At what age did your child first stay home alone?

[RCT]

I am curious to hear your opinions and experiences

[AnnW]

define alone?
while i went to the grocery store or ran a few errands..10, but took dd with me till ds was about 12 and she was 8. then she got to stay alone at 10.
while we went out at night...11 or 12..they were babysitting for other people by then
overnight..not happened! LOL

[RCT]

define alone?
while i went to the grocery store or ran a few errands..10, but took dd with me till she was 10.
while we went out at night...11 or 12..they were babysitting for other people by then
overnight..not happened! LOL



define alone = stay home all day (while dh and I are at work, 7am to 3 pm) for the summer?

[AnnW]

those hours haven't really been an issue for me, but when i worked at Starbucks, I had no heistations about leaving them. (they were usually asleep LOL)
are your kids bugging you stay home all day? personally, i wouldn't feel comfortable for that long of a time period. mainly cause they would just be sitting at home. could you find a teenager/college student to stay with them? i know that's what a friend of mine did when her oldest got to be in middle school. it was great cause she worked from them during the school year and could drive them to after school activities.
i wouldn't have any hesitation now, but ds would have to really step up and help me out.

[littlesista06]

Dd is 11 and no way would I consider leaving her alone for a full work day.
She will opt to stay home while I run an errand or two, close by. Dh will sometimes leave her for 30 mins. while he runs in the neighborhood.

[Diane]

Short trips... 10, longer... 14, but not all day. Dd #3 babysat for the other two when she was 13-1/2 (she was very responsible) while dh and I went out to eat and/or took in a movie, but never for a full day. (until they were much older of course) Our neighbor (who were just like our dd's grandparents) always knew when we were going to be gone and would keep an eye on them from their house. (they didn't even know they were being observed) We also had our cell phones just in case they needed to call/talk, ask us anything. (they weren't allowed to call/tattle)

One of our neighbor's decided to try to leave her kids alone (because they said that they would behave/get along) they got bored, (no friends were allowed to come over) and they ended up fighting with each other. Now... if the oldest one (going into 8th grade) were home alone, I have no doubts that he would have done just fine, but not with a very active/restless 5th grader.

Hard decision...

[MaryL]

My dks stayed home this year if we had a day off of school (inservice) that I had to attend. (9-3 or so). My boys are 13 and 11. All day/everyday for the whole summer? Hmmmm....not sure I'd be comfortable with that. Not sure what working parents do with kids that age. I wouldn't want my kids to be hanging around inside the house all day (playing video games/watching t.v./etc.). However, I wouldn't want them wandering the neighborhood all day, either.

I would let them come home right after school by themselves...if that were an option for us.

I will also leave ds1 home if he is sick (on a school day)...it's only happened once, and he was diagnosed with strep throat the night before. On meds...no puking...just too contagious to go to school. If they were puking/diarrhea, of course I'd stay home with them.

[vea29]

That's funny I was just thinking about this when I woke up....I might take my neice to visit next week and I have an appointment...wasn't sure about leaving here for about 1 1/2 hours..Oh...I just have realized how many appointments I have that week. May have to put it off her visit a week or 2 wish it was this week it would be easier.

[angie r]

My ds (11) takes care of my 2 girls (9,5) for short periods of time. I sent him to the babysitting course, safesitter. It is in a lot of areas and for $40 teaches them a lot!! I didn't let him stay with them until he turned 11 and had the course.

I have several nieces, nephews that stay alone during the day from age 11-14. My sil will try to have a grandparent pick them up here and there to take them to a movie, or to the park, just for something fun to do.

I think it really depends on the maturity level of your children and how well they would get along with each other in your absense. I know growing up I spent a lot of my time sitting on the backstep waiting for my mom to get home because my brother was so mean to me while they were gone.

[Mickey]

My ds is 11 and I let him stay home while I run to the store or to the office to fax something (less than a mile away), but I wouldn't leave him home alone all day.

I think this is really tough because if they are old enough to be home alone safety-wise, you don't want them unsupervised because of the reason others mentioned--boredom. No supervision accompanied with boredom can result in them being tempted to do things they know they really shouldn't do. I know this is the case with my cousin's daughter who just turned 16 and has been home after school alone since she was 12. She started out just having a friend over once in a while (when she wasn't allowed to). Then a boyfriend came over (I went to check on her while she was home "sick" at 14 and discovered that one). Then, last year, she started to sneak alcohol.

Even good kids can make bad choices when left unsupervised too long.

[Diane]

My ds (11) takes care of my 2 girls (9,5) for short periods of time. I sent him to the babysitting course, safesitter. It is in a lot of areas and for $40 teaches them a lot!! I think it really depends on the maturity level of your children and how well they would get along with each other in your absence.

I LOVED that babysitting course. (all of my dd's took a similar course) Very well worth the $$. I totally agree about the maturity level. I know of a few 12/13 year olds I'd trust over their 16/17 year old brothers/sisters.


I know growing up I spent a lot of my time sitting on the backstep waiting for my mom to get home because my brother was so mean to me while they were gone.

How sad... :(