Leaving baby alone in another room

[Captaincalamaris]

How long would you hypothetically leave a 4 month old baby on a play mat (not a pen) whilst you were in another room and they were out of sight? Having this argument with DH.

Perhaps 2 mins if I was answering the door or using the loo. Maximum.

No you were not being unreasonable. 20 minutes is much too long to leave a baby alone

I regularly left mine to nap on the floor when they'd fallen asleep on the play mat, so for as long as a nap.

I didn't. I'd pop them in the cot/travel cot I used as a "pen" if I needed to use the loo or something, but for anything longer I'd bring them with me. I had a place in each room where I could safely plonk so I could do what I needed to do.

In that scenario just to grab the washing and back again. Your husband CBA.

A baby in a different room to you isn't a baby alone? I wouldn't have left them to go and sleep in another room, but to go to the loo, have a shower, put a wash on, yes I would. Obvs not by the time they were crawling.

Like 30 seconds? It only takes a matter of seconds for something to happen. So yeah, barely that. Absolutely wild some of these comments.

Currently have a 4 month old and would leave for 5 mins if no crying to run upstairs to tidy / fold some washing.

Same. Mine rolled at 4months!

People clearly do not know how long 20 seconds or a minute is. It doesn't take just 30 seconds to fetch something upstairs.
I think people are downplaying/ underestimating the time.
I'd say most people who quickly fetch something take about 3-5 minutes.

Anyway, floor is def the safest place for a baby and if you don't have pets you can technically leave them there as long as you are comfortable. It's not like they can climb on something . I would always pick mine up when they cried , but would def leave them there to put in a load of washing/ take out the trash etc.
My baby is 4 months old and she can sometimes play by herself for up to 10-15 minutes on the floor while I chop vegetables or hang up the washing etc.
I wouldn't leave them that long if they were out of earshot though, ie I'm in garden baby in house. Then maybe just for 2 minutes or so when I fetch washing in when it starts raining.

I think it depends on what your dh wanted to show you.
I would have gone over and just looked. It it was a picture or a quick graph/ bill whatever, I wouldn't mind.
If it took longer than 2 minutes I would just say ' I'll be back in a sec just want to check on babay/ bring baby up to where we are.

Why on earth aren't you saying 'the' baby or 'our baby' what a strange way of writing!

If on the floor, with no pets/siblings around

• newborn- rolling over: as long as I could hear them no time limit but I'd try to potter back and forth where possible, and as long as it wouldn't disturb them/depends on siblings. The floor is just as safe as a moses basket. I'd happily grab a v quick shower.

• rolling/sitting baby. I'd answer the door, grab a drink, stir dinner, but not much more.

• fully mobile baby/young toddler. Same room at all times, secure safe location or take them to the loo with you even.

• older toddler. Back to answering door, grab a drink. Secure location or with me for a poo, but I'd probably leave them for a wee 😂

But it really depends on the toddler once they get to that age. By 2.5, I'd leave toddler downstairs watching TV whilst I'd BF baby to sleep upstairs (with a monitor on), because I knew she was such a zombie watching TV, she'd never get into mischief. A herd of zebras could have run through and she wouldn't have moved. My second I couldn't leave for minute at that age.

How many 4 month olds would not cry for an hour? Certainly non of the three babies I’ve had, or any of the ones I’ve known.

I wouldn’t have not stopped to have a conversation with my dp just because I’d left an immobile baby in a safe place (floor on a baby mat is perfectly safe).

At 4 months, your H was right.

Presumably baby can lift his or her head and there weren't any hazards in the environment?

I left all of mine on play mats while I took a shower or used the loo or put on a load of laundry in the basement (down three flights of stairs when we lived in an apartment). All survived perfectly well.

It's when they get to be crawlers / climbers that you need to grow eyes in the back of your head.

Try not to be too nervous about your baby. Believe it or not, this is the safe age.

What might happen?

Baby rolls over?

What could happen to a baby who rolls over on a playmat when you're not looking? Is there broken glass nearby? Dog turds? Sharp knives lying around? Hypodermic syringes? Hot drinks?

Absent any of that, I fail to see the issue.

But how could a baby get hurt by rolling on a playmat on the floor?

Nobody in their right mind would leave a baby unsupervised even for seconds on a changing table, bed, or couch. But a floor is a completely different kettle of fish.

Would you not have the room the baby is in properly baby-proofed?

I.e. no plants that could be nibbled, no standard lamps, no cords that could be pulled, all heavy furniture attached to the wall (bookshelves, chests, etc), no dangling tablecloths that could be pulled, no sockets open, no choking hazards lying around, no outdoor shoes left out for licking, no delicate tchotchkes left within reach, etc, etc.

Baby proofing means you can feel far less anxious, which is ultimately good for the baby as he or she grows and explores.

A mix if responses! I think it’s because instinctively if I know I’m going to leave the baby for longer than a min or two I’ll double check they’re somewhere with nothing in reach, bring them with me or put them in their cot. It was because I was caught unawares by DH. He isn’t very good at keeping conversations brief!!

My baby can’t crawl so no we haven’t yet totally baby proofed

So sometimes when he rolls he will grab the edge of the mat and bring it with him and could get rolled up in it. Or sometimes he puts toys over his face and can’t get them off! Always doing this with comforters and the fabric books!

To go to the toilet
To make some coffee
To grab some washing etc

Any more than that and playpen. Especially if mobile.

Roll into the reach of wires and start pulling on them or get tangled in them, roll into a piece of furniture that could hurt them like the corner of the coffee table leg, roll up in the mat… if you’re there and they’re heading towards something like that you reposition them. If you’re not there then there’s the potential for them to get hurt. Once mobile, or in the window of being mobile, they need direct supervision or to be in a safe space. Of course fully baby proofing the room would also work as an alternative if you prefer.

Also, I wasn’t saying that the changing table is a direct comparison. I was saying that, in response to the posters implying she was asking something stupid, that it was a perfectly legit question because the floor is much less of an obvious risk than leaving them on the changing table (or the sofa, or the bed) and that’s somehow still a common cause of injury. My point being that so many people don’t realise that they can surprise you with a roll so she’s right to question where it’s safe to leave the baby now, because it really does catch people out.

Only long enough to get something, make a cup of tea or go to the loo

Are they safer in cot/ playpen then? Trying to figure out reasoning

I’d nip upstairs to fetch something and come straight back down, if the baby was safe where they were.