn’t stay at home and the other walk the dog.

Children so young cannot ever be left alone. Sitting in the garden ok, assuming it's not a huge garden and therefore you are out of earshot.

After suffering a house fire (electrical fault) this year and seeing the damage caused within 5 minutes, absolutely no way.

It’s not appropriate but we don’t know they were on their own.

no it’s not acceptable at all. They can’t be trusted for 5 mins if they wake up , particularly the 3 year old who is just a toddler and could get up to all sorts of dangerous things . My five year old would be fine on his own for 5 mins but I woudnt dream of leaving him either anyway. He would be terrified if he woke up alone for one thing and could go out of the house in a panic or goodness knows what. Or what if someone came to the door or broke in etc. all sorts of things can happen in 5 mins .

To be fair, the McCanns were gone a lot longer than 5 minutes.

As I said upthread, I would never do this as it seems like such an unnecessary risk and I would be very anxious for the whole time I was gone, but looking at it entirely logically I do think the risk of harm is very, very small.

Ask the McCanns. Jesus wept, what is wrong with people?