how old to be left home alone

[christinou]

Is there a legal age to leave a kid home alone, we leave in New York State. I just found that next year a friend of one of my DD will stay home before and after school alone, she is only 8 years old, will turn nine later that year, that seems so young to me, and I was shocked that the parents would even consider it.
JUst curious, I know that there is no way I would leave mine home alone, and she would not want to, by the time she turns 30 I might consider it

 

[jeleebeene]

I don't think I would even consider leaving a child home alone unless they were 12 years old or older. I was 12 when I started watching my brother for a couple of hours at night.

I could never imagine being home alone at 8 years old.

 

[Trish Bessette]

I've heard from friend that their was some sort of law that you need to be 12 years old here in Vermont to stay home alone.

8 is way too young.

 

[dizneenut]

That's pretty young. I have an 8 yo DS and I wouldn't even think of leaving him home alone.
My oldest DS is 13 (almost 14) and we just recently started leaving him home alone with our other boys, and even then it was only for an hour or two.

 

[Raysplus1]

I think 12 is a good age. A lot of it depends on how mature your child is. There are some 12yr olds that I would still not trust to be home alone.

 

[winniedapooh]

I believe Mass state law is 13, here. We began leaving 14 & 15 yo with younger kids alone for a few hours at a time last year. Grandma and Grandpa are right next door to us though. Would I leave my 8 yo son alone.....no way! Perhaps a neighbor/s could help out if they need assistance and can't afford child care. Just a thought.

 

[stinkerbelle]

I started babysitting for others when I was 11...and I think my mom left me home alone with my brother when I was 9 or 10 (and he was 6/7)

of course, there was always a neighbor watching the house for smoke. heheheh

 

[dizagain]

Wow...8 is SO young! My DD's are 8 and 10 and they don't WANT to stay home alone. I left DD,10, home alone for 15 minutes when I went to get her some medicine when she was sick and we talked on the phone the whole time!!! I'll probably start leaving them home for SHORT periods of time next year when the older one is in middle school.

 

[workinggal]

At the end of the school year last year, I started letting my 8yo DD come home alone after school. (She turned 9 in June.) It was for less than an hour and I only worked 5 minutes from home. And I have several relatives that live nearby. She knew the rules and called me as soon as she walked in the door. I had no problems with her at all. She knew if she broke one of the rules, there'd be hell to pay and she would never be able to be alone again. I wouldn't leave her for a long period of time though. An hour is my limit. If I had to work over for some reason, she would be picked up by a relative until I got home.

 

[snoopy]

I think people do what they need to do in any given situation. I can see why a single parent struggling to pay school aftercare would leave a responsible 8-year old at home. I wouldn't do it with my 9 year old, but then again, I don't have to. If an emergency arose and I had no other choice but to leave him home without me, I am sure he would do o.k. He has the maturity level to pull it off. The younger one, no way. It all depends on the kid, and the situation, imo.

 

[SunshineSis]

My very responsible 10 year old stays by himself for a couple of hours here and there. He loves the solitude and I love the responsibility it teaches him. He's a good kid and mature for his age. I think there are very mature 10 year olds and very irresponsible 14 year olds so one size does not fit all in this situation.

Mine goes to aftercare after school and generally stays alone only if I want to run errands and he doesn't want to come along.

 

[CookieGVB]

Why don't you offer to have her DD come over after school and play with your DD, and have her return the favor when she is able...like on weekends?

 

[Pin Wizard]

Some info here. Good stuff at the bottom.

http://www.nccic.org/poptopics/homealone.html

 

[christinou]

Why don't you offer to have her DD come over after school and play with your DD, and have her return the favor when she is able...like on weekends?



I work and my 2 DDs go to daycare after school, the little girls was going to the same place, but her parents just decided this year to have her stay alone, she will be alone 2 hours after school, and 1 hour before school in the morning.
I am still curious to know if there are actually legal issues about a child that yound being home alone......

 

[CookieGVB]

I'd think there would be child endangerment issues for someone that age, God forbid something would happen while she was there alone.

 

[SC Minnie]

Our daycares stop when the kids go into 6th grade (Middle School)-- DD will just be turning 11 when this happens for her next year. She will have to be home after school (about an hour). They don't offer afterschool care in the middle schools. Its a tough call.

We often leave DD home for an hour. We live in the suburbs in a quiet neighborhood. She knows the house rules- don't go outside, don't answer the door or the phone (we leave one of the cell phones with her to check on her), and no friends over.

You have to take into consideration the maturity of your child and if you have younger children at home too.