How Young is Too Young to Leave Kids Home Alone?

While every state may have a recommended minimum age, I could not find any hard and fast rules about leaving kids home alone (although I found this table at LifeHacker helpful.)

Wanting to allow my younger daughter Katherine some independence as she entered her tween years, when she was 9 years old I sent her on a full-day course put on by The Babysitter’s Course that taught “home alone and first aid” fundamentals (what to do if you’re home alone and get hungry, hurt, if the phone rings, if there’s a knock at the door, etc.).

After the day-long course, Katherine had earned her certificate.

Still, I wasn’t sure I was comfortable leaving her alone at home. So over a few weeks and months, I began infiltrate random conversations with hypothetical “what-if” questions, to ensure she had retained the vital info.

I also began to let her cook simple things on her own… fried eggs, soup, boxed mac and cheese.

I began letting her walk to school, the park, her friend’s house by herself. She was flexing her independence muscle, and liking it, and I was learning how to loosen the apron strings. Win-win.

I was still nervous, but I knew that with the increase in responsibilities and the faith I was showing in her, Katherine was going to develop self-confidence, which is so important as she heads into the teen years.

So I finally took the leap and let her stay home alone – she was 10 years old at this time, and we started out small, just when I would go get the mail or head out to pick her sister up from the arena, and then increased to full, 2-hour shopping trips or lunches out.

She did well.

Next up, babysitting!

Photo credits: Wavebreakmedia Ltd./Thinkstock, & Vikulin/Thinkstock

Natalie Rea

Mom to two amazing daughters - a feisty teen in middle school, and an ambitious young adult in university. Originally from Montréal's West Island, I now explore the beautiful trails of Hamilton, Ontario. Proud Canadian, vegetarian, dog-adopter, & bleeding-heart liberal. I smile a lot because I have Resting Bitch Face.