Leaving LO home alone...

mama&baby · September 2012

After being inspired by this slideshow https://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/143681/5_outrageous_excuses_parents_give/103170/to_go_to_a_strip#slideshow I decided it would be interesting to get people's completely anonymous opinions on this. Forget whatever your state laws are-- at what age do you think it is OK to leave LO home alone (not talking anything overnight-- let's say an hour).
[Poll]

mama&baby · September 2012

My state law is 8 to be alone, 13 to babysit. I think that at age 10 it would be OK... but as I am sure more people will respond it really depends on the child and how well he/she handles responsibility. I pretty much took care of myself after my mom passed when I was 7, doing my own laundry, etc. So for me it wasn't a big deal to be home alone (or with my sister, who is 3 years older- though CPS would probably have had a field day with my dad). Other kids have everything done for them and are pretty wild.... so I wouldn't trust them not to burn down my house!

ETA: I wanted to say 10 for the short amount of time that I specified... I probably should have bolded the "one hour" part.

brainpagan · September 2012

I am not sure if this really counts, but I left my sleeping daughter in her crib while I went 50 ft to the park to toss the ball for my dog. I also had the monitor, but that was just incase. She never wakes up that close to being put down. All and all I was out there for about 10 or 15 minutes. I hope this doesn't make me a horrible person. Dog needs more cardio then he gets from the walk baby and I take him on. We move too slow.

mbgreenwalt · September 2012

I started staying home alone at 10 and my 8 year old sister was with me (my youngest sister was in daycare until my mom got home). It was done out of necessity. My mom was a broke single mom and financially it worked best for us to come home right after school and wait the 2.5 hours for her to get home rather than pay for an after school program. We had to come home and call my mom to let her know we were home. We also had to lock the doors and were not allowed to leave the house. Our neighbor was a SAHM so she checked on us occasionally and let us stay at her house a few times when I forgot my house key.

At this moment, I personally feel more comfortable with the 11-12 year range being left alone for short periods of time working up to longer periods.

Kaeldrasmommy · September 2012

In the case of our older two, we had to let them do the whole latch-key thing once a week for 45 minutes to an hour at 7 and 8. The only reasons that I was comfortable with it was because we knew all our neighbors, one of which was a cop who all kept an eye out for them, and because they were together. It will probably be different for our newest LO for many reasons.

lkm2006 · September 2012

My brother will be 11 next month and he still hasn't been left alone (more than 5 minutes). Maybe it totally depends on the child, but he has seen too many scary movies (that's the bad part of having 4 older siblings college age+) and would still freak out home alone, at least for extended times.

smwiggle · September 2012

While I think 8-9 is a good age, I also think it depends on the child. I was left home alone for about an hour starting at 8, but I was a very independent child. My brother was well into his teens before he would start to stay home by himself because he was so co-dependent.

duffmaker · September 2012

My brother and I were 7 years apart so I never stayed home alone with him until I was 11 or 12.

The law in my state is 13 to be left alone. I think it completely depends on the child but I'm comfortable with a 10 year old being left home alone for a couple hours, not an extended amount of time but say the overlap from when the bus drops them off and when mom/dad get home from work (that's generally 2, sometimes 3 hours around here). Also depends on the neighborhood. and I would never leave my child alone at night until they were well into their teens. Forget if they're scared... I'd be terrified enough for them! (I hate the night, it scares the crap outta me)

jb2rn · September 2012

I think 11/12, depends on the kid and their maturity, and where I lived (safe area, know the neighbors, etc..)

At 12, I was baby sitting my 8yo and 2.5 yo sisters after school everyday for a few hours.

tailanis · September 2012

brainpagan

Your little one is too cute!!!! )

mben1119 · September 2012

I want to know who on this board thinks it is ok to leave LO home alone while napping when they're under 3 years old!

smilelari · September 2012

I have absolutely no idea. One of the things I want for my next house is a community center and/or pool, because I kind of imagine that my young teenagers would leave the house by themselves by age 13, 14. I know things are different than when I was a kid, but I was home alone quite a bit starting when my mom went back to work at age 8 (and I watched my sister who was 2 years younger). By the time I was 13, I was getting myself to swim team practice, volleyball practice, music lessons, etc. I sort of envision my kids being somewhat independent.

authorofdreamz · September 2012

Somewhere between 8-10 but definitely depends on the child. My step-brother is 19 YO and still complains if he gets left home alone for too long since he can't making himself anything more complicated than a bowl of cereal.

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