To let 3 year old play downstairs for an hour or so at the weekend?

[GoldBar]

Would you let your three year old play downstairs for an hour or so at the weekend while you read upstairs in bed? With the video monitor on to keep an eye and some cereal and milk?

I've had four children (one set of twins) and I've honestly not left them alone at that age while I was upstairs unless I was just taking washing up to a room or the like. No, I've never locked them in their room either. They have always been told not to leave their rooms/beds of a morning without shouting us up first. If it was ridiculously early (5am ish) I would tell them sorry it wasn't daytime yet and they would lay back down and most of the time would go back to sleep till 7ish. If they know they can go downstairs alone then they will and not even attempt to self settle themselves. I remember when I was small my younger brother slipped coming down the stairs while wearing his socks, my mum had gone into nextdoor for just a few minutes. I was terriified and didn't know what to do and that memory hasn't left me. It takes just a second for an accident to happen.

Am confused when is it your reading first thing in morning? Why not just go down have a coffee an read downstairs or is it evening reading wait till child in bed doesn't make sense you want to leave child 3hile you read surely you can read in same room as them if there occuiped

I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old, they usually get up at about 6am. I don't. They go down and put the tv on. If it's the weekend I leave a few snacks like soreen or breadsticks just to put them on for an hour or so til breakfast. This has been happening for about a year. Is that bad (according to you mumsnetters)?!

Well OP, you're getting off lighter with this post than you did the last time you posted about this!

You don’t need to be in the room with them at 3 but sitting upstairs in bed doesn’t it right - I left mine whilst I littered about but to get up alone and sit and eat alone - no.

I would never leave 3 year old alone whilst I read upstairs. Whilst they are awake you need to keep an eye on them.

@Whatabloodycircus

I have a 4 year old and a 6 year old, they usually get up at about 6am. I don't. They go down and put the tv on. If it's the weekend I leave a few snacks like soreen or breadsticks just to put them on for an hour or so til breakfast. This has been happening for about a year. Is that bad (according to you mumsnetters)?!

Yes.

Unless you are 100% confident that your 6 year old would notice your 4 year old sat silently choking while they were busy eating tv/playing with something.

And also that they wouldn’t waste time panicking or calling for you to get your lazy arse up and would jump straight into first aid mode, thus not wasting precious seconds.

Or if it was vice versus that your 4 year old would even notice/jump into action immediately.

If you’d ever seen how quickly and absolutely silently a child can switch from eating/playing to choking to death then you wouldn’t take such risks.

I’m in the bad mumsnet category.
I’ve just done lockdown with a 4 year old and a job. They were left alone a lot.

I didn’t like it, but didn’t have a lot of choice.

But my 4 yo has been getting up and playing quietly downstairs some mornings since she was 3. She enjoys that pottering time.

Not at 3. My DD is 4 and I'll leave her downstairs for 10/15 minutes or so on her own while I have a shower, that's a fairly recent thing. I can imagine leaving her for an hour in a couple of years time maybe? But she's my eldest so hard to know!

022828MAN I totally agree with you
I have a 7 and a 3 year old. I am working from home like many parents and ridiculously busy. I am upstairs in the office (with door open) and half the time I dont know where they are in the house.
Now eldest is back at school my youngest will happily sit downstairs watching a movie or playing with lego whilst im upstairs working. Not ideal but dont really have any other options right now.

My surgical colleagues once had a 3 year old admitted to their unit with life threatening burns. He had been left alone downstairs and tried to light the gas fire in the sitting room. It didn’t ignite on his first attempt, so he’d left the gas running for several minutes before unfortunately deciding to press the ignition button again.

My ex worked away, had no family local so I juggled housework with childcare, not easy!

Definitely not with food. They can choke on cereal and milk.

@Rocinante39

How things have changed.

I was less adventurous than my brother. When he was 4 and a half he rode his bike to school on his own. It was about a mile on a quiet road. It was the 1970s.

It's a good job your brother didn't encounter the likes of Hindley and Brady then. Just goes to prove people did stupid things back then, and some of the comments on here prove people still do stupid things now.

You can't watch a video monitor and read a book at the same time anyway, it's an absurd scenario. I mean what sort of lazy arse wants to lie in bed reading while a toddler is left downstairs. If that's your plan, don't have kids.