General Chat

i have only just started to leave my 12 year old alone for short periods.. ie taking the dogs a walk. she is 13 in a couple of weeks though, and i think this to be a suitable age.... saying that it is entirely dependant on how mature the child is for their age really, and whether the parents feel comfotable and confident about leaving the child alone.

I have 3 Children i live 2 mins walk from the school when my 10 yr old was poorly i left them for 5 mins to take the others to school told them not to open the door not to answer the phone not to move off the sofa untill i came back , when i came back they were still laying on the sofa watching the tv right where i had left them. so only thing you can do is make your own judge ment on if you think your child can be left on their own for 5 mins. Dawn

ok to solve this i have just phoned my oh who works for social services, there is no set leigal age limit as to how old a child must be to be left alone or to babysit. it is down to the parents if they think the child is capable then its ok but if some thing was to happen to that child then it is down to the parents as the child is obvously not old enough and mature enough to be left alone. Dawn

This is from the NSPCC site Leaving Children at Home Alone What the law says There is no law that states the minimum age that a child can be left alone. However, it is an offence to leave a child alone when doing so puts him or her at risk. How do you decide if you can safely leave a child alone? There are many important things to consider before you decide to leave a child alone. These include: The age of the child. The child's level of maturity and understanding. The place where child will be left. How long the child will be left alone, and how often. Whether or not there are any other children in the household. For example, most parents would think it’s OK to leave a sixteen-year-old alone for the evening, but to leave them for a week would be unacceptable. Many young children play outdoors with other children without a parent or carer being present. As they are unsupervised, they are 'alone', but most people would agree that this is an important part of growing up. You are the best judge of your child’s level of maturity and responsibility. A few other points to guide you Never leave a baby or very young child alone at home, whether asleep or awake, even for a few minutes. It doesn’t take long for unsupervised young children or babies to injure themselves. Most children under thirteen should not be left for more than a short period. No child under sixteen should be left overnight. Jay

I left Charlotte (nearly 10) for 5 mins the other day while I walked her brother to his friend's house. She is also very sensible - think Hermione in HP lol - but I wouldn't like to leave her any longer than that. I wouldn't leave Jamie (8) at all - he is just not sensible enough. A girl I know leaves her 8 year old and 10 year olds all the time - even while she works. She texts them every hour to check they are ok. I couldn't do that, would be worrying instead of working. If one of mine is ill I ask a friend to take the other to school. Maz. XX

I was told once they turn 15 it is ok but only for an hour as the legal age is 16yr and under 16 if any thing happens to them you can get in trouble

I think the guide lines are. A child of 14 can be left alone for up to 4 hours, but not in charge of other children or overnight. A child of 16 is considered safe to leave in charge of other children. I seem to remember one time a policeman telling us this, after he returned a labrador ( which was parked outside our house after our girly dog, and we couldn't go out as it was trying to assault our legs)to its owners and found their 13 yr old son alone. Policeman came back and said not only would they be warned about dog, but the son too. I am in Scotland though...some of our laws are different.....or maybe I got it wrong. Sorry this turned in to a book....was going to delete but took ages typing it XXX

Noway! My youngest is nearly 13 (April) and he is poorly. I leave him at home from 8.30am to go to work but Dad is home at 11.30 for dinner and im home at 1.30pm after that. I always arm him with the phone, numbers and he is not allowed fire on or cooker - he wouldnt anyway. I put the heating on and he can turn it up or down if too hot/cold. He knows to phone me or dad at work if he wants to or failing that my sister and his granny. I have left my eldest who is 16 in charge of youngest recently to go to hubbys xmas do. But I phoned every hour or so and we were home by 12pm. Im lucky as my two lads are sensible. I think age 10 is about as young as you can go - tho only for a maximum of 1/2 hour I would think. It depends on the child. You know them best. RC