How Old Were Your Children When You Left Them Home Alone?

Always depended on the kid. My girls always seemed ready before the boys so yeah, at ten they could stay home alone for short periods of time.

Camel!!

My daughter was 9 when I left her home alone.

My oldest son was 9 as well. My youngest son was 9....both my boys have been left home alone while their dad and I went out - we were gone for 4 hours one evening. They were 13 and 11. Handled it beautifully! Our neighbors whom we trust - knew they were home alone and if they had a problem could go over. They also knew how to contact us via cell phone.

So yes, if she's responsible - I would leave her home alone. I would try for 15 to 30 minutes first - like going grocery shopping and leaving her home...then extend the time out. Two hours right off the bat? Might be too much at once!

Sure. But mostly I just wanted to say nice profile pic!

Depends on the kid.

For short periods of time, I would. I don't consider two hours short periods of time. Also, you check your state laws on that. It might not be legal for you to do so.

How would she handle an emergency. Have you ever seen her have to keep her cool in a situation? Can you trust her not to answer the door? If there was bad weather or the electricity got turned off, how would she do? There is much more to consider then having a "responsible" child. How would she protect herself, react in an emergency, and how mature emotionally and mentally is she?

I know not everyone put's their actual location. Do you really live in Detroit? IF you do...My sister lives there, in a nice neighborhood. I would NEVER leave my child alone in Detroit. There was a guy with a KNIFE breaking into their home, screaming obscenities and insane stuff, and they police didn't come for over 45 minutes. Her boyfriend thankfully was way bigger then the guy and was able to fight him and only got surface wounds. They think the guy was on drugs or something, they have no idea what was happening. My point, is the police force there is dilapidated. 911 dispatchers are not prevalent. They sometimes don't even answer. Police don't respond to calls quickly. (Or sometimes, at all.) The crime rate is the highest in the country. Leaving a 10 year old home alone in Detroit is insane.

PS. Your profile pic and name .UGH. I question your sense of humor. Are you really a 13 year old boy?

We let our 10 year old stay home, but we made sure she knew the rules. No answering the phone unless it was one of us, no answering the door no matter who it was, and she had to stay inside doing homework, reading , watching TV. We have parental locks on our computer and TV, so we knew she could not watch something that was not allowed.

Where do you live? Is your neighborhood "safe"? How does she get home? Does she have a cell phone? Do you know the neighbors?

We lived in Chicago and no way no how would my daughter get herself home from school and stay alone.

Then we moved to Columbia, MO - MUCH safer. So, we worked on the "skill" of staying home alone. How to fix yourself a snack. what to do if the doorbell rings. When kids could come over (never!!!!!)
While we did that, I hired a college student who came over at 4 (bus dropped her off at 3:30 1/2 a block from home) and stayed until 5. She took her to any activities, made sure she had homework organized etc. So, I paid $40 per week ($8 an hour for 5 hours each week). And I had peace of mind.

I didn't let her stay home ALONE until she was 11. And we practiced - I started going to the store on Saturday and leaving her home alone.

My kids stayed home for a few hours a few times this summer - they are 8 and 10. MD law says 8 year old can stay alone for short periods of time. So our sitter would drop the 6 year old off at the other babysitter around 11, then I would go home for lunch at 12. I'd stay until 1, and my husband would go home around 130 for lunch and stay until 230. I was home by 345.

They did great each time...got their chores done, stayed inside, played, etc. It worked well for us. But I still prefer having an adult home with them.

If a 12 year old child can take a national babysitters class and be able to watch someone else don't you think they should be proficient in watching themselves?

I trained many people for home alone time and plan to start it with my granddaughter when she turns 10. It's not like I'm suddenly going to say "Hey, I'm heading out for work, it's 7:15am and hopefully I'll be home by 5:30pm, can you have dinner on the table for me? I'll be really hungry!".

I plan on going next door for about 15 minutes, if that is successful a few times then I might run to the store for something like bread and milk. Letting the neighbors know she's home of course, I can't imagine how I'd feel if I came home and the house was on fire. The neighbors saying it's so good that no one was home, we looked for your car and it was gone. We told the firemen they didn't need to see if anyone was inside...

So the more trusted people who know the kid is home alone the better. Especially if I'm in an accident. Someone needs to know to go get her and take her to their home for safety.

I don't plan on leaving her alone for more than an hour at any time until she really really earned the reward of doing that. She has to exhibit responsibility, not answer the phone unless it's me or hubby, not go to the door, not let anyone see her outside playing, not cooking a meal other than what she can put in the microwave, etc....

I would prob be ok with an occasional time alone on a sat afternoon while mom ran to the store.

That after school hour or TWO just seems sad to me, EVERYDAY. and I not sure why but it seems more unsafe, I guess because it might be easier for people to hear her say she is alone, or stalk her pattern, or even for other kids to get into mischief.
I vote not yet .

Check your local laws. There may be a legal limit.

I have a 12 y.o. that I wouldn't leave for longer than 20 minutes, and a 9 y.o. who self governs so well that he could theoretically spend a day alone if I let him. I think it very much depends on the kid.

It also depends on where you live. I live in an urban environment, one in which I would not be comfortable leaving a 10 y.o. alone for 2 hours every day after school. My immediate neighbors aren't home during the day - there is nobody my kids could go to if they needed help. There have also been break-ins in my neighborhood. I keep the doors locked even when I'm home. But I grew up in a super small town, and many of us were coming home alone by about age 8 or 9 and roaming the neighborhood back yards or riding our bikes until dinner time. The thing is, there were lots of older folks home all day we could go to for help, and everybody in town literally knew everybody else. Also, it was the kind of place where nobody locked doors because there was no need.

My son is almost 11 (in 3 days!!!) and he has been left home alone for 1-3 hours for the past year. He is a reponsible kid!
My almost 8 year old is NOT....so he gets to come with me everywhere we go. lucky him.
L.

I started leaving my older son home alone when he was ten. He is very responsible. I didn't leave him every day, but for a couple of hours here and there. He is 11 now and I do plan to start leaving him alone with his eight year old brother.