At what age is it "ok" to let your child play solo in the backyard

[Anonymous]

We have a fenced in backyard in a nice neighborhood. DD is 2, and DH says she's fine out there by herself, but I'm not so sure. While the possibility of someone jumping our fence to kidnap her are slim, the idea of my two-year-old outside sans adults is a little scary.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

My kid has been outdoors solo since age 2. I'm not worried.

[Anonymous]

Way too young! 2 year olds can easily get hurt, into things they shouldn't and wander off. Even though u say it's fenced in.

[Anonymous]

Are you crazy....2?????!!!!! I wouldn't even do that with my 4 year old....also will your 2 year old really play outside by herself or more than 2 minutes???

[Anonymous]

Four.

[Anonymous]

Fenced in? Maybe 4.

6 for our yard, but it's open to the (somewhat busy) street.

Not 2!

[Anonymous]

I think this depends on a couple of different factors. Is the child able to play independently and safely without supervision when inside? How visible is the entirety of your backyard from indoors, is there a lot of tree or bush cover that make parts of it hard to see? Any other potential safety risks (shed with lots of lawn care items, steep staircase to the basement, etc)? Things like this can make a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you crazy....2?????!!!!! I wouldn't even do that with my 4 year old....also will your 2 year old really play outside by herself or more than 2 minutes???

My daughters pretty independent. Usually I'll sit on the porch and she'll entertain herself for hours if I let her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think this depends on a couple of different factors. Is the child able to play independently and safely without supervision when inside? How visible is the entirety of your backyard from indoors, is there a lot of tree or bush cover that make parts of it hard to see? Any other potential safety risks (shed with lots of lawn care items, steep staircase to the basement, etc)? Things like this can make a big difference.

Grassy small backyard, with one tree, and some riding toys and small swing set. Nothing exciting.

[Anonymous]

No way!

[Anonymous]

I let my two year old do this. Fenced backyard, non-adventurous kid, big screen door into the kitchen where I am when he's out there. I think it entirely depends on your situation, but in our case I couldn't see how it was realistically more dangerous than him playing downstairs in our playroom where I can't look out the window and see what he's doing. I'm not comfortable with it when the glass door is closed and I can't hear him though.

[Anonymous]

I would say not two because they are not yet good at knowing their own abilities yet. They may go to touch an insect only to wind up stung. So I would say 4, or 3 ONLY if with another, older child.

[Anonymous]

We let ours at 4.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would say not two because they are not yet good at knowing their own abilities yet. They may go to touch an insect only to wind up stung. So I would say 4, or 3 ONLY if with another, older child.

FYI snowflake can get stung while mom or dad is there just as easily.

[Anonymous]

I probably let my DD go out at 2 for a 10 mins or so unattended, but my kitchen and family room have many windows and look on to my backyard. I definitely let her by 3 and now that she is four she goes out with her younger sib (just turned 3) unattended for much longer. Our fence is 8 feet high with doors that stick, so they couldn't get them open if they tried. The biggest hazard so far has been sand consumption.