ok i know there are a lot of parents here on CC. what are your opinions on leaving a child home alone? at what age do you feel that its ok and safe to leave a child alone? also would you consider it safe to leave a 11 or 10 year old in charge of a baby under the age of one?

I think some states actually have laws about what age a child can be left alone. I don't think I would leave a 10-11 year old alone, and NOT with a small child for sure! I'm not sure 10-11 year olds are old enough to take good care of themselves, especially in an emergency, let alone a small child. Maybe I'm a worry wart, but there are lots of weirdos in the world today.

I would probably consider letting my DD stay home alone at 10. I wouldn't however leave her with a baby at that age, and she's a very responsible child. I probably would wait till she was 12.

i wouldnt either but i know some one who does and was trying to see if i was crazy to think thats way tooo young to leave alone. i looked online and our state does not have a set age but goes by maturity level however it says nothing about leaving a baby alone with a child that age

My 12 year old step son has been allowed to stay home alone since last year. I would not let him babysit yet though. However, my 11 year old step daughter is not allowed to stay home alone because of her maturity level. So I guess it depends on the child.

This really depends on the child - I taught 11 years olds last year and some of them (about 25%, mostly girls) I would happily trust with a baby - but the majority not. I would have trusted about 75% of them on their own and 25% of them there's no way I would leave them alone and expect to come back to sanity!

This really depends on the child - I taught 11 years olds last year and some of them (about 25%, mostly girls) I would happily trust with a baby - but the majority not. I would have trusted about 75% of them on their own and 25% of them there's no way I would leave them alone and expect to come back to sanity!

I would say 12 or 13, but would need to have taken a babysitting class. One of our local hospitals offer babysitting certifications and I believe that they have to be a min. of 12 to take it. But like the other posters said, it would really depend on the child, and also the baby's temperament.

A co-worker, who was a single mom, called the welfare dept to find out their guidelines on children home alone as she was trying to reduce her summer daycare bill. She was told 12 was considered old enough. She left her 12 year old with the 10-year old at home, but continued to take the 7year old to day care.

The leaving alone depends on the child, some states have no specific laws about it.
I know that I personally was babysitting two young kids (3 &4) the summer I was 11 (I'm a May birthday so I hadn't been 11 long). I stayed with my grandparents that summer and they were my cousins, my uncle and grandparents all worked in the small town and would check up on me every few hours. I would have been capable of taking care of an older baby at that age too.
Labor Day weekend we let my 8 year old and my brother's 4 year old play computer at my mom's house while we were up the hill at my brother's for a couple hours. It's a large chunk of private property and takes maybe 5 minutes to walk up the hill, my child is VERY responsible and they knew if they wanted something to come up and tell us.

It would probably depend on where I was going (how far away) and for how long. If I were to just run up to the store a mile away to get something, I would probably consider leaving that age child alone...I'm not sure about with a baby though. My eldest is just 7 and I'm sure I wouldn't leave him alone but I could see it in a couple years.

This reminds me of a debate I was having with some people a couple weeks ago on another messageboard about that girl (4 yo) who was kidnapped from a hotel room in Portugal (I think that's where). Her parents had left her and her 2 year old twin sisters sleeping in the room while they ate a nice dinner across the street. When they came back she was missing. Anyway, the debate was about whether they should have left the girls alone or not. I said no way but there were some (young, unmarried guys) who thought it was perfectly OK to leave them there alone sleeping since the parents were "just across the street"

I left my DD for a few hours here and there when she was 10 and will do the same with my other two. I didn't start leaving my other two children with her until she had received the babysitting class through the Red Cross at the age of 12 - and my youngest was 2 at the time.

We also had a neighbor who did the same exact thing as you are mentioning. The oldest was 10 and they watched the baby who was 1 1/2 for 5-6 hours at a time. I guess only the parents really know how responsible their child is but I can't see a 10 year old being responsible for someone that young.

I have a 14 year old boy who will watch my girls 10 and 5 for a hour or so while I go to the store. I however would honestly say my DD of 10 years of age is very mature for her age and is in the process of getting her cpr certificate in Babysitting at the local 4 - H camp near by. Although I wouldn't leave her yet (she will be 11 in Nov.) alone because she would get frightened if ANYTHING happened. Same girl that saves my DS from cricket bugs and worms LOL .

Lasombra,
hope you told those unmarried guys that if they pull that trick with their children that they better be ready to lose them to CPS.


Young unmarried Guys...shesh

mommachris