What age can I leave my children in the car while I shop?

[Tinseltower]

Today I left my 9 and 7 year old i. The car alone for about 15 mins. Windows down, in the shade and mild day. Is this really irresponsible? Car wasn’t hot at all on my return, yet some people think I’m stupid for doing this.

What age would you leave your children alone for a short amount of time?

I leave mine now and then, for up to 5 mins. They are 4 and 7 and stay strapped in, know not to mess about with the handbrake and have never done.

I leave my 8 & 6 year old DCs in the car for about 10 mins. I’m pretty sure I did it when they were 7 & 5. They are pretty sensible and can roll the windows down if necessary.

Mine are 7. I leave them in the car if I am popping into a shop for 5 minutes and shock horror leave them in the car at the petrol station.

The 25th of fucking never !

Teenagers here, when they have a phone and can ring me if someone odd is around. Sorry but why can’t they just go in with you? I just don’t understand it. I will go and pay for petrol as I can see the car but that’s it.

Oh my goodness, they are 9 and 7!! .How much longer are children going to be infantilised??

Never.

(Security here)

If we get a call regarding kids left alone in car it's an automatic police response and children are removed while we find parents and hand them to police for questioning.

Only had to deal with one abduction/wandering kid but never want to have to again.

I reported a car once as had a baby in it crying hysterically, I waited for close to 10 mins and no one came so I went in with reg to get them to put over the tannoy for parent to come out. Dont know what happened but made me so angry. Pretty sure a 9 and 7 year old can have a pretty major row in 10-15 mins too. But honestly my point is why not just take them in, it’s not an hour’s weekly shop so they won’t get that bored so I honestly just don’t understand why leave them out of your sight at this age?

From a legal perspective I have just checked with my friend who is high up in Safeguarding at our local Council
She says that there is no legal age but if there was to be an incident of any kind or the Police were called they would not look kindly on dc of those ages being left alone in a car ( or anywhere else). On its own it wouldn’t necessarily trigger an investigation but it would be a huge red flag

Any age over 9 wouldn't have an issue leaving them in a car for 10 mins while popping into a shop.

Something terrible happened to a little girl in my town recently who was left in the car for a few minutes and since then I would never leave a child in the car. I think they would probably be safer at home alone.

When I was younger I was always left on my own at the front of supermarkets etc but I think times have changed. Or predators are becoming more brave!

"NOT OK in case either they open the door and wander off"

NT 7 and 9yos do not 'wander off' if told to stay put! Even at 3 or 4 I could have trusted mine not to do that. Now there is a legitimate question about leaving a 7yo in a car alone, but I never understand why on this kind of thread there always seem to be comments that assume middle/ later primary school kids have about as much sense as 16 month olds!

At that age I think the risk are

A. them wandering off looking for you,
B. Your car being hit (parking accident) and them being distressed,
C. You being hurt and unable to get back to them.

All low probability but since the odds of winning the lottery are even smaller and yet someone wins almost every other week, it is worth considering.

the risk of being abducted is so tiny apparently it has been calculated that the average time a child would need to sit on your garden wall to be abducted is over 10,000 years

I left my 3 year old in the car the other day with my 16 year old son and 14yr old son, was gone 10mins tops, was a chilly wet day not hot.
When I got bak to my car there was a young woman staring at my car, I asked her is there was a problem, she called me 'bloody irresponsible leaving children's
So it seems any age under 18 is frowned upon

Interestingly, in Belgium you would get a 60 Euro fine if leaving a child under 12 unattended in the car.

[[www.rtbf.be/info/regions/detail_enfant-seul-dans-la-voiture-desormais-il-y-aura-sanction-a-bruxelles?id=8216245 French language article]

Sorry, link fail:

French language article

Me and my sister were left regularly in the pub car park (usually Saturday afternoons) from around the ages of 6 or 7. My dad, or one of his friends, would bring us out coke and crisps every half hour or so. We loved it as it's the only time we got coke and crisps! But it did get a bit boring at times! It was different times back then!

I've just started leaving my very-sensible 7 and 9 yo in the house if I pop to the shops. They both know how to call me, have emergency numbers and we've discussed what to do if one of them is injured or there's an emergency. They have 2 evacuation points to go to if needed.

In Sept the 9 year old will be allowed to and from school on her own, crossing 2 main roads. Obviously I'll not kick her out the door on the 6th Sept, but I need to start giving her trust and freedom.

I spoke with our local library and they're OK with a sensible child being left there (with contact numbers) at 9. There's no age limit so we're going to start shopping and leaving her by herself in a public place.

People will leave two children under 10 alone in a car yet freak out at them watching YouTube or playing on an iPad or something, what a ridiculous world we live in.

People will leave two children under 10 alone in a car yet freak out at them watching YouTube or playing on an iPad or something, what a ridiculous world we live in.

You know the parents who think it's fine to not supervise every minute of a child's life, are also the parents who don't stress about them choosing to play on an iPad.

The groups who think children need to be watched 24/7 are the ones who stress about screen time.

(I do think it's not great to leave them in the car, isn't there a park or something near by they could hang out in?) but if they're happy to sit and read, that's fine.

OP this is a crazy question to ask on MN ! You will get a whole camp of people who want to carry their kids round in a cotton wool papoose until they are 25 , for fear of potential child abductors - despite living in a remote hillside village in the highlands surrounded by people they have all known all their lives ..
followed by those who think parking a couple of toddlers in an industrial estate in Birmingham with unlocked doors and windows - while they do a full shop and stop for a coffee is equally fine..
Ultimately only you know the answer to this question. We don't know your children.
For my part , I outside a quiet market town. I happily left my 7 9 and 3 yr old while I nipped in. I would have left the older ones for a longer shop and taken the little one. They are sensible. If they weren't. I wouldn't.

I leave my 9yo in the supermarket cafe or lobby while I do a shop, and drag my 6yo with me. To be fair, she's probably be fine left by herself, but together she winds him up and also she can't manage the heavy doors to the loos by herself. If in your case I'd leave one or the other half but not both, unless your two never have one in tears when left alone.

How would you feel if you got back to the car and theyed been abducted,it dosent matter how grown up you might think your kids are,its other people you need to be aware of,