What age to let a child stay at home alone?

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  • Amberonamission
    Amberonamission Posts: 836 Member
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    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
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    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
    Shelbert79 Posts: 517 Member
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    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
    Amberonamission Posts: 836 Member
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    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
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
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    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
    kimmiedunne Posts: 82 Member
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    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
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    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
    Amberonamission Posts: 836 Member
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    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
    jcstanton Posts: 1,849 Member
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    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
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
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    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
    halfretird Posts: 49 Member
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    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
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
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    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
    admmommy Posts: 143 Member
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    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
    leomom72 Posts: 1,798 Member
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    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
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
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    10. Depending on the maturity level of the child.
  • JustANumber85
    JustANumber85 Posts: 644 Member
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    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
    crimznrose Posts: 282 Member
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    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
    deniseg31 Posts: 667 Member
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    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
    Cyndi1 Posts: 484 Member
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    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
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
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    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.

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