Safety with Emirates24|7: What is the right age to leave your child home alone?

When is it okay to leave your child alone at home? And, how old should they be before you can leave them unsupervised?

Parents often face the dilemma about what’s right and what’s not.

Most adults fear the worst and don’t leave children home alone, even if it means avoiding a trip to the shop next door, or a visit to the building gym.

Experts suggest parents must cross out these crucial points before taking the decision:

Age vs maturity

Age doesn’t clearly indicate whether a child is safe to be left on his own.

Experts suggest parents base their evaluation on the child’s maturity level and how s/he has demonstrated responsible behaviour before.

Some of the key questions every parent must address is whether the child is physically and mentally able to care for himself? Is the child unafraid to be on his own? Can the child obey rules?

Is the child ready?

It’s extremely important to ask your child how s/he feels about being home alone.

Experts advise parents to never force this situation on a child.

The kids must show signs of confidence, and shouldn’t be scared of the situation.

Even the circumstances which leads to the child’s stay at home makes a difference.

When and how a child is left home alone can make a difference to his or her safety and success.

The duration of your absence, whether it’s day or night, and whether it’s their meal time also impacts the child’s wellbeing.

Home must be safe

Your home should be safe for your child and adults must ensure that children can’t access hazardous materials and the balconies and windows are kept locked.

Safety skills

The child also needs to master some safety skills before being able to stay home alone.

S/he should know what to do and whom to contact in an emergency, while a little or any knowledge of basic first-aid will also be useful.

The parent must ensure that the child is aware of what to do in emergency situations and should memorise their parents’ contact numbers.

They must also be warned about not entertaining strangers when their alone.

Trial period

Parents must undertake a trial period where they leave the child home alone for a short time while staying close to home.

This is a good way to gauge how the child will fare.

Check in. Call your child while you are away to see how it’s going, or have a trusted neighbour or friend check in.

Talk to your child

Once the decision has been established, parents must ensure that children feel comfortable about being left alone.

Always talk to them about possible scenarios and educate them about how to cope.

Role-play is a good way of involving the children, while helping them build confidence and enabling them to learn of how to reach in emergencies.

Experts warn that toddler would not be able to cope on their own at home and you may be looking at the age of 14 or 15 or even older before your child can be home alone.

This is not something to be rushed and you should look into alternatives for home childcare such as babysitters, maids, nanny, trusted friend, family member etc.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.