Leaving child in room

[jacknsally19]

At what age would you be comfortable leaving a child in a room to run and get a coffee or grab breakfast? So being in the same hotel - I'm not suggesting driving somewhere....

I'm travelling solo with my daughter and I'm completely comfortable leaving her in our house if we are at the neighbors. But obviously its a really different situation.

 

[maxiesmom]

I would only leave if they were comfortable putting the latch on and taking it off when you come back. You never know when housekeeping or someone doing a room check may knock. So not really any specific age, but it would depend on the child and how comfortable and aware they are.

 

[Magical2017]

That is completely dependent on the parent's level of comfort with the child's age and level of maturity. My boys are 12 and 9 and I would definitely leave them in the room to grab coffee or breakfast. I would just take my cell phone and have them put the latch on.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I wouldn't put the door latch on and I would leave responsible children in the room to get coffee/grab something to eat.
I would return to a room where children had jumped up and down on the freshly made beds, the room attendant would hear me berate them, offer to straighten them out and we all lived happily ever after.
True story and the children were 9 and 12.5 y/o.
I'm not worried about anyone w/ a key entering the room with ill intentions but I do worry about children being able to leave the room in an emergency w/o further adding to possible panic.

 

[smiths02]

I would say at least 9, depending on the child in the situation you gave.
It would also depend if getting breakfast meant going from a room inside AKL close to the Mara (and with interior hallways) to say a Pirate Room at CBR that is 1/2 mile walk to the food court.

 

[jacknsally19]

I would say at least 9, depending on the child in the situation you gave.
It would also depend if getting breakfast meant going from a room inside AKL close to the Mara (and with interior hallways) to say a Pirate Room at CBR that is 1/2 mile walk to the food court.

Oh gosh - not the CBR (I did that on one of our Mom / daughter trips - NEVER AGAIN) .... we are staying at the Boardwalk so it would be pretty close.

Thanks for the feedback all!

 

[Helene_C]

I think it depends how isolated the rooms are and how far you need to go. I let my 8.5 yo wait on his own in parks for up to 15 minutes at a stretch this last trip, but I'm not sure I would have left him in the room that long. But I might feel differently if he had his own cell phone to call me on - I don't trust his ability to figure out the room phone. And I'd want to make sure he knows that housekeeping or security might come by.

 

[mjkacmom]

I’d say 8 or so, at that age my kids were walking to school an being left home alone for very brief periods (10 minutes or so).

 

[goodeats]

I just did a mother/daughters trip with my 9 and 6 year old. There was a point one night where I got everyone settled in bed in their jammies and realized I left my phone in the car! So I went and got it and left them in bed (telling them I'd be right back). I also got coffee in the morning while they watched TV. I do occasionally leave the 9 year old home alone for up to an hour at a time.

I'm tempted to leave them with a room service pizza while DH and I eat at Artist Point (same hotel), but DH isn't comfortable with it so they'll have to suck it up and eat with us. We'll see how he feels after a week with them! I would leave one of our cell phones with them.

 

[MomOTwins]

My concern would be the kids wanting to come find me and getting lost, and then I would have no way to find them. Mine are pretty bad at following directions, so I think this is just a know your kid thing. I went solo with them over their birthday, and we just had a stick-together policy--I explained that sometimes they needed to go with mommy to get coffee, just like sometimes mommy goes with them to get something they want like popcorn.

 

[Bella Paige]

Oh gosh - not the CBR (I did that on one of our Mom / daughter trips - NEVER AGAIN) .... we are staying at the Boardwalk so it would be pretty close.

Thanks for the feedback all!

Honestly depending on the location of your room at The Boardwalk it can be quite a haul to the bakery below for coffee and breakfast. I still wouldn’t have a problem leaving my kids behind but just know that traveling from the farthest room at the end of the hall (yep that was our room - really close to ESPN Zone) back to the elevator and down felt like we were walking FOREVER!

 

[TBaker]

I think it would depend on each child’s maturity level. My now 14 year old, at 8 I would not have hesitated to leave her by herself for a while with a cell phone. My now 9 year old, I would still not leave alone as she would panic in an emergency.

 

[jeepnjudy]

Before leaving any child you may want to check with that county's local Child Protective Services to make sure you are not breaking any laws. You never know when someone decides to call CPS because they are concerned for the child's safety.

 

[smiths02]

Before leaving any child you may want to check with that county's local Child Protective Services to make sure you are not breaking any laws. You never know when someone decides to call CPS because they are concerned for the child's safety.

A lot of states don't have laws, I believe FL does not have a law
https://www.dcf.state.fl.us/programs/childwelfare/caregivers/whentoleaveyourkidshomealone.shtml

ETA: Some other guidelines:

• 
  "A general rule of thumb is that kids under age seven aren't capable of thinking logically and putting cause and effect together," Tanner said. "They are reliant on caregivers to structure their day." Children between ages 7 and 10 years aren't generally ready to self-supervise for an extended period, but in a routine and predictable environment, such as just after school, they can manage, Tanner said. Children 12 and 13 years old should be judged on a case- by-case basis but should not be left alone overnight.

 

[jeepnjudy]

Despite many states not having a definitive age law, the counties are allowed to establish age limits and many counties in several states do. All I was suggesting is anytime someone leaves a child (not just in FL), they should consult the local county's CPS guidelines.

 

[Patches Lee]

For mine she will be 10 in another month and still doesn't want to be left alone if I go to the gas station a block away. So until she is comfortable at home I won't do anywhere else.

Despite many states not having a definitive age law, the counties are allowed to establish age limits and many counties in several states do. All I was suggesting is anytime someone leaves a child (not just in FL), they should consult the local county's CPS guidelines.

But note that most states still have laws that if something were to happen to a child while left alone parents can be charged.

 

[MomOTwins]

For mine she will be 10 in another month and still doesn't want to be left alone if I go to the gas station a block away. So until she is comfortable at home I won't do anywhere else.

But note that most states still have laws that if something were to happen to a child while left alone parents can be charged.

Yep, don’t forget they are doing security checks now so your room can be entered so your child would need to be okay handling that.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

The first time I left the kids in the room alone they were 15 and 9. Before that the last trip we took they were 11 and 5 and I didn't feel comfortable at that time.

This trip it's just DD12 and myself. We are staying at BWV and I plan on leaving her in the room while I grab breakfast or something to drink. I also plan on leaving her in the room to sleep in while I hit up Epcot alone. She's told me she doesn't want to do F&W booths a lot so I plan on two days where I hit the booths from 11-2 or so. That'll give her time to sleep in, get dressed and meet me in Epcot.

 

[MomOTwins]

The first time I left the kids in the room alone they were 15 and 9. Before that the last trip we took they were 11 and 5 and I didn't feel comfortable at that time.

This trip it's just DD12 and myself. We are staying at BWV and I plan on leaving her in the room while I grab breakfast or something to drink. I also plan on leaving her in the room to sleep in while I hit up Epcot alone. She's told me she doesn't want to do F&W booths a lot so I plan on two days where I hit the booths from 11-2 or so. That'll give her time to sleep in, get dressed and meet me in Epcot.

Just to make sure you know this already, but a child has to be at least 14 years old to enter a disney theme park without an adult. Just want to make sure you are planning to meet her outside the gates to avoid any difficulties on the day.

 

[WaltDavisWorld]

I’m a worrier so unless my child was a teenager and a responsible one at that, I would not leave them in a hotel room alone for any amount of time. Even if your kid locked it from inside with a latch many things could happen. They could have a medical emergency, or you could. There could be a fire, or even a false alarm and your kid would likely leave the room alone in that case. Until a child has been in an emergency type situation you have no idea how they would react. No judgement here, I have three kids and just tend to have an issue with playing worst case scenario in my head!