when is it safe to let DC play alone in another room?

coco99 · June 2010

DD is 18m/o. right now, i'm comfortable letting her roam around the house on her own, but after a few minutes, i get nervous. at what age is it "safe" (relatively speaking) to let kids play on their own in another room, outside of your direct supervision?

jennyslp · June 2010

DD is 22 months, and I still never let her play by herself in another room, that is, if I can't see her from where I am. I think it depends on the room, though. Lots of kids at this age are in "big boy/girl beds" so they obviously can get out of their bed and roam around their rooms by themselves. When it comes time for that, I guess you have to just make sure the room is as baby proofed as possible.

Raffes484 · June 2010

We made a playroom just for this purpose and DD has been playing alone (I check on her every 20ish minutes) since she was about 15 months old.

nic326 · June 2010

we have a playroom too and I will let DS play in their by himself only if I am upstairs with him doing laundry in the next room or cleaning up the bedrooms. Every room he shouldnt be in is closed off so if he did leave the playroom I would see him and he cant go very far

npaulsell · June 2010

Raffes484:
We made a playroom just for this purpose and DD has been playing alone (I check on her every 20ish minutes) since she was about 15 months old.

Same here. DD has a playroom right around the corner from the living room. She comes and goes as she pleases. If she in there for a period of time, I just pop my head around the corner.

punkfiction_v.3 · June 2010

depends on your kid. aidan could easily play by herself at the age sawyer is. and, obviously, now at 3.5 she plays upstairs by herself in her room or the gameroom all the time. i yell up "hey aidan!" and she yells down "yes momma!!" and so i know where she is.

but sawyer? bwhahaha um no. she is 100x sneakier and i would never trust her up there alone.

punkfiction_v.3 · June 2010

but to add - sawyer does have a lot of free reign downstairs. so if i had a play room down here, id most certainly say "go ahead".

JulyFiveBride · June 2010

punkfiction_v.3:
depends on your kid. aidan could easily play by herself at the age sawyer is. and, obviously, now at 3.5 she plays upstairs by herself in her room or the gameroom all the time. i yell up "hey aidan!" and she yells down "yes momma!!" and so i know where she is.
but sawyer? bwhahaha um no. she is 100x sneakier and i would never trust her up there alone.

Pretty much this. DD has a playroom that is totally babyproofed. I leave the door open and she can come and go as she pleases. I'll poke my head in if she's too quiet or say "reagan?" and she'll answer. I've been okay with that for awhile now. But when my nephew is here (18m) I always shut the play room door. No way I'd trust that kid unsupervised for any length of time. If I'm not following him around saying "don't touch that... don't eat that... gentle with the dog... no hitting..." it's guaranteed that he'll do something he shouldn't.

MegGary · June 2010

DD is 23 months. She'll be 2 in 2 weeks. I just redid her bedroom. I thought it was safe to leave her alone in there. We have a small house. I left her for a little bit while I was in the next room. I walk back in to check on her & she is sitting on her changing table w/ a wipe cleaning the sides of the table. "I'm cleanin now momma."

Yeah she knows how to climb the darn thing. So Ummmmm she isn't to be trusted alone. lol

However, if you have a room that is supper safe you can leave them in than by all means go for it.

macchiatto · June 2010

Depends on the kid and the room. Our living room and our play area upstairs are both pretty toddler-proofed so I can let the boys play in there if I'm in the next room cleaning up, starting laundry, etc. If they're in a clingy room that doesn't fly but if they're content, I'm fine with leaving them alone for 15-20 minutes. I'm always within earshot.

jsugrin · June 2010

Ehh I'm really relaxed about this type of thing. From the time #1 could crawl if he crawled off to another room I didn't go rushing after him. He used to play for ages under the kitchen table, climbing over the bottom rungs of the chairs like an obstacle course or he'd go in his room and climb up in his little chair and read books. If things get too quiet or it's been awhile I go investigate but they really can't do anything out of sight that they can't do in my sight so I'm not worried about it,

Echowysp · June 2010

We've done it since Adam could do stairs well, so maybe 11 months? The house is baby-proofed and I keep an ear out for him. I'm not a helicopter mom by nature, so I don't get nervous.

LilMissLadybug · June 2010

punkfiction_v.3:
depends on your kid. aidan could easily play by herself at the age sawyer is. and, obviously, now at 3.5 she plays upstairs by herself in her room or the gameroom all the time. i yell up "hey aidan!" and she yells down "yes momma!!" and so i know where she is.
but sawyer? bwhahaha um no. she is 100x sneakier and i would never trust her up there alone.

Pretty much this. DD has had free reign of the house since 18mos, but no way would I let DS out of my site.

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