What age is child ok alone?

[MrsL86]

I understand that it totally depends on the child but at what age would people think it is acceptable for a child to have their own key & let themselves in after school & be alone for approx 2 hours? My dd starts high school in September & this is looking like our only option atm. She’d also be alone for approx 4 hours per day in the holidays. Sometimes she can go to nans or a holiday club but not everyday...

Depends on the child. For that amount of time I'd say secondary age as minimum and make sure she can contact someone in an emergency. I'd also consider getting a motion activated door camera maybe just to keep an eye on who's coming and going.

DSS has been doing it for about a year, he is half way through year 8 now. Like you say it does depend a lot on the child. He knows the rules and can be trusted and he is to lock the door behind him as soon as he gets in the door and text to let us know he's home and safe. He's never alone or last out of the house in the mornings though.

He's also not to answer the door to anybody.

I was doing it from age 10 and my DP from age 7, he needed to be that small as his mum often forgot to give him the key in the morning and he would have to climb up the laundry chute

But yeah as said above, depends on the child, would you expect her to be able to follow a couple of rules to stay safe? Like not have friends over without asking, be able to call the right people in an emergency, not eat all the treats, lock the door behind them?

At that age I think I’d be looking at after school clubs etc she could go to, or could she stay in the library for a bit to do her homework and come home after that? 2 hours is a long time if it’s every day. My eldest DD is in Y6 and walks herself home and lets herself in one day a week, she is on her own for about half an hour before I get home.

We did this from middle of year 6. It was a half hour walk too and we live semi rurally down a busy country lane with only a partial footpath. Me and DH half an hour away at work. No other choice really, no family around and it was good practice for high school. Always got them to text me when they got in.

^ only twice a week though..

I agree with everyone here. Depends on child but at your dc age, they should be perfectly fine. Dc will probably let herself in, grab a snack, and lollop with headphones in.

Reflecting back to when I was young though, I was 8 and I’d have to walk 10 minutes from the bus stop with my 2 younger brothers then 7 & 5 My mother wouldn’t get home for at least another hour. She’d leave us a packet of biscuits. That’s was the days before mobiles, so we couldn’t even call her if there had been a problem. Shocking!!

My nephews did from year 6. They are twins so had each other. I don’t think they have after school care for secondary age children so mine will from year 7.