How old were your children when

[emmiemms]

You could trust them to play at the park without running off?

So for example you could sit and have a coffee and chat with a friend and not have to constantly hover over your child.

I have 3 children and I believe it all depends on the child my eldest was around 4 years old and I could stand back and just watch him play and have a chat but my 2nd was around 3. My 3rd is only 5 months so I have a long way to go yet.

I agree it depends on the child. And the size and layout of the playground/park.

I’d say 3/4 though.

My first never did until he was 4.5. Then he started. And my two year old has done it since she could walk. Different personalities

My DD would’ve done this at 3.

I think it depends on the park. I certainly let my 2 year old run off and play at our local playground, but it's fenced in, relatively small (maybe 1.5 acres, you can see all of it at any one time) and it's almost always empty when we are there.

I have 18 months between my 2 and I’ve had to be really careful where we go as in somewhere contained ds1 can’t escape if I take my eyes of him for 1 second when distracted with ds2. He has just turned 3 and it’s only in the last couple of months I can trust him not to run off. If I was sat having coffee with a friend I would still glance over every 30 seconds or so just in case though.

Hugely depends on the kid and the venue. Recently went with DD (Nearly 4) and a friend with a similarly aged kid of hers to an outdoor play area (thank god these things are open again!). We were able to sit and chat at the side while they played and had a great time for about 2 hours! I only needed to intervene once, otherwise they were just having a great time in The sandpit/on the slide. But as it was a very open area I wouldn’t have taken my eye off them as theoretically they could have wandered off very easily and been really hard to find! If it had been an indoor soft play area (clearly hypothetical as these are still shut) with only one exit, I would be happy to have my eye off them as long as we were still within hearing. However, I can think of other 3 year olds that I know that need watching like hawks!

DS is coming up 3 in a few months and recently I’ve found I can sit on a bench nearby and watch him while he does his own thing, although still need to be on hand to help sometimes and he regularly runs over to check in with me. It’s an area I can see him at all time’s plus it’s fenced in. I wouldn’t be able to sit back in a soft play centre or unfenced park yet though.

DS1 as soon as he could walk - he wouldn't ever go willingly out of sight.

DS2 I reckon it will be when I trust him to cross roads and find his way home by himself. He's been wandering off since he could first walk. No fear of losing me at all.

DD is just about reaching that stage and she’s nearly 5. I think a lot of it is that she’s tiny so constantly asks for help reaching things, otherwise she’d be happy enough to get on with it.
As long as I can see her and keep an eye out then I’m happy to sit & chat.

18 months. He was competent on most playground equipment suitable for young children, and wouldn't go down a fireman's pole if I wasn't right there. I hovered when he was two when he started having a go on equipment for older children like those rope net pyramids.

At 2.5 DD would wander away from me, out of sight quite happily. By 3 that had changed, and she's been fine every since.

Depends on how interested they are in the play park
Depends on if you are talking about a fenced area where they would have to exit via the gate
Mostly depends on their personality.

I'm quite puzzled by the question to be honest. I've had 3 dc, and they've different personalities. Two of them were likely to rtry to leave me, when we were doing 'boring' things like shopping, but I can't imagine any of them running away from the play park.

DD1 probably 2/3. DD2 18 months. DS is 18 months and think it will be a while yet!

Depends on the child. Mine never wandered/ran off (they just woke me up 5 times a night and were up from 4.30am for 4 years each).