What age to let a child stay at home alone?

Amberonamission

My daughter is very responsible. I could leave her for short bursts at 9 (15 - 20 min). Now I can give her a chore and go get all of my errands done (an hour or 2) and she is completely good with it (12 years). She likes her alone time.

rml_16

I am a mother and I lie in Florida and lived in GA. This is incorrect about both states. There is no law in either state.

The asterisk notes a guideline, not an actual law.

Ah. OK. That makes sense. It wasn't clear in the post.

Shelbert79

Depends on the child. My daughter would not have been allowed to be home alone at 8. She's 11 now and I let her stay home alone for a short periods of time, like the 30 minutes it takes me to get home after she's home from school.

Amberonamission

Haha 18 in Il. That is so funny. I could imagine the fit a 17 y/o would pitch when the baby sitter showed up.

kelly_e_montana

I think the legal limit is 12 where I live, but geez I was babysitting at ten and even had another job at 10 (in a rural area). Seems like it should depend much more on the child. Just my two cents. I definitely think if there's an emergency, sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

kimmiedunne

Ours is 10 and we just started letting her stay home alone for short periods of time. It's different with an older child then with one who has siblings also at home. We always make sure we're home before her bedtime because we know she wouldn't want to go to bed at her bedtime if she was home alone! I think the longest we've left her so far is 4 hours, but I agree it depends on the child's maturity level.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

My mom left me home alone once before the age of 12 (I think I was 10). I was sick and there was no one to care for me and she couldn't stay home from work. I remember being okay with it, but I don't think I would feel comfortable with it until he's 10 or 12. He's 3 now, so that's quite a ways off.

Amberonamission

When we lived in NY our neighbor would leave her 7 year old alone all the time. This kid couldn't take it. She would come over crying and just stay and play with my at the time 4 year old. I had this kid in my house for years. The mother didn't care. Never said thanks or even sent a bag of chips (this girl ate at my house for 2 years straight).

And I am not talking short bursts either. These parents would be gone for 6 hours at night, drinking at the bars. Some nights this little girl would just stay over. Never once did i get a call asking where she was. The older sister was supposed to be home, but she had a night job and couldn't stay. It was the weirdest thing.

jcstanton

Like everyone else says, for the most part, it depends on the child. Personally, I would say ten is the minimum age, but I understand that, under certain circumstances, it may be necessary for a child of a younger age to be home alone for an hour or so. However, should that need arise, I would make sure that someone was aware that they were home alone and were available to be there for my child should they need the help of an adult. Sounds like this was pretty much the case in your scenario.

skylark94

I'll leave my 8 year old alone for maybe 15 minutes if I need to run to the corner store for milk or something, but I would not feel comfortable with anything longer than that.

My brother and I were staying home alone for longer periods at about that age. We had strict rules about not answering the phone or door and we had a close neighbor we could call on if we needed anything.

halfretird

Each child is different it depends on the child and laws. In our state its 8 but no access to anything harmful such as guns but in my opinion if you bring the child up understanding danger and how to confront danger when in their path they follow the rules. Theres no question about it. The laws here say at 8 for a couple of hours a day.

vim_n_vigor

When we lived in NY our neighbor would leave her 7 year old alone all the time. This kid couldn't take it. She would come over crying and just stay and play with my at the time 4 year old. I had this kid in my house for years. The mother didn't care. Never said thanks or even sent a bag of chips (this girl ate at my house for 2 years straight).

And I am not talking short bursts either. These parents would be gone for 6 hours at night, drinking at the bars. Some nights this little girl would just stay over. Never once did i get a call asking where she was. The older sister was supposed to be home, but she had a night job and couldn't stay. It was the weirdest thing.

On behalf of that mother - thank you! You may never know how much that meant to that little girl.

admmommy

My daughter is 11 almost 12 years old. She has been left home alone two or three times so far. She does fine and yes it depends on age limit. However, I have heard from a CPS worker that there is no age limit of when they can be left home alone, depends on age of child. Of course, there is a level of appropriatness. My son is 6 I wouldn't be leaving hime alone, probably not when he is 11 either. Some kids get home from school, call their parents who are at work and they sit there and do their homework, lock doors, dont answer if anyone answers, etc...To each their own. I personally was never left home alone until I was 13 or 14, before then my older brother watched me, which I still think was a little sketchy at times, LOL.

leomom72

bump for later..i have 8 and 9 year old boys, and i may be put into this position after Christmas..im scared because i have never had to think about it, and i have not prepared them for it, and i would like to know opinions too

EmilyOfTheSun

10. Depending on the maturity level of the child.

JustANumber85

I am a mother and I lie in Florida and lived in GA. This is incorrect about both states. There is no law in either state.

The asterisk notes a guideline, not an actual law.

Ah. OK. That makes sense. It wasn't clear in the post.

thats why i posted the link so that if it applied to anyone they could look at the link and see the resource for exact info the site listed.

crimznrose

mine are 10 & 12 and are more than mature enough to stay by themselves. the bus drops them off at 3:30 and i don't even get home till about 5:30.

deniseg31

Depends on each child. My oldest is 13 and I still don't let her stay home alone because she is careless and is so focused on being online with her friends that things go unnoticed. Once when I was making soup and in the meantime I gave her little brother a quick bath while I was dressing him I asked her to go turn off the stove when I'm cooking some kind of soup and she forgot from the minute she walks away from my bedroom and walked into the living room. The tomato soup burned.

Cyndi1

thats hard one... it depends. I have twins that are 11 and I am only doing it if I am only going to be 30-60 mins max.... I have to start to trust them and give them life skills, they do have cell phones to text me or call.....I am not much help.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

When we lived in NY our neighbor would leave her 7 year old alone all the time. This kid couldn't take it. She would come over crying and just stay and play with my at the time 4 year old. I had this kid in my house for years. The mother didn't care. Never said thanks or even sent a bag of chips (this girl ate at my house for 2 years straight).

And I am not talking short bursts either. These parents would be gone for 6 hours at night, drinking at the bars. Some nights this little girl would just stay over. Never once did i get a call asking where she was. The older sister was supposed to be home, but she had a night job and couldn't stay. It was the weirdest thing.

That just makes me so sad for that little girl that no one related to her cared enough to see to her emotional needs. She's so fortunate that she had such a great neighbor . . . because (quite frankly) she could have ended up on the door step of some creepster.

xceptional1

I think it all depends on the maturity level of the child. I'm a single parent and when they were younger than they are now I had to leave them home but the oldest had a cell phone and house phone for to keep in contact with me and feel safe.

newcs

It depends mostly on the kid. My parents left me home alone with my sister and brother (I'm the oldest) when I was 8 and possibly before. But I was an asburdly responsible kid with an unusual amount of common sense. I think as long as parents have a talk with their kids on how to behave (no using the oven, don't let anyone in the house, don't leave the house, etc) and that their kids are responsible enough to follow the basics then 8 isn't unreasonable. With that said, I'd probably do the same as you just to make sure things turned out ok.

ETA: It's also a little different today with everyone having a cellphone. When I was a kid, I most likely couldn't reach my parents if they weren't home but most kids today could call their parents if something went wrong. In either case, I'd make sure they knew how to contact police, family and neighbors.

Amberonamission

When we lived in NY our neighbor would leave her 7 year old alone all the time. This kid couldn't take it. She would come over crying and just stay and play with my at the time 4 year old. I had this kid in my house for years. The mother didn't care. Never said thanks or even sent a bag of chips (this girl ate at my house for 2 years straight).

And I am not talking short bursts either. These parents would be gone for 6 hours at night, drinking at the bars. Some nights this little girl would just stay over. Never once did i get a call asking where she was. The older sister was supposed to be home, but she had a night job and couldn't stay. It was the weirdest thing.

That just makes me so sad for that little girl that no one related to her cared enough to see to her emotional needs. She's so fortunate that she had such a great neighbor . . . because (quite frankly) she could have ended up on the door step of some creepster.

I took her everywhere with us. She was like another child to me. Even tho we like 800 miles apart now and she is a beautiful young lady with a job of her own now, we keep in touch via FB. I had a neighbor like me when I was young. Someone who always had my back. I am so grateful to have been able to pass that good karma along.

She goes to college in the fall of 2014 and she said she wants to go to Coastal Carolina (very near us). I have my fingers crossed. I'd love to have her back in the fold.

Fozzi43

I think where I live..it's 12/13?

BinaryPulsar

Just here to read.

KellyKAG

My oldest will be 10 in january and I have just started leaving her for quick trips (under 20 minutes) to pick up her brother, return a movie, etc. Usually she wants to be on the phone with me the entire time I am gone anyway. I guess it depends on the kid because I probably wont leave my son home alone until he is 30. I love him to death but he has ADHD and a history of making bad choices without thinking things through.

tennisbabe94

I was about 8 or 9 when my parents let me stay home alone and I was pretty responsible! The worst I ever did was bake a lot of cakes without permission... hahaha

nikinyx6

I was babysitting newborn twins at 8. but then again, in a single parent home, by brother and I stayed home alone a lot, so we were quite mature I guess

idream2bgwen

My oldest son could do it at 8 for brief amounts of time and does great. My middle son is almost 9 and can't handle it. I don't like to leave him home alone (even with his older brother). He picks on both his brothers and causes lots of grief. I know it is a call for attention and we are trying to give him more attention. So yeah, I am one of those that believes every child is different maturity at different ages. I think it is a decision that needs to be made with each child.

simplyeater

I was 9 when I was a latchkey kid, and babysat for other kids at 10. For my oldest son. I decided on 10.