How old would your children be before you left them for a day?

[yesiknowithasbeendonetodeath]

Mine are really young now so obviously not on the cards for a while.

I don’t want to wish their childhoods away or anything but I am wondering when I’ll be able to have a day out shopping or go to a museum or a day with friends without it costing so much in childcare as to make it pointless.

I am kind of thinking maybe 10/11?

I was allowed to go into Manchester shopping for the day with my friend at about 13/14 so kept the same rule for DDs with London or wandering around Bluewater with a mate. Other parents seemed to agree but some others wouldn't let them until they were a couple of years older.

12 weeks old as I had to return to work. Hadn't worked at the company long enough to get full maternity benefits

Single mother, only child: I didn't leave DD alone for a whole day until she was 13: she's a fairly anxious child and wasn't comfortable with it at the time. She's fine with it now (15). I still wouldn't leave her alone overnight.

It does really depend on the child, though. Some children would have been comfortable alone at 11. If there are siblings you can probably go younger; if you have relatives or close friends nearby you can go younger.

Horses for courses.

Former teacher here....In the USA, you're not legally allowed to leave children home alone until age 12. Day care centers must accept 12 years olds. Honestly I left my two sons at home for less than an hour occasionally when older son was 11-12 years and younger was 9-10 years but our neighbors were retired, were friends and they could go there. I'm talking about to go pay the water bill 5 minutes away or to go to convenience store etc.

Be Blessed.

DS1 was 14 and flooded us on first day 🙈
DS2 was 12 and much more switched on ..

I think all situations.are different. I've always been single so never had opportunity for days out etc unless when at school but strict time frames obv
I think op means on own in the house

Hahahahahahaha. People saying they can’t leave kids alone in their own house until 15/16?!?!?

Havent they parented well enough to teach them some skills to stay safe in their own house? I despair.

id leave mine at 11 for a whole day. I would never consider them going to a holiday club. They were around 8-10 when being left for an hour- a few hours for a food shop to cup of tea somewhere. Aged 11/12 for a restaurant booking for 3 hours. 12/13 for a night out where they were expected to put themselves to bed and I’d be home at 11pm. Everyone is still alive. Not one bit of harm or upset has occurred.

And just to add btw, this happened completely infrequently, perhaps a couple of times a year. Because I didn’t need to leave them for whole days. But when I had to, I did.

My DDs were 11 when I left them alone for the day. They didn't like holiday club the year they were 10 so the following year I didn't send them. They were fine. They weren't allowed to use the oven but that was about it.
SD was older because her mum wasn't happy with her being alone until she was 13. My DS will never be able to be left alone. It really depends on the child and what you feel happy with.

12 or 13. I don't know any teens going to holiday canps.

For disclosure, we recently left our 18, 16 and 14 year old alone for four days to look after themselves and our dog whilst we went on holiday so 🤷🏻‍♀️

Our kids have been able to come and go with a key from about age 10/11, and let themselves in from school from about that age.

14- sorry op, that's your life for the foreseeable

On their own at home at 12 weeks?

I would've thought 11-12 but also very much judged on the maturity of the child him or herself. Some are really sensible, some not so!

My sister and I were 8 and 10 when we were first left alone for the day, and this was a house with a lot of guns surrounded by hippos, crocodiles, and lions.

DD9 is scared of her own shadow, so we'll probably wait a little longer.

The day of their 18th birthday

10/11 I would leave for an hour or two max, with no younger siblings.

To leave on their own for a whole day eg 9-5 no younger than 14.

16 is crazy. I work with some 16 year olds, teens are very capable beings if you give them a chance..

This made me laugh 🤣 I also have one DC who could run the house by age 12 and one who I don’t know whether I will be able to trust them to run a bath before they are 28. Mine is the other way around - DD independent, DS incompetent

In my area they only go up to 11.

I would leave my 14 year old on his own for a day, but he wouldn’t love it, and I would feel a bit guilty. I wouldn’t leave my 11 year old for any more than an hour.

I’m not understanding this. A 16 year old would be doing their own thing all day anyway while not at school surely, be that spending it at work or out and about with friends, how can you allow them to do that but you’ll only just confidently be leaving them at home unattended?

I think 13 or 14

We left our 13 year old and 11 year olds home alone in school holidays while we both worked leaving them in bed at 7.45am and returned home about 6pm. The eleven year old had finally refused to go to a childminders so we paid our daughter to stay home and look after him. We both used our annual leave to help cover holidays and the rules were only their best named friends could call round. My daughter made breakfast and lunch and her brother washed up. There were no mobile phones but we had a landline they could ring me all day. My daughter would occasionally ring to ask if her brother could go swimming or to the park with his friends. It worked for us as they were both sensible children at that age.

That reminds me of someone who put buttered bread in the toaster, and a tin foiled plate in the microwave. The Mum went nuclear.

18th? Then wait for the secret party at home while the parents are out!