To wonder at what age you can leave children in a different part of the house unsupervised?

[tropicalpalmtree]

As in downstairs when you’re upstairs in bed or having a bath … when does this usually start?

Around 1.5-2 for mine, in the lounge watching tv or playing with some toys. The lounge was always my designated safe area for them and had a baby gate so they were contained. I let my oldest roam free when he was closer to 4

100% depends on the child and depends what you are doing: in another room with door open but paying attention with half an ear is where it starts. Full on inaccessible in another room? Not til they are old enough and sensible enough to come and get you / wake you / knock on the door if there’s a problem. Not a helpful answer but true. You will know, though, when you might be able to because it is a skill for everyone and you will practice. (I have friends who can’t do this with SEN 14 yo; I couldn’t until teenage years because of having multiple kids and the dynamic between two of them.)

I personally wouldn’t go to bed or have a bath when a toddler is in another part of the house alone. I’d say about 7 for mine but all children are different.

Upstairs in bed I’d say age 5 is when I felt confident he’d be okay if I wanted a soak in the bath . My youngest is 2 and I wouldn’t do it with him now as he’s very unpredictable .

The house is free to roam for my recently turn 3yo and tbh became that way when he moved into a bed at 21 months (he was safe on the stairs). My 13mo is left if I’m doing jobs, eg putting the laundry on the line, but I wouldn’t have a bath.

Probably around 4. I forget as mine are older now.

It's not that they can't be on their own but they will get up to mischief. Unless you have a very well behaved child or one glued to a screen.

From a younger age you can leave them playing in a safe childproof room but you wouldn't be in the bath or in bed.

Certainly by the time my eldest went to school at 5 they could be allowed downstairs in the morning to watch TV but I used to get up to make him breakfast.

It's not like children have to be constantly supervised but you have to be able to intervene.

I wouldn't go to bed, but I'd be happy to have a bath and leave my three year old playing in another room. She's pretty much allowed to go where she pleases in the house anyway and isn't always in the same room as me (though she generally prefers to be). But our house is small and I'd hear her if she yelled; she's also sensible for her age.

Mine turns 3yo in September. I let him roam the house as he pleased (I've taken the baby gates off, also on the stairs). I generally keep an eye on him, but I can grab a quick shower or do some household chores with him playing with his toys or watching some TV in another room. I'm not making myself fully inaccessible by sleeping or taking a long bath, though. That'll be a while yet.

DS is 2.5yrs old and I will have a quick shower (5mins) with the door open and he will play in the hall with toys (stairgate) or the bedroom with his books. The rooms are baby proofed upstairs.
When I vacuum downstairs sometimes he prefers being upstairs away from the noise. He will join me if he geta bored / lonely.
I don't force him to stay right by me. But as others said each child is different and my ears and senses are on high alert.

My youngest is about to turn 3 and eldest 5 and I get myself ready for work and showered when they’re downstairs. I tend to wander down like when I’m brushing my teeth and check on them and shout down to them. I think around 2. Basically when they’re old enough to be distracted by the TV for a short period.

Im on my own with my kids in the mornings so it would be very difficult to get ready for work if I insisted on supervising them.

You'd have a bath on another floor of the house while your 1.5 year old was downstairs?

OP, my toddler is about to turn 3. I'd say for the past few months I've been happy to have a very quick shower with the bathroom door open while he's playing in his room. Everything is locked off to him other than his room and I am only in the next room from him with the door open.

During the day he'll play independently around the house while I'm doing housework or cooking in the kitchen. We lock off rooms we don't want him to go in without us and everything is as safe as we can make it. Small house too so I can hear him wherever he is.

Mine is 2.5 and I let them play and wander around when I’m doing other things in a different part of the house. I wouldn’t have a bath or actually go to sleep though ie do something where I couldn’t quickly get to them or hear if they yell!

I realise I didn’t really answer your question. I’d have a bath with my five year old downstairs. Less likely my nearly 3 year old. I do sometimes get in because then they come up and join me.

Not yet been in bed whilst they play downstairs. As soon as the open their eyes they want me to come down and make porridge!

In theory I could leave my 4 year old unsupervised. He’s definitely beyond the ‘climbing the bookcase for the hell of it’ phase.

In practice he won’t leave me alone long enough to find out. He’d be getting into bed or the bath with me. Or demanding I get out to come and play with him.

I have a 2.5 year old and a 14 month old and I'll leave them briefly to do a job in another room or run to the tumble dryer

I wouldn't do anything that takes more than a couple of minutes but my eldest is sensible loves rules

I’ll leave my 2yo in the lounge (downstairs) if he’s distracted by tv or playing with his trains (plays for ages with his trains!) to have a quick shower (upstairs). I make sure other doors are shut/locked so he’s contained in the lounge safely. I wouldn’t go have a long soak in the bath with him alone though.

I lived in a flat then and I've never slept or had a bath whilst my kids were playing (grown up now) but I would be out of sight cooking or whatever, nipped to laundry (in basement, was a flat above a garage and had a rec room and laundry downstairs too) from around 18 months if absorbed in a tv programme perhaps or I would put the younger in her cot / take younger with me. Main living space was fairly child proof and they were not kids to climb or pull on wires thankfully. They survived, adults now

Tbh if your environment is safe and you can hear them I think the biggest risk to them is their siblings!

My eldest started playing upstairs in her room alone sometimes from about 4

I'm genuinely quite shocked that people would have a bath and leave a 1.5 year old unsupervised on another floor of the house.

How would you hear them if they'd fallen or choked? And how would you get to them safely and quickly? I'd be terrified 😳

I've had a bath with DD wandering about since she was about 3. But my bathroom is downstairs and I leave the door open. She often wanders in. We have three dogs and I always shut the dogs separate if I'm having a bath though.

She is able to wander around downstairs with the dogs if I am also downstairs. If she shuts a door she is asked to open it, I don't let her shut herself in another room with the dogs without me.

DD is generally very sensible. She has often been shut in the bathroom with me with toys or a plate of food whilst I shower or bath. I am also a single parent so don't have anybody else around to help and have to find ways to get things done ie. Wash.

My youngest is 4yo and will play in his bedroom sometimes while i am in the kitchen or i will have a quick shower while he's downstairs watching tv etc...
We can a small terrace house though and i keep the doors all open so i can listen to him...

I usually leave my son (nearly 3) for about 20 minutes or so while I get ready or hang up laundry etc. I've done that since he turned 2. He freely roams the house during the day, I don’t always follow him but will pop my head in after 20 minutes if he’s quiet.

Our house is small so completely childproof and he's a very placid child. I can hear him from anywhere in the house so always have a vague idea where he is or can hear any suspicious sounds.

For anything longer or when I'm out of earshot, I'd imagine it would be another year or so.

Mine are free range from about 2. We have a small house and I can hear them everywhere.

When my dd was just turned 3 I became really very unwell. I had to go to bed for an hour and sleep. She is very sensible, wasn’t allowed to eat, didn’t put things in her mouth or climb etc. She understood and followed the rules. I left her downstairs in front of the tv with the doors open, which she preferred to being quiet and with me. This wasn’t ideal and wouldn’t have worked for a lot of children.