At what age is it "ok" to let your child play solo in the backyard
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Anonymous
| What are you worried about? I let mine play outside alone at 2 in a fenced yard. The younger my kids were, the more I checked on them. |
Anonymous
Same here. I'm not telling my two yr old to run up the street and get me a loaf of bread but I do let him explore our yard while keep an eye on him. |
Anonymous
| We don't have a yard, but I let my 3 yo do this at my brother's house. Fenced in yard visible from inside living room. Of course, he didn't want to play out there by himself for very long. |
Anonymous
| Four. Two is way too young for me - but everyone has their own comfort level, obviously. |
Anonymous
| Depends on the kid, the house, and the yard. I have a small, tall-fenced-in, townhouse backyard. I let my son run out there early, because I was sitting inside in the next room. Now, he likes to run outside and play in the front yard, which is very big and next to a busy street, so I have to be out there with him still (he's four). |
Anonymous
+2. we have a smallish fenced in back yard and i have let the kids out there to explore and play by themselves as early as 2. i stay in the kitchen where i can look out there. i think it is REALLY important to instill a feeling of independence in our kids in safe environments. |
Anonymous
| Two is a bit young for me. B |
Anonymous
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absolutely not.
Note the arlington county supervision guidelines which include 'yard' as unsupervised. http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/HumanServices/services/family/HumanServicesServicesFamilyHowyoung.aspx |
Anonymous
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If your child would be able to unlatch the gate or slip thru an opening in the fence without you hearing, then I say not at 2.
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Anonymous
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Wow, I must be really overprotective. I JUST started letting my 7 and 5 year olds play in the backyard alone. Our yard is fenced, but it's not a privacy fence - anyone can see/walk in.
I never let my 2-year old out with them, unless I'm with them as well. |
Anonymous
I don't think I'd consider the yard as "unsupervised" if the parent is checking out the window every few minutes. |
Anonymous
| At age two, I would allow a 2y.o. in a fenced yard if I watched from the house almost the whole time. No more than a couple minutes unattended. I encourage safe independence. |
Anonymous
Those guidelines say that you shouldn't let a seven year old be in a yard by themselves. A 2 year old seems young, but waiting until 8 seems extreme on the other end |
Anonymous
| My son is nearly 4. I would let him out for sure if I could see through the window and the yard was fenced and he couldn't open it. For as long as he wanted to with me periodically checking. Probably ok with something like that from about age 3.5 up. I have a townhouse with a small backyard but the fence does not latch so in our case I only let him pay outside very briefly and I'm pretty vigilant about checking through the window. |
Anonymous
That's nuts!  I think it depends on the yard and 99% of parents are responsible enough to judge their children, the yard, the fence etc and make their own judgment calls. We let our dc play alone in the yard around 4 but also trust the 7 yr old with the toddler for a few minutes at a time (running in the house for something etc).
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