ive just been thinking what age should a child be left on there own??

my boys are 3 and 1 so years off been home on there own.

I'm not sure but I don't think there's a definite age- it's more about the maturity of the child, but I think it's about 12. I was babysitting for other people's children by 14.

i was thinking about 11 / 12, just thought i would ask everyone else

Last year my boy was just 13 and the youngest nearly 9. I had to work (5 mins from home) I left them for 4 hrs a day. With instructions, rules and I called them every half hour.

Now, he is nearly 14 and can't wait for the chance to chill with the big tv. But he's a mature kid and chills out with the tv or plays guitar. We will leave him with his brother for a couple of hours in the evening.

depends where / when you're going and how sensible your child is. I'd never leave my 9 & 8 year old boys - probably not until they're at least 21 and NEVER together lol but my 12 year old daughter is very sensible. I would never leave her at night though. We have very good neighbours who would keep an eye on her if we needed to go out, and i always carry my mobile. My mum is also 5 minutes walk away.

My mum lives next door but one I will leave my 15 and 14 year olds but not my 12 year old even though he would like me too

My Mum began leaving me alone with my sister, first for VERY short periods (ie. whilst she walked to the corner shop) when I was about 10 or 11. Then by the age of 12 she was more confident with leaving us for slightly longer. I was also allowed to collect my sister from school (my school finished at 3pm, Mum would drop me at the corner and go on home to park the car and I would walk down the road to get my sis). By 14 I was babysitting for 2 afternoons a week for a neighbour and then became quite popular amongst local parents (helped by the fact I had a first aid certificate as part of DoE training). I was a mother's help at 18 and later on shared babysitting for that family with my sister. I think I last babysat for them in Summer 2006, before they moved away for a year and came back to find me a Mummy myself!

I think it depends on the child. My sister is nearly 7 full years younger than me and I was like a mini-Mum to her, so my Mum was fine with leaving us together as I wasn't the usual b*tchy older sis!

my mum left us for a couple of hours from when i was 8, older sis was 10 and younger sis was 6

thanks for all the replies, when my 3yr old is 8 i would leave him to go to the local shop (on the next road but only 9-10 doors away) he is very grown up for his age even at 3 years old he acts older.

Hi, I did used leave my stepson on his own during the school hols as he didn't want to do the same stuff (he is almost 13). He was okay but I won't at the moment as he eats everything in sight (literally everything). He knows it will get him in trouble but he does it anyway so at the moment he has to come everywhere with us much to his disgust.

I think in general 12/13 ish is okay for short periods. I have family friends in the same street if there were any problems.