What Age Can Kids Stay Home Alone?

Let me know if you can find out about this? mine is 10 and he want to stay home but I cannot decide yet!
thanks
T.

I've heard that Child Protective Services will be called if anyone younger than 12 is allowed to stay home alone or left in charge of younger kids.

It is my personal belief that teens need their parents even more than young children do. Their hormones are out of control and it takes far less than 1 hour for a child to become pregnant. The stats of new babies being born to teens is astonishingly high. At one point I had read a statistic that said 60% of all teen pregnancies happen at home in their own bed after school.

While I am excited about my first grandchild being born in just a few months, I am extremely happy that I was able to maintain control of the situation at least until my daughters were adults. I can't imagine having a 12-17 year old pregnant daughter!

Suzi

How old are your kids?
Do you feel that at the ages they are know they are able to be reponsible to stay home by themselves and help look out for each other, and be able to handle a situation if it occurs?
Also do you feel confident that your children can handle being home for an hour or so?
My suggestion would be if you feel that they are responsible try leaving them home while you go to the grocery store and see how they do,then gradually let them be home longer. Make a rule sheet,list of phone #'s, ect for them and hang it on the fridge.
I feel about the age 11,12 and up they should be fine depending on their maturity level.

I hope this helps out some.

My daughter can stay home by herself for an hour or less. My son didn't start staying home alone until he was 13, because he wasn't as comfortable. I also think my daughter is more mature than him. A friend of mine has a son in 5th grade, just turned 11 who walks a few blocks home from school (with friends) and stays home until his mom gets there a few hours later. It really depends on the kid and how comfortable they are being home by themselves. And ask yourself how comfortable you are letting them stay home alone, that makes a big difference, too. I always keep my cell phone on so who ever is home alone can call me if they need to. Right now 1 hour or less is the max. either child is home alone.
V.

Well I seem to be way off from what the other have said, my son was 8 when I left him for a quick run to the store (10 mins here and there), he was fine and was comfortable enough and we lived in an apartment and had plenty of neighbors and such. That year he started coming home after school, he was home for about 45 mins before I got home. He knew to come home, lock the door, call me, do his homework, or whatever chores I had left for him. He was mature for his age and did quite well with it. He is now 11 and still doing good. Good luck, I know it's a hard choice

I don't think there is an age to define that. One 12 year old is going to be different from another 12 year old.

You really have to just base it on the child's maturity level. Would they know what to do in an emergency, how would the handle it? Would the freak out and have a break down, or would the be able to remain calm?

I personally will probably test the waters (30 mins max.) when my son is 10 years old, he's fairly mature in his thinking and highly analytical thinker.

Good Morning C., Well first you didn't tell us how old your 4 Kid-os are. So I'm punting here. If the oldest is 12-13, youngest 8, I would allow them to be at home alone for an hour or less. With Definite RULES to abide by.

Since you have 4 children do they all ride the same bus to and from school? If so same Rules applies. If you have neighbors close by who are home, I would ask that they help keep n eye on the house while your gone just to be safe. Watch them walk from the bus etc. IF its possible.
One thing is a definite, if they are walking riding staying home together, They STAY together no one take off with out the others.

It's a hard question to answer with out more information.
Hope it gives you some ideas though on how you will proceed.
God Bless all of you and yours
K. Nana of 5
PS right now our two oldest gr kids ride their bike 4 blocks to school, they are 9 & 8, They stay together and if they goof off they do not ride anymore. Our son followed them for the first week to make sure they knew all the riding and traffic rules. They also ride with 3 other kids their ages.

You might check with the Red Cross in your area. I thought it was age 12. I thought you could get in trouble if they were younger than that. You might want to send your kids through Red Cross babysitting course before you leave them alone. That way they will be more prepared.

C.,
What county are you in? I know that in St. Louis county they must be 11 or 12 to stay at home alone or family services can be called. Also you need to decide how mature your children are. If the oldest one is mature enough to watch the younger ones. How old is the oldest and how young is the youngest? One thing to also have if you do allow it is to have very strict rules. I know that when I was in 6th grade and watching my sister who is 3 years younger than me we had our house broken into while we were at school. They took my piggy bank and smoked and watched tv in my parents room. Neiter of my parents smoked at the time. My mom did not want us to call the police but did want us to go out side and play so when the neighbors all started comming home they were all stopping and asking us what we were doing outside and we told them all what happened. Looking back I do not think that I was mature enough to have been left at home to deal with the situation. I am not sure why my mom did not want me to call the police till she got home.

I believe in the State of Illinois there is a law and they must be 13.

If I were you, I would check the web for your state's law about it.

Then I would use the scenerio of can you trust them are they mature enough to handle it. I would do very short test runs, make sure they know what to do in an emergency - if a kid comes to ask if they can play and all the things that could come up.

I would feel more comfortable with it if there was a neighbor home nearby whom they could turn to.

We have had our girls on occasion home alone for 30 mins or less. They are 11, 10, 8...we have a 6 year old but she has 1/2 day kindergarten and is still at daycare when the bigger girls get home. So, we don't leave her at home with her sisters. The big girls come in, aren't allowed outside until we get home, do homework, do chores, no cooking, only answer calls with our caller id information, no calling friends until we're home. We also have a neighbor that is easily accessible if they need someone. It's worked out for us and the girls are great.

My younger brother and I stayed home for an hour alone starting when I was in 4th grade (my brother is two years younger), and did that all through the rest of our school lives.

I was 10 and my brother was 8 when my mom allowed us to be at home after school alone for about 2 hours. of course, there were strict rules about it too. And that was back in the 80's. My step kids were allowed to stay alone for an hour or so at the age of 13. I think things are a little different as far as safety-wise nowadays. But I am sure kids can be mature enough to handle it at a younger age. I think it also depends on the child's personality/maturity.

Well my parents had me riding the public bus home from school when I was in the 4th grade. The bus stop was about a block away from the school and would drop me off about 2 blocks from home but that was in 1979/80 and I was about 9 years old. We also lived in a small town (roughly 20,000). I had to wait for the bus for about 20 minutes and it was less than a 15 minute ride home (i.e. I'd get out at 3 and was generally walking in the door around 3:45 or so).

I think you should gauge the maturity of your child, along with the safety of the town you live in...if you (and your child) feel comfortable with it then I think you should be fine...maybe have a friend ride home with them on the first day??? Might help if they are scared to do it the first time by themselves.

I have 4 kids also at a wide age range: 17, 13, 7, and 3. It does depend on where you live and how mature they are. Kids are ready at different ages. They are ready when they understand not to open the door for strangers, don't leave the house, lock the doors, not to cook on the stove or oven, how to call you and 911, don't tell anyone parents aren't home, etc. and are mature enough to handle it. And if you live in a safe area. I think my two older ones were about 8 or 9 when they could for just an hour. My husband has left my almost 8 year old at home for an hour alone and I had a heart attack and got upset... I haven't allowed it again, but, if I were honest, he did fine and wasn't scared and we don't really have any dangers at our house and I have seen others do that. My others would never have been okay with that or ready at that age. They are ready when you decide they are ready, just make sure you consider what could happen in your absence and make them prepared.

I read a great article about this a few months ago. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find it again. But it said it's really based on maturity level more than age. It also said to make sure your child knows important things like their phone number & address, how to dial a phone, what to do in case of a fire, etc. It also talked about siblings-- whether they can get along with eachother, and to not assume that they can take care of a younger sibling, even though they can take care of themselves. I would definitely recommend having them take a "staying home alone" class and preparing them for what to do in an emergency. One emergency that I hadn't thought of that the article mentioned was a broken water pipe-- would your child know to call you and not to go in the water (it could be near electricity)? You just want to be sure they are prepared for any emergency.

I started by having my oldest take a home alone class at age 9 or 10. Then I began leaving him on short spurts; that went well, so as he gets older, we do longer, and leave his sister too. They follow the same rules as above mentioned. I think a lot of kids are ready by 9 or 10, but only for short times.

My girls are 16 and 9. The older one has a job after school a couple days a week. Usally my husband gets home in time for the younger girl but from time to time she will be home alone for 30 minutes or less. We started out talking to her about what to do if she was home alone (call mom or dad to let them know she was home, do chores & home work, don't answer the door, check caller ID before answering the phone.) Then we would leave her home alone while we would do a quick errand (15 minutes or less). I don't think she is ready to be left alone for an hour or more maybe when she is 11.