To leave 2 under 2 in the house while I walk to get dc no 3 from childminder 5 doors down the road

[threeisacharm18]

Quick pulse - as the title says I have 2 under 2 at home with me now. Dc No 1 is school age and gets picked up by the childminder who lives 5 doors from us.

Should I pack up the 2 babies in a pushchair to walk 2 mins up the road to get dc 1 or risk it and leave them in the bouncer while I run up the road to get dc no 3?

Thanks everyone- I have taken the kids in the pushchair for a walk round the block then will pick up 5 year old.

The babies were I'll today to home with me. Cm normally does pick up so I just let that continue since I didn't want to deal with all 3 when they are so cranky.

I normally pick up 5 year old at 5-5.30

THIS!!! ⬆

And in response to your first question: NO! NO!! IN THE NAME OF GOD, NOOOO!!!!

They are tiny!

They could choke in a heartbeat.

Or clamber out of a cot and injure themselves!

PLEASE don't leave two tiny children alone - it's honestly not worth the risk.

If it happens again I'd get the cm to send the 5 year old home. If no sn a 5 year old should be fine walking 5 doors down the road

It's dark outside and I know dc 3 will be scared to walk down the street even if she can see me

And I've been on the trot for 3 days with sick kids so yea it did cross my mind to do the easy thing even if it's not the sensible thing.

Is this a normal day? You said elsewhere that you work full time, so are the babies usually at a nursery?

Firstly, as my DBIL managed to accidently half strangle his 18 month old younger brother when he was 3 years old (got him trapped in the straps of his highchair when he tried to help him get out then slipped...) - and their mum was only in the loo so was there quickly thankfully.

And secondly a 'quick 5 door down run' can become a habit that gets just a little bit longer each time, I'd definitely agree with either packing them up to pick up or getting the child minder to send the older one down.

@threeisacharm18 I'm confused if DC1 is the same child as DC3.

Are you mixing then up in your posts?

You said DC1 is at school.....

DC3 is surely your very youngest?

@guidedbythelightt
Having read previous posts by the OP I am actually less surprised at this question than I was before.

shitty thing to say. Nosey aren’t you?

What’s the world coming to when you can’t leave a toddler and a baby home alone anymore? You can’t do anything these days! PC gone mad.

It's dark outside and I know dc 3 will be scared to walk down the street even if she can see me

Fair enough - I hadn't thought of that - still No, though, and I'm glad you're taking them with you.

I read this at a glance and thought it said she could get laid chatting to the neighbour 😂

Could happen…

They'll be telling you to put up a fireguard next, and keep pans full of boiling veg away from the edge of the cooker!

Some girls have all the luck . . .

I hadn't even thought of this but my mum said she once left me asleep in my cot as a baby while she walked to the post box. She said she was away no more than two minutes but had to cross the road and thought afterwards how she could have been run over and nobody would have known I was there on my own. Of course in this instance you wouldn't be crossing a road and the CM would know you have two other children but she wouldn't know they were at home.

But yes the fire thing is unlikely but frightening.

Letting the older child walk down won't work as CMs usually need a signature on collection (like a parcel!) (and I seem to remember that one of the Moors Murders victims was snatched off the street in more or less this scenario - but there was a slight kink in the street and when the child disappeared out of his mother's sightline, he was gone).

It’s perfectly bloody clear that there are 2 and under 2 at home and another (eldest) child at the childminders. Impossible to misunderstand. You’re just picking.

So, you were concerned about PFB being scared of the dark for the distance of 5 houses, but considered leaving the 2 younger, more vulnerable children in the house alone? 🤦

^^ this is what I would do

Sounds like a tough week OP. Hope they get better soon.

The general consensus is going to be no and I would say no too. But we all know that in practice now, and even more in days gone by, of course people do do this and all sorts of other things because they are 1 adult spread too many ways. Getting the eldest child to walk down as suggested is more sensible than leaving the little ones. But in this day and age technology is your friend as you can have cameras to keep an eye on the little ones viewable from your phone if you are in a different part of the house, garden, or street.

But if you decide you are going to dash down and back, or even stand at your gate or the door and potentially have to wait there, then the main thing is to have the 2 littlies very safe. So the smaller of the 2 in a cot where they definitely and the elder in a larger cot or playpen (which they can't climb out of) and with a stairgate across the door even so (in case they do climb or fall out) with nothing dangerous accessible such as water, electrics, fire, blind cords. And if you go down there you must absolutely not get into a conversation, you have to be very firm that if he's not ready you will go home and come back in 5 mins, and if a conversation needs having it has to happen at another time. If you are watching them on video, then maybe you can spare 2 minutes but you must not become distracted away from watching them.

However, small children have died when left home alone, and even a short period with all of the above is a small risk that you wouldn't be able to get back in and get them out in a fire.

Well, yes, this.

Presumably you collect the babies from somewhere after work but can't get to school on time, so why don't you pick eldest up in your way home? Why not walk five doors with the babies or pull up the car outside, leave door open as you knock the door and then drive up the road? At least in cars they're secure and you can see them roughly

My point was, as I suspect you know but are spoiling for an argument, was that this used to be acceptable and on the whole things didn't go wrong. However, unforeseen things happen and the prevailing opinion is that the risk is unacceptable. This is all I wished to say. As it is, I couldn't leave my children, in these circumstances but I understand mothers who are under pressure contemplating it. I wouldn't understand it if she popped off to Ibiza though!

And your CM refused to walk 5 doors down to drop eldest off on her way back from school?

You're just going to have to take the 5 minutes to put them in a pushchair.

Just part of parenting innit.

ignore *'where they definitely', typo

If there are no roads to cross, and CM agrees I'd go for watching 6 year old make their own way home.
6 year olds are very capable of the navigation part! Plus it fosters independence.
Would maybe do a few trial runs to teach road safety to prepare child if crossing a road is involved. So when a little older he/she can do it their own.
I always walked home from school alone at that age, but it was in the 1960s. Just for context.