Our kids are 8 and 10 and we're comfortable leaving them alone for a short trip to the store or a quick errand. Not comfortable leaving them for more than an hour or at night.

Here are the legal guidelines for Maryland.
https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/mcfrs-info/tips/parents/childcare.html#:~:text=Maryland%20Child%20Protective%20Services%20Procedures,or%20who%20is%20under%2013.

Anonymous wrote:6-7 years old

I agree with this.

6-7 years old

I left my 6 year old for that long the other day. When he's watching TV, he doesn't know if we're home or not.

We have a landline, so he knows how to call me if he needs me.

It went fine.

I've left my 9 year old home alone for a couple hours at this point.

I would never leave them home together because they'd try to kill each other while we were gone.

We have been leaving our older girls (10 and 8) alone for a grocery run or taking youngest to soccer game for a year or so.
Youngest is 5 and we have never left him. We might start in a year or so with his sisters.

I would leave my second grader for an hour. She gets nervous if it’s longer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It soooo depends on the kid. We started leaving him alone while we walked the dogs around the neighborhood at 8–but we were always within a few minutes of home if there was an emergency. At 10 I feel comfortable running to the grocery store without him.

+1. Roughly these ages.

+2

+3 we’d leave our daughter around then as we ran in the morning. We’d leave her with our cell phone so she could make a call. And alarm the house. But she was also a kid that if we said hey don’t leave this spot and don’t touch anything she wouldn’t.

Unless there are special needs, this is the most conservative I would be and I think you could possibly be more permissive depending on the kid.

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/familyservices/children-youth/child-supervision-guidelines#:~:text=11%2D12%20years%20old%20may,with%20a%20plan%20in%20place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It soooo depends on the kid. We started leaving him alone while we walked the dogs around the neighborhood at 8–but we were always within a few minutes of home if there was an emergency. At 10 I feel comfortable running to the grocery store without him.

+1. Roughly these ages.

+2

12. But why really?

You can find guidelines but it is kid dependent. One of mine was comfortable at 8 for the quick run to the grocery store or to drop a sibling off at practice. The other kid was nervous being home alone for these even at 10.

Anonymous wrote:It soooo depends on the kid. We started leaving him alone while we walked the dogs around the neighborhood at 8–but we were always within a few minutes of home if there was an emergency. At 10 I feel comfortable running to the grocery store without him.

+1. Roughly these ages.

It soooo depends on the kid. We started leaving him alone while we walked the dogs around the neighborhood at 8–but we were always within a few minutes of home if there was an emergency. At 10 I feel comfortable running to the grocery store without him.

I don’t know when that starts?