What age is ok to leave a child at home for short periods?

[schg]

I have a 10 year old daughter, would it be unreasonable to say leave her at home while I nip to a shop nearby? What are peoples thoughts? And if not yet, when?

It depends on the individual child, obviously.
At 10 - some yes, some no🤷‍♀️

You know your daughter better than anyone else, but yeah, 10 sounds OK. Would she be able to contact you/another adult family member/neighbour if required? Would she be likely to open the front door if someone calls, or would she be liable to lock herself out by playing etc?

Yep I was doing this when mine were that age, I'd get them to set a timer for a little longer than I thought i should be and if I wasn't back when it went off they had to call me/their dad/my parents.

No set age can be given. The NSPCC have some guidelines but only you know your child’s level of maturity, ability to cope with a minor / major emergency .

my eldest I could leave at 10 for 5 /10 minutes to pop to local shop.

my youngest at 10 you couldn’t trust to lbw left in a room on their own let alone a separate floor if the house / different building!!!

you need to judge based on their maturity / ability to cope / able to use a phone / not likely to set the house on fire / obey the set rules you leave (no answering the door / cooking etc while I’m out)

She's very sensible and just sits and reads, watches tv, plays on her phone.
She moans and says why do I have to come if I have to nip out, sometimes I collect my nephew from nursery in the next street and she'll ask when she can stay at home.
The car is the other thing if I need to run in and buy milk or something she'll ask if she can stay in the car.

At 10 I was happy leaving mine at home for about 30-60 minutes.

My granddaughter can be left at 9/nearly 10. We have neighbours that she could knock on if she needed to. She walks ahead to school. I follow some way behind with her younger sibling. Just build it up her being left. My GD used to phone me for a chat at the start, sometimes staying on the phone while I was in the shop.

My daughter is 9.5 and we have started leaving her for around 10 minutes (eg to drop her sister to a local activity or pop to the shop at the end of the road. She is under strict instructions not to answer the door or do anything like use the toaster or oven. She is a sensible child - basically just wants to sit and read a book during that time.

I think if she is a sensible child who will follow instructions and you are just going somewhere very local and short, it is okay.

I'd leave her at home for 10 minutes while I pop to a shop but reading your update I wouldn't leave her outside a shop in a car for 10 mins no.

Yes depending on the child 9/10 is fine.

We started when DS got a phone, so his 11th birthday.

By 10 I was leaving mine to pop to little shop for milk for 20 mins or popping next door for 30 mins chat. He started walking to school on his own at that age too. 5 min walk and a big road to cross.

We leave DS aged 10 alone as long as we're not leaving the village or staying out long. If either of those - he comes with us like it or not. He doesn't have a phone yet.

Around 11/12 yo.

Can't see why not if she is sensible type.. just remind her to not answer door to anyone, how to get out in emergency etc

i have left all f mine from around 10 years old. Starting for 20 mins and building up to an hour perhaps. Then as they get older longer times.

She's obviously comfortable and wanting to stay at home so if she's happy to, I'd leave her a very short time.

10 years old are year 5/6,they can walk to and from school at that age,leave clubs without an adult collecting them,it’s fine.

My 8 year old has been sensible enough to leave at home without him getting into trouble for a while, but I still wouldn't do it because he doesn't have his own phone. What if I didn't come back? Who would he call?

My 2 are 6 and 8 and while I'd trust the eldest completely, my 6 year old would be up to all sorts so I couldn't leave them.

All completly fine She sounds ready.

Since she's a sensible child, IMO it would be fine to leave her on her own for short periods of time at 10 years old. Though you will probably get some posters saying they wouldn't leave their children alone until they turn 21 or some such nonsense!

10 was when we started leaving DSS alone for short bursts so that half hour or so to nip to the shop or go do the nursery run ect. It was then a sliding scale to now he's 12 he can stay home for most of the day if needs be but we mostly only leave him for half a day as I can work flexibly from home.

10 - fine as long as they have a mobile phone and possibly a neighbour to knock on door if needed anything. I’d probably do 30 mins maximum though at the start.

Of course 10 is fine.

Like most of these 'at what age' questions, you build it up.
Remember, at 11 most dc are walking to and from secondary school or getting public transport. That will be a BIG shock to the system if you can't leave them in their own home for 15 - 20 mins at 10.