Do you agree with these ages to be able to stay home alone?

Question

Answer

It depends on the child's maturity and temperament, do they have special needs, developmental delays or prone to impulsiveness, what kind of neighborhood you live in, what kind of security do you have, do you have a family emergency plan, are they being left alone regularly or is this under emergency circumstances, are you leaving them with a phone and numbers to contact you or family for help, have you talked about home safety, sexual predators - There are so many factors here. I would not just say well you're 8 now, and walk out the door.

Answer

I think it really depends on the maturity and development of the child. I believe that no child should be left alone for any amount of time that is under the age of 10 (even at 10 I would say no more than 30 minutes with a trustworthy neighbor aware that they are there by themselves).  I think the parents will be able to access their child's capability, mentality, and maturity to make that decision themselves.  Some adolescents are remarkably mature and quite capable of being left alone for a set amount of time, while others are a far cry from being trusted alone for no more than 20 minutes .

Answer

I was staying at home by myself for hours at age 10. My mom worked a lot & my dad was deployed. I was fine.

I honestly don't think there can be a set age on what's acceptable to be home alone & what isn't. It's all based on maturity & responsibility.

Answer

My mom is single and can not afford babysitting. So my older sister would watch us from the time we got out of school till my ma came back home maybe 3-4 hours later. And on weekends we stayed in till 12, then played outside till she came home, my sis was 8 and I was 7 we also had a younger brother who was 4 but we were very mature and knew what to do if anything bad happened.

Answer

Depends on the maturity and self discipline of the child.

My brother, when he was 13 years old put a trash bag in the fireplace and caught the mantel on fire. We almost died. We were also terrible children haha.

My mom never left us alone again till we were 16.

Answer

Where I grew up it was illegal to be left alone until you were like 13 or 14. So basically my sister & I had a babysitter until I started high school. I could then look after her but couldn't legal babysit anyone outside my family till I was 16.

There is no way I'd leave my 8yr old home alone for any amount of time. His dad lets him play at the park oppsite his house in the weekends while he's mowing lawns or whatever and even that makes me nervous.

Answer

Depends on the child.  I stayed home alone pretty young, but all i did back then was read.  My son is 11 and i can't trust him even to run to the store.  He has ptsd from....something.  Unfortunately I'll never know for sure what happened to him, it was from the only time his father had him for a week.  Years if therapy later and we're still not sure, and his father died with out giving me answers. He takes it out in destructive ways when he's alone

Answer

Well my mom started leaving me home alone at three years old lol. Which I think is terrible but I always just did my own thing. Watched movies and snacked. But with all my other siblings I've always had to babysit them and they wouldn't even consider leaving any of them home alone unless they were at least 11. So that's sort of annoying but I guess I was just the trial child.

Answer

It looks like Colorado says 12 here but according to many co-workers excited for this moment, the age is 10. At 10 I think it's ok. I HOPE it's ok at 10 anyway because daycare is murdering my income. I grew up in Arizona and was at home alone, watching two younger siblings at 10. We were alone for hours and overnight sometimes... we lived thankfully.

Answer

I think it seems okay (except 8 years old). It does depend on maturity. We'll see how I feel when my baby is of that age though...

Do you agree with these ages to be able to stay home alone?

The Top Baby Tracker App: Embrace New Beginnings with Tender Care

The Top Fertility Tracker App: Your Path to Achieving Pregnancy

The Top Pregnancy App: Nurturing Your Journey to Motherhood

The Top Period Tracker for Empowering Your Menstrual Health Journey