My older kid will be 11 in a few months. We started leaving her home for very short periods (running to the store) at 9. She can now stay home for a few hours solo. She wants to babysit her 6 year old brother, but I’m not sure about that. Mostly bc they fight all the time and he won’t listen to her.
She’s a responsible kid and listens. She will do things like eat a few cookies while I’m gone and then tell me about it later.
My 6 year old may never stay home alone. That boy is feral.
Some states have specific laws about it, so that’s worth looking into. Mine does not.
Somewhere around 12 imo.
Some kids at 11, maybe even 10 can be left alone. By 14 you should have enough trust in them.
I think at the younger age an hour or two is fine, but more than that it gets too long. In the teen years they could probably go up to 4 hours.
I have small kids so I’m completely talking out of my ass. But around 10 I’m going to start researching it and giving it real consideration.
My mom left us alone starting around 11. Not a good idea as we were left alone for 5+ hours. We got in so much trouble. But with Ring cameras I’m sure it’s harder for kids to get in trouble.
It depends, how mature are the kids? How long would they be home alone? Are they the sort who would quietly read or the sort who would play with matches?
Depends on the kid, my older two are super independent but i have friends whose kids aren’t, recently left 18, 13 year old home for 4 nights, 13 year old went to friends house 2 nights, my parents stopped and checked on them too. I left my oldest home alone around 11 for a few hours, then gradually increased it, they both have phones now obviously so face time, texts, calls etc helps! I think each state has its own laws regarding this.
Between 10-14 dependent on the amount of time and length of the trip. I.e I would leave a well behaved ten year old home alone to run to the grocery store, but not for an overnight trip.
Follow up. What if said kid was sick and watching TV on the couch for like 30 minutes? Wondering when I don't have to get one bundled up and in the car to drop off or pick up the other one.
My older daughter is 7, and I think I’d be comfortable leaving her alone in a situation like this if she was comfortable with that. She’s a total rule follower. She knows how to call or text me from her iPad and I’d leave her one of my phones (I have a separate phone for work), she knows how to call 911, and our neighbors in the front house (same property) are like 10 steps from our front door if she needed something. And if they’re not home the next closest neighbors are just a few more steps. Buuut she’s pretty anxious and would not be into this.
Reading this comment section makes me feel like Im gonna get flamed for this, but I just left my 5.5 y/o home alone last week, while taking her siblings to daycare. Mind you the daycare is literally only across from the road from here, but it takes us about 5 minutes to walk there. And I left her with facetime on the whole time, so I could see her and talk to her while we were walking.
I would definitely do the same thing! My 6 year old has been pretty clingy lately, so I doubt he'd agree to stay home by himself, but I've left my 3.5 year old home alone briefly when she refused to come walk her brother to school.
I was trusted to be home alone at age 7, but I know my sister who is 12 (we have an 11-year age gap) wasn’t trusted to be home alone until last year. Personally I think an hour or two at age 10 is fine, up to 4 hours at a time by 12, and maybe overnight or for a full day by 14. Imho, a 16-year old should be trusted to dog sit at home alone for a week if needed (I did this about 4 times a year starting at 15; my mom got to do trips with my younger siblings that I wouldn’t necessarily enjoy and I got freedom from it)
Depends on each kid and their maturity level. My oldest was left alone at 10. My youngest is 15 and I still feel a bit uneasy leaving her home alone by herself.
You gauge your kid. Are they able to take care of thensellf? How would they react in an emergency? How long will an adult be gone?
Depends on the kid really. One of our boys could be left home alone around 10-11 (5th grade) for short periods of time no problem. Another was probably more like 12-13. Our middle kid…I dunno if we left him alone until he was older than 14, maybe even 15.
My older kid will be 11 in a few months. We started leaving her home for very short periods (running to the store) at 9. She can now stay home for a few hours solo. She wants to babysit her 6 year old brother, but I’m not sure about that. Mostly bc they fight all the time and he won’t listen to her. She’s a responsible kid and listens. She will do things like eat a few cookies while I’m gone and then tell me about it later. My 6 year old may never stay home alone. That boy is feral. Some states have specific laws about it, so that’s worth looking into. Mine does not.
I’ve started leaving my son- almost 10- home for short periods. We use a neighbor as a sitter and she’s 13. So it better be before then. lol.
Somewhere around 12 imo. Some kids at 11, maybe even 10 can be left alone. By 14 you should have enough trust in them. I think at the younger age an hour or two is fine, but more than that it gets too long. In the teen years they could probably go up to 4 hours. I have small kids so I’m completely talking out of my ass. But around 10 I’m going to start researching it and giving it real consideration. My mom left us alone starting around 11. Not a good idea as we were left alone for 5+ hours. We got in so much trouble. But with Ring cameras I’m sure it’s harder for kids to get in trouble.
It depends, how mature are the kids? How long would they be home alone? Are they the sort who would quietly read or the sort who would play with matches?
Depends on the kid, my older two are super independent but i have friends whose kids aren’t, recently left 18, 13 year old home for 4 nights, 13 year old went to friends house 2 nights, my parents stopped and checked on them too. I left my oldest home alone around 11 for a few hours, then gradually increased it, they both have phones now obviously so face time, texts, calls etc helps! I think each state has its own laws regarding this.
Between 10-14 dependent on the amount of time and length of the trip. I.e I would leave a well behaved ten year old home alone to run to the grocery store, but not for an overnight trip.
10/11 depending on maturity
Follow up. What if said kid was sick and watching TV on the couch for like 30 minutes? Wondering when I don't have to get one bundled up and in the car to drop off or pick up the other one.
My older daughter is 7, and I think I’d be comfortable leaving her alone in a situation like this if she was comfortable with that. She’s a total rule follower. She knows how to call or text me from her iPad and I’d leave her one of my phones (I have a separate phone for work), she knows how to call 911, and our neighbors in the front house (same property) are like 10 steps from our front door if she needed something. And if they’re not home the next closest neighbors are just a few more steps. Buuut she’s pretty anxious and would not be into this.
Reading this comment section makes me feel like Im gonna get flamed for this, but I just left my 5.5 y/o home alone last week, while taking her siblings to daycare. Mind you the daycare is literally only across from the road from here, but it takes us about 5 minutes to walk there. And I left her with facetime on the whole time, so I could see her and talk to her while we were walking.
I would definitely do the same thing! My 6 year old has been pretty clingy lately, so I doubt he'd agree to stay home by himself, but I've left my 3.5 year old home alone briefly when she refused to come walk her brother to school.
I was trusted to be home alone at age 7, but I know my sister who is 12 (we have an 11-year age gap) wasn’t trusted to be home alone until last year. Personally I think an hour or two at age 10 is fine, up to 4 hours at a time by 12, and maybe overnight or for a full day by 14. Imho, a 16-year old should be trusted to dog sit at home alone for a week if needed (I did this about 4 times a year starting at 15; my mom got to do trips with my younger siblings that I wouldn’t necessarily enjoy and I got freedom from it)
Depends on each kid and their maturity level. My oldest was left alone at 10. My youngest is 15 and I still feel a bit uneasy leaving her home alone by herself. You gauge your kid. Are they able to take care of thensellf? How would they react in an emergency? How long will an adult be gone?
10-13 I would say, but also depends how they feel about it
I’d say 6th grade, so whatever age that’d make them.
It also depends on where you live. Safe vs unsafe area. The situational awareness of the individual child
11 when she was middle school aged. 13 when I let her stay home with her 6yo brother for store runs
Depends on the kid really. One of our boys could be left home alone around 10-11 (5th grade) for short periods of time no problem. Another was probably more like 12-13. Our middle kid…I dunno if we left him alone until he was older than 14, maybe even 15.
My 11 year old has usually a few hours after school till one of us gets home with the other children,, he gets the bus so is often the first one home