At what age can a child stay at home alone?

[ladybug]

Hi ladies,

OK this is very early to ask. I know I know. However, I am just wondering if there is any law about this? Until what age should I leave my child with a baby sitter when I'm not home?

I was thinking about this, and I don't think I can leave my DD alone untill she is 20 :D

OK OK How about 18? :D

[drewid]

Hmm not sure if there is a law on this one!

I remember being home alone from early teens at least, maybe earlier. I was the *responsible* child, whereas my brothers were never allowed home alone.

I guess it will all come down to the individual child, their maturity level, your confidence in them etc etc.

I think 20 might be pushing it tho!! :D

[aardvark]

I very grudgingly left DD#1 home of a day during school holidays from age 10.5 - but I had a friend up the street checking in on her.

She's always been mature for her age, and I trust her, so when she got completely fed up with school holiday programme (and after going since age 5, one would get sick of it), I allowed her to stay home. And given she was able to travel home from school on public transport (no short distance, not a local school), I figured she was safer at home than on a train.

She also stayed home when sick with a cold or flu from about age 11, just with an ample supply of soup and jelly, or whatever took her fancy, and copious phone calls from me.

When she developed glandular fever at about the same age, I had no choice but to leave her home alone most of the time she was unwell - sick leave doesn't go far, and she was ill for 5 weeks until I dragged her to a chinese herbalist.

[nemosmum]

This is such a personal decision, so I would suggest you wait and see how you feel when your children get older.

For me personally I think about 15 or 16 is appropriate......only as I worry about other people (the crazy's out there) and I dont think its a trusting the child issue.

I do know of people that leave their young children at home asleep while they duck out to the shops, take a partner to work or whatever. One of the children was as young as 18 months old.

It is not my place to judge their decisions to leave their young kids at home alone, but for me personally I cant even leave DS alone to go outside to check the mail.
I always take him with me, I just worry that there might be a fire or I might lock myself out or any other wild things my imagination can conjure up LOL :eek:

[razzle]

Hard one - my mum would let me stay home by myself (or with a girlfriend) when I was about 12 or so. I remember coming home from primary school and putting the roast on so it would cook in time for when mum got home from work. Maybe I was just really sensible and trustworthy. ;)

It's a bit different nowadays though, there's no way I'd let Eloise catch a bus to and from school by herself in grade 2 - and yet I used to....

[draught]

The law varies from state to state and in no state does it set an age limit. Each state has a different variation but I think the ACT's Crimes Act says it best -

"A person must not, knowingly or recklessly, leave a child unattended in such circumstances and for such a time that the child could suffer injury or sickness or otherwise be in danger."

So it comes down to a case by case analysis of what is reasonable.
I know some 13 year olds who can run an household by themselves if necessary and some 35 year olds who still shouldn't be left unsupervised!

[Lucybelle]

I used to leave my daughter and 2 stepsons home alone, for maybe and hour at a time, usually when we needed to take the ute to Bunnings or whatever.
They were about 12, 11, and 9. They were not to open the door to anyone and had out mobiles on speed dial. I wasn't very comfortable about it but it wasn't for very long and they were always fine.

She is now 13 and comes home to an empty home sometimes. I'm quite happy to leave her home by herself - we also have 2 dogs. Not at night though!

They might be fine just hanging around by themselves and raiding the fridge and hanging off the clothesline, but if something like a fire happens - can they handle it.???

I DRILLED the kids on what do if there was a fire, either home alone or not and would not leave them until I was pretty happy they could handle it.

I used to travel to the city with a bunch of friends for they day from about 12-13 yo. I'm not sure I could let dd go that far though.

[Ky]

A friend of mine recently left her 13 year old with her 2 little ones who were asleep (2 and 3) in the car while she popped in to grab something from the supermarket. She was reported to the police and has been let off with a warning.

Apparently, you are not allowed to leave any child under the age of 14 unsupervised! Whether in a carpark, safe at home or sending them to the local shop to buy milk!

[drewid]

A friend of mine recently left her 13 year old with her 2 little ones who were asleep (2 and 3) in the car while she popped in to grab something from the supermarket. She was reported to the police and has been let off with a warning.

Was she only let off with a warning cos there is no law against it? It seems a bit extreme, if she was just popping in for a second. Who reported her?


Apparently, you are not allowed to leave any child under the age of 14 unsupervised! Whether in a carpark, safe at home or sending them to the local shop to buy milk!

How does that work with kids going to school then? I used to ride my bike to school from about Year 6 and then catching the train from Yr 8... Not to mention all the trips to the corner store and hanging out on weekends and after school!

That is just weird!

[nemosmum]

Times have changed.....

I remember hanging out all summer long with my sisters and friends at the park, rollerskating,swimming etc with no adult supervision all day long.

I also used to take a bus and train to and from school when I was about 9 with my sis who was 11.

I cant imagine being able to let my little man go out all day with his friends at the ripe old age of 7 and 8.........times have really changed. Its all to scary now to even think about doing that.

[Artemis]

I think it really depends on the child.. I know some adults that probably shouldn't be left home alone :D

[mollyandkurtsmum]

I left my sweet angel home alone while I went out for a coffee with my friends . I left him for about 3 hours and he had to make his own lunch. When I got home he was asleep on the couch and had left 2 hotplates on without flames so just gas was pouring out into the lounge . Luckily I had opened a window before we went out so he was ok. So how old is my sweet angel??????????? hes nearly 35 and when we woke him my 5 year old daughter gave him a HUGE leacture on gas cooking. So yeah I think it depends on the individual children but also maybe a little on the gender???? :D

[Kamaikia]

We were just talking the other day about a friend who leaves her 7 year old home alone. She walks home from school - probably 500m and stays by herself until about 7pm when mum gets home. There a heaps of people willing to babysit but her mum thinks its a great idea. I think it shows how stupid the mother is.

A few years back when I was up north I worked with a couple who had a 14 month old boy.
We all went out for a big night and this couple came. Now there apartment was in the main street - along with 4 nightclubs and 3 bars.
So we were all pretty ****ed when someone asked who was watching the baby - they had left it at home alone. One of them was going back every hour to check on him - the club we were in at the time was probably about 700m from there place.
They could not see anything wrong with this situation.

Look I think it depends on the maturity of the child but in no way should a 7 year old or a baby ever be left alone.

[Tisme]

I used to go to the movies with a bunch of friends from age 10, my brother used to be sent alone to the corner store for groceries from age 3. Times have certainly changed and I would not feel comfortable leaving my precious ones alone at home until they were at least able to reach the tallest cupboard in the kitchen (which incidentally I can't even reach). Nah I guess when they became teens I would have to start judging their individual character and go from there.

Also due to the child protection laws (so uni drummed down our throats) as I am a trained and qualified teacher, I am also a Mandatory reporter to DoCS. This means if I see any incident of abuse/neglect in my day to day (whether at work or at the shops) I am mandated to report it to the authorities. In other words if I see a child left in a car alone I have to do something about it. I came into this situation once and decided the best course of action was to wait for the owner to arrive back to their car ... luckily they came out of the shops after only 10 minutes and it wasn't a very hot day. It was a young gentleman and although hesitant I approached him to just let him know that he should have at least left the window down ... he could have told e to bugger off and mind my own but thankfully he listened and said "I didn't realise I wasn't allowed to do it ... " the baby was asleep and he just had to go to the post office ... and didn't see the problem. Maybe things like child welfare should be taught in the boys high schools AS WELL AS in Girls. Why is it that girls get all the responsibility of the new AI dolls to look after while the boys don't???

[Rell]

Reading this made me think of a very sad story that happened near me a few weeks back. A mother dropped her 13yr old off at the pool in charge of her 3 and 1 yr old. Saddly the 3yr old drowned. I was horrified that a mother would leave a 13yr old incharge, now that poor child must live with that for the rest of their life

[Ffrenchknickers]

Gosh I dont think my kids will be left home alone until they are married loL!!

I was left home alone from about 10 I think....I did some baaaad stuff when there were no adults home :eek:

[Elfin]

I was about 11 and sometimes I actually felt quite scared and lonely. Didn't like it at all. So I won't be leaving mine that young I don't think although I am not there yet.

Ok Katie, spill the beans what did you get up to :D

[Ffrenchknickers]

Hehehe....m=hmmm where do I start?
No, maybe better not.....where;s the "my lips are sealed" smilie?

[Elfin]

Ok I will confess. I once and only once smoked one of my Mum's cigarettes. And no I don't smoke now nor did I ever much since then. Hate smoking acutally :p

[Ffrenchknickers]

Oh, you REBEL!! lol :p

[Elfin]

Ha Ha. That was definitely me a rebel without any cause - lol :rolleyes:

[Miss_Vicki]

Reading this made me think of a very sad story that happened near me a few weeks back. A mother dropped her 13yr old off at the pool in charge of her 3 and 1 yr old. Saddly the 3yr old drowned. I was horrified that a mother would leave a 13yr old incharge, now that poor child must live with that for the rest of their life

Dam whats up with that Pools rules?? kids Under the age of 10 need adult (over 18 ) supervison at our local pool

[Shelly68]

We have left our 2 girls home for approx 1 hour when DH and I finish/start times cross over. They lock all the doors, but leave the keys in them. They don't answer the home phone, if I want them I will call them on DH's mobile, (which he leaves with them).

They don't answer the door to anybody, even the police. In the event god forbid that something bad happened to either or both of us the neighbours have instructions on what to do (ie, contacting our families who all live interstate).

We've also discussed what would happen if somebody came to the door and started yelling out that 'mummy told me come and pick you up and take you to her work'. I have told them a password which in the event that I need somebody to pick them up (and it's not previously planned) the person will know it. If they don't give them the password they are not to go with them.

Otherwise they have the next door neighbours number and call them at any time.

I hate leaving them at home alone but it's only happened 2 or 3 times in the past 6 months. At least now I know my roster weeks and weeks in advance so I can organise to drop the kids off somewhere for the hour or so that it overlaps.

They know not to play with the stove or matches etc. The only thing they're allowed to do is get themselves a drink of milk out of the fridge so they don't need to touch anything that requires adult supervision.

All cooking is done before I leave so there is no need for them to touch anything they are not supposed to.

We are always doing fire drills (because of the fact that we live in a 2 storey home) so they know what to do in that case.

I would never dream of leaving them overnight or for more than 1 hour at a time until they are much older (like 15 or so, even then I'd be freaking out if it was overnight).

[Ky]

My friend was let off with a warning as she had been unaware of the law ... they said next time it would be arrest, court case and loss of her kids!

She was dobbed in by a security guard at the shopping centre ... I guess they were just doing thier job and I suppose that I find it comforting, although it would have been very embarrasing for her at the time!

When we lived in Sydney, we used to put our kids to bed and then go next door for the evening. We were in an apartment block and my bil had made a "bug" that we put in the kids room and tuned thier stereo into so we could hear them at all times.

I send Bella into shop all of the time to get things for me ... of course, as she is only 4 ½ I stand a discreet distance away and keep an eye on her. How else is she going to learn things like the value of money, how to articulate herself clearly etc. She will be catching the school bus every morning next year and she won't even be 5! i will be entrusting her into the care of a nearly 10 year old to make sure taht she gets off at school and to her classroom ... and yet, I won't be prosecuted for this!!!

I will also admit to leaving the kids in the car while I pop into a shop ... only if I have a park right out front and can see them at all time though. Sometimes, the hassle of getting them out is almost painful!

[bumMum]

I think around 11 or 12. In my community services diploma I did a child protection unit and I remember reading that it is considered dangerous for children under the age of 8 to be left along for more than a short time. No idea how this is judged, but I found it interesting. a short time I guess would be like.. mum popping over the road or something? i wouldnt leave an 8 year old home alone at all i dont think. But yeah, I beleive at 11 or 12 it would be reasonable. that is around the age I would like to teach my children to use public transport in preparation for high school, and would like to encourage them to be a bit more independant.