Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

How long would you leave an 11 year old home alone?

35 replies

Supercal00 · 31/08/2022 20:52

I do around 30 mins if going to the supermarket or a dog walk. No other siblings. Knows the boundaries as in not answering the door etc. Would you do longer?

OP posts:

avamiah · 01/09/2022 01:23

My daughter has been going out with her school friends in the holidays and they are all in her school travel group so I know who she is with and they stay local.
She has her Go Henry card with her so whenever she makes a purchase i get a immediate notification of where she is and she also has her phone.
She has to be back home by 7 pm at the latest as it is still light and under no circumstances would I leave her at home by herself after 8/ 9 pm as it’s dark .

Beezknees · 01/09/2022 06:09

I'm a single parent working out of the home, DC was a latch key kid from Year 7. They were alone for about 2 hours after school 3 days a week.

DinosApple · 01/09/2022 06:41

DD2(11) loves having the house to herself. Today she'll be home for 3-4 hours on her own. She will be sensible, and makes her own breakfast and lunch reliably.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Families

MintJulia · 01/09/2022 06:45

My ds was fine for 3 hours. He'd happily play computer games , but much longer and he started to get lonely.

sparklecement · 01/09/2022 07:14

when my DD was 11 about 4-5 hours. Closer to 12 I must add.

KangarooKenny · 01/09/2022 07:50

Yes I’d do longer if you can trust them.
Build it up to 2-3 hours.

PaperMonster · 01/09/2022 08:10

I leave mine for two hours whilst working - she loves the alone time!

reluctantbrit · 01/09/2022 08:35

2-3 hours after school. She started secondary age 11 and 2 months, so going home alone is the standard when parents work. While DH works from home fully, he still has business trips and meetings and I do hybrid working.

Obviously we prepared her, leaving her on her own for short periods starting when she was 9.5 and increasing, sitting down and discussing rules and expected behaviour.

Ensuring she has everything she needs and making sure she can contact us.

At that age we ensured we are home not later than 6pm though.

adriftabroad · 01/09/2022 08:43

1 or 2 hours was fine for DD. Especially after school as they need to relax.

Hedonism · 01/09/2022 08:55

We've not had the need to leave DS (11 nearly 12) at home alone for longer than an hour because there is usually one of us wfh during the week. He regularly plays out with his friends for 3-4 hours at a time though.

Flip

1 2