Guest guest Posted September 16, 2001 Report Share Posted September 16, 2001 >Does anybody know the legal age-limits that you can leave a child >unattended? I read somewhere recently (maybe following that incident of the woman who left her kids in the care of 16yo and theh ouse caught fire?) that in fact it's not illegal to leave even a very young child alone in the house *as long as you are certain they can come to no harm*. So presumably you could leave baby sleeping in its cot whilst you nipped out to pick up a child from school or got a pint of milk. I'm not saying anyone should do this, etc and all usual disclaimers but that it's not illegal. I guess a toddler would be a little different as they can more easily come to harm being more mobile and more investigative. -- Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 16, 2001 Report Share Posted September 16, 2001 > Does anybody know the legal age-limits that you can leave a child > unattended? A police-woman I talked with recently thought it was > 12/13 and maybe up to the parent's discretion viz whether child is > responsible and knows what to do in difficult situation. My understanding is that there isn't a specific legal age. We have just started leaving our two girls from when they get home from school (4.15pm) till when DH gets home from work (could be anywhere betwen 4 and 5.30pm) on the days when I do evening surgery. They are 13y 7m and 12y 1m. I wouldn't leave them in the evening yet. Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 16, 2001 Report Share Posted September 16, 2001 > My understanding is that there isn't a specific legal age. We have just > started leaving our two girls from when they get home from school (4.15pm) > till when DH gets home from work <> Sue This is interesting, my DDs are just 10 and 7. DD1 is getting more independent, though she herself tells me what she is comfortable with. I am sure there will be a day when she can be left in the house - I would feel comfortable if she was on her own, but not if her little sister was there too, winding her up! She is also showing a keen interest in ironing, hooray! My feeling is that when she goes up to secondary school will be a watershed... eek, it`s next Sept! We have to start looking at schools now - though we have pretty much decided anyway. Barbara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 16, 2001 Report Share Posted September 16, 2001 > Does anybody know the legal age-limits that you can leave a child > unattended? A police-woman I talked with recently thought it was > 12/13 My neighbour regularly leaves her children alone (11 and 7) while she takes her DH to work (he's also a P/T Fireman so she really should know better). But then she never knows where they are anyway, many evenings her 11 year old son is sent to trawl the neighbours houses to see if 7 year old daughter might be there. I would love to report them but her DH is *SO* foul tempered that none of us other Mums in the street dare to cross him. I did talk to him about his son when I got a football through my hall window, but I almost wished I hadn't when the boy came to apologise - he looked terrified - they did pay up eventually. They also have a dog which barks all day because it gets left in the garden, we have complained about that but nothing happens. We have all tried welcoming the children to play with our children but something always get broken " by accident " , and DS gets bullied by their son, so I've now banned them from our house (again) for a while. It's a shame that some people don't seem to care about their children. While I'm having a moan, they went on holiday recently, and we all breathed a sigh of relief, but while they were away his workmates came to do their drive - they worked well into the night, were extremely noisy and blocked the pathway for a week. They had been bullied into it as he's their immediate boss and they are all scared of him too. Horrible, horrible neighbours!! Ruth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 16, 2001 Report Share Posted September 16, 2001 > This is interesting, my DDs are just 10 and 7. DD1 is getting more > independent, though she herself tells me what she is comfortable with. > I am sure there will be a day when she can be left in the house - I > would feel comfortable if she was on her own, but not if her little > sister was there too, winding her up! You are right Barbara, and this is precisely why we have left it as long as this. I have left dd1 on her own long before now - and she is very trustworthy on her own - but the two together and it was a disaster. At 12 and 13.5 they feel too old for a 'babysitter' - so they are on probation for these after school afternoons!!! So far, so good :-) Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 16, 2001 Report Share Posted September 16, 2001 I know things were different when we were young, but I remember picking up my sister from the nursery section of our junior school and walking her home and then looking after her until my parents got home from work having picked up the 2 younger girls from the child minder. I was 11 (max.) and my sister would have been 5. No one thought there was anything wrong with this, although it could explain why I have always felt a lot older than I am and why my sister and I do not have a good relationship. Needless to say I wouldn't do this with my own children! http://www.foxstitch.co.uk/ Sue Saxey wrote: > > This is interesting, my DDs are just 10 and 7. DD1 is getting more > > independent, though she herself tells me what she is comfortable with. > > I am sure there will be a day when she can be left in the house - I > > would feel comfortable if she was on her own, but not if her little > > sister was there too, winding her up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 17, 2001 Report Share Posted September 17, 2001 When I did my training as a child minder, I was told that there is no legal age, it is up to you to decide when your child is responsible to be left. However, until they are 16, you are liable for anything they do as a result of them being left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 17, 2001 Report Share Posted September 17, 2001 > Does anybody know the legal age-limits that you can leave a child > unattended? A police-woman I talked with recently thought it was > 12/13 and maybe up to the parent's discretion viz whether child is > responsible and knows what to do in difficult situation. > > Also it seems unclear what ages you can leave children with a > babysitter at. My understanding is 12 on their own, 14 in charge of someone else. Obviously, it's up to you at what age you leave them with a babysitter - you can leave a newborn if you feel the babysitter is responsible enough. It's a great feeling when you no longer need to worry about babysitters, I must say. Now they are 15 and 12 we are completely legal and I am trying to persuade my 15 y-o to go out and earn her crust with some babysitting of her own! We have been leaving them in the evenings for over a year now, and during the daytime for longer. Akiko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 17, 2001 Report Share Posted September 17, 2001 > >> Does anybody know the legal age-limits that you can leave a child >> unattended? A police-woman I talked with recently thought it was >> 12/13 and maybe up to the parent's discretion viz whether child is >> responsible and knows what to do in difficult situation. >> >> Also it seems unclear what ages you can leave children with a >> babysitter at. > >My understanding is 12 on their own, 14 in charge of someone else. >Obviously, it's up to you at what age you leave them with a >babysitter - you can leave a newborn if you feel the babysitter is >responsible enough. > >It's a great feeling when you no longer need to worry about >babysitters, I must say. Now they are 15 and 12 we are completely >legal and I am trying to persuade my 15 y-o to go out and earn her >crust with some babysitting of her own! We have been leaving them in >the evenings for over a year now, and during the daytime for longer. > >Akiko Ah, now I think that there *is* a definite legal limit on the age at which you can be held responsible for someone else and that is 16. (Not sure where that leaves young teenage mothers...) -- jennifer@... Vaudin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 17, 2001 Report Share Posted September 17, 2001 > it's not illegal to leave even a very young child alone in the > house *as long as you are certain they can come to no harm*. So > presumably you could leave baby sleeping in its cot whilst you nipped > out to pick up a child from school or got a pint of milk. I'm sure I have said this before, but I am convinced that a baby is put at more risk if it is woken from a deep sleep in a safe cot and driven in a car on busy roads, perhaps in the rain, perhaps in a car seat that has seen better days, to do a school run, than if it is left at home. The risk of a traffic accident must be higher than the combined risk of fire and abduction. But as you say, you just can't ............ Lynda SAHM to (8), (6), Fraser (3), Callum (15/5/00) Newsletter editor, Mid-Northumberland Branch Area Rep, Region 7 www.familygarland.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 17, 2001 Report Share Posted September 17, 2001 Yes, but what happens if *you* have an accident having left baby at home for only " a minute " ; you are unconscious and noone knows about the baby? Alison I'm sure I have said this before, but I am convinced that a baby is put at more risk if it is woken from a deep sleep in a safe cot and driven in a car on busy roads, perhaps in the rain, perhaps in a car seat that has seen better days, to do a school run, than if it is left at home. The risk of a traffic accident must be higher than the combined risk of fire and abduction. But as you say, you just can't ............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 18, 2001 Report Share Posted September 18, 2001 >Yes, but what happens if *you* have an accident having left baby at home for >only " a minute " ; you are unconscious and noone knows about the baby? This is the excuse my friend uses when her 7yos insist that they don't want to nip out to the shops and will be all right on their own and she's insisting they must come with her. As for the baby situation you mention, someone would get in touch with your next of kin/contacts ASAP to inform of an accident anyway and they'd know about the baby who would probably be hungry but unlikely to have burnt the house down/fallen down the stairs and broken a leg. We could go on forever with 'what if'! FWIW when DH was working away my mum used to ring every morning to check I was ok. I used to think she was ringing for a chat but apparently she was ringing to make sure nothing had happened to us. I found this out when she admitted she'd been a bit panicked when she couldn't get hold of me cos I was out. Anyway, it got me so paranoid, I wouldn't change a lightbulb nor climb onto a chair to get to a high cupboard in case I fell off and knocked myself unconscious/got an electric shock etc. I even used to worry about carrying loads of laundry down the stairs in case I fell and couldn't get to the phone. It all got a bit silly to be honest. -- Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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