How old to leave a child home alone for 10-30 minutes

[Anonymous]

Fairfax County policy is stated as GUIDELINES only, not law. Therefore it is not illegal to leave your 7 year old home alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By the time DD was 7, I would leave her for up to an hour. For me, it works best if I give her some specific tasks to do before I leave. "Finish eating, wash your plate, then after you get ready for bed you can either knit or read."

I hope that you are just using this as a random example.

Because leaving a 7 year old home alone unsupervised for dinner and bedtime is just irresponsible.

I wouldn't do that either when my daughter was 7, but seriously, think about what you just said. Who are you to tell other parents (who you don't know, whose kid you don't know) that they are "just irresponsible" for making a choice they believe is right for their family?

Because A) 7 years old is too young to legally be left alone without an adult and B) What kind of parent leaves their 7 year old (1st grade) alone at night?

I am guessing that if CPS were to be called about this, the parent would be in a heap of trouble.

I'm the person who did that. I don't know what kind of dumb kid you produced, but at the time I had my seven year-old doing this, she was in third grade, not first. Also, in September, it was light out until 8pm. So leaving her at home by herself for 45 minutes when she's finishing pizza while watching Mary Poppins does not mean leaving her when it's dark out. BTW, most home invasions happen during the daytime, during working hours. Keep your helicopters away from my family.

[Anonymous]

14:11 WOW! Your kid was a 4 year old kindergartner?

She's so smart!

[Anonymous]

Not 15!!! Do it now while you can trust them

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:14:11 WOW! Your kid was a 4 year old kindergartner?

She's so smart!

I was a 4 year old kindergartener....what's the big deal about that?

[Anonymous]

With a baby monitor going, I left an infant alone for a few minutes while I was outside, but would have been in in seconds if I heard anything.

We left our 8 yo alone during daylight hours for upto 1/2 hrs. Now, at 10, we will leave her alone a little longer, and sometimes in the evening, but no longer than 45 min-1 hr. And that is for events like Back to school night.

I can not imagine leaving an 8 yo watching a 4 yo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone know the legal age in DC, off the top of the head?

DC doesn't have this law. I've researched it extensively before we left our kids home. We started when my older son was 12 and his younger brother was 8. We started as an hour here and an hour there. Now, my older son is 14 and the younger is 10 so we definitely allow the older to "babysit". He's in high school.

[Anonymous]

My son is 7, and I'll now leave for 5-10 to walk my younger son to a friend's house or pick him up, something short like that. No eating, no leaving the house, no answering the door. He LOVES it and never gets into trouble (he's just not that kind of kid, anyway).

[Anonymous]

I started leaving both of my kids alone at 7. No more than 30-45 minutes while I ran to the corner store or the post office. They were fine. They're good kids and follow the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:14:11 WOW! Your kid was a 4 year old kindergartner?

She's so smart!

I was a 4 year old kindergartener....what's the big deal about that?

In this area (VA and MD) they no longer allow 4 year olds to start kindergarten in public school, except under very rare specific situations.

So being a 4 year old kindergartner is a novelty, and not the average.

[Anonymous]

I can't figure out how a 7 year old could be in third grade.

My non-red-shirted 7 year old is in first grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By the time DD was 7, I would leave her for up to an hour. For me, it works best if I give her some specific tasks to do before I leave. "Finish eating, wash your plate, then after you get ready for bed you can either knit or read."

I hope that you are just using this as a random example.

Because leaving a 7 year old home alone unsupervised for dinner and bedtime is just irresponsible.

I wouldn't do that either when my daughter was 7, but seriously, think about what you just said. Who are you to tell other parents (who you don't know, whose kid you don't know) that they are "just irresponsible" for making a choice they believe is right for their family?

Because A) 7 years old is too young to legally be left alone without an adult and B) What kind of parent leaves their 7 year old (1st grade) alone at night?

I am guessing that if CPS were to be called about this, the parent would be in a heap of trouble.

I'm the person who did that. I don't know what kind of dumb kid you produced, but at the time I had my seven year-old doing this, she was in third grade, not first. Also, in September, it was light out until 8pm. So leaving her at home by herself for 45 minutes when she's finishing pizza while watching Mary Poppins does not mean leaving her when it's dark out. BTW, most home invasions happen during the daytime, during working hours. Keep your helicopters away from my family.

Good for you.

I plan on leaving my child alone for a quick half hour run occasionally when he turns eight. A half hour is one short video on tv. Or he can do his homework or play on the Ipad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't figure out how a 7 year old could be in third grade.

My non-red-shirted 7 year old is in first grade.

And my non-red-shirted seven-year-old is in second grade. Big deal.

Stick with the topic, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't figure out how a 7 year old could be in third grade.

My non-red-shirted 7 year old is in first grade.

If she started K when she was 4, she would be 7 when she started 3rd.

4 in K, 5 in 1st, 6 in 2nd, 7 in 3rd

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't figure out how a 7 year old could be in third grade.

My non-red-shirted 7 year old is in first grade.

Mine too.

My oldest is always the youngest in his class, and just turned 7 at the start of 2nd grade.