when is the right age to leave kids alone in a car???

personally...I would never do it...don't care about the situation I have NEVER will I EVER leave my children unattended in a car while they are little..My eldest is 7 and I still think she has a looong way to go before I let her be responsible for her brother and sister.... What age is it ok to leave your children unattended...I am thinking 14.. your thoughts????

Quoting K_Y_L_I_E:“ personally...I would never do it...don't care about the situation I have NEVER will I EVER leave my children ... [snip!] ... for her brother and sister.... What age is it ok to leave your children unattended...I am thinking 14.. your thoughts????”

I'm thinking the same... 14 IF they are responsible enough (everyone matures different)... and never leave the keys in the car. If they are old enough to be home alone, they're old enough to be in the car alone.

Quoting Vanessa & Owen:“ I'm thinking the same... 14 IF they are responsible enough (everyone matures different)... and never ... [snip!] ... and never leave the keys in the car. If they are old enough to be home alone, they're old enough to be in the car alone.”

same here...I used to think I was very responsible at 14, but then I look back and think WTF.....

Seriously?
So...a 12 year old is legally responsible enough to get a babysitters Cert...but not to be left alone in a car?
Wtf?



Seriously....I would say like 9 or 10.
once they can be trusted alone in a room with a baby...then they are good in the car.
As long as i know they won't drive off in it anyway.

I would say 8-9-10, depending on their maturity. I see not a problem leaving this age group in the car to say, grab soda, pay for gas or a fast errand. If I was going out for groceries or longer errands, than the child can come in with me. If they stay in the car, then why come in the first place?

Quoting Satan:“ Seriously? So...a 12 year old is legally responsible enough to get a babysitters Cert...but not to be ... [snip!] ... be trusted alone in a room with a baby...then they are good in the car. As long as i know they won't drive off in it anyway.”

I would never trust a 12 year old with my son... ever. I have a very responsible 12 year old cousin who BEGS to babysit my son, but I won't let her unless her mother is there (and the mother is really the one babysitting). IMO 12 is way too young. But then again I live in a really crappy, high crime area.

Quoting Pr0nkBeth:“ I would say 8-9-10, depending on their maturity. I see not a problem leaving this age group in the car ... [snip!] ... for groceries or longer errands, than the child can come in with me. If they stay in the car, then why come in the first place?”

I agree... why come if you are going to stay in the car... but if they want to and are old enough to stay home alone, then they can have fun sitting in the car IMO lol.

9-10 depending on maturity. The doors must be locked too. Only if there was at least 2 of them. I wouldnt leave them in charge of a younger sib, unless sleeping in cs though.
Home alone for less than an hour at least 10y. Home alone for 2-4 hours 11y. Home alone & babysitting younger sib 13y.

I would say it depends on the situation.
My children are 6 and 10 months old right now. I would never leave them in the car (gas station, store, etc.) at this point. Thats just pure laziness.

Quoting K_Y_L_I_E:“ personally...I would never do it...don't care about the situation I have NEVER will I EVER leave my children ... [snip!] ... for her brother and sister.... What age is it ok to leave your children unattended...I am thinking 14.. your thoughts????”

Hmmm, well I don't have a car so I've never really considered it. I know I was left for short periods of time when I was like 9-10 or so.

C.

My 9 yr old stays in the car when I run in to pay for gas. He started staying in the car last year. Now, I won't go grocery shopping and leave him. But just to run in real quick, yeah, I lock him in. He can get out if he needs to.

We leave the boys sometimes if we have to run in a store to pay for gas or something that will only take a minute. They are 9 and a half. I would not leave them with the l/o alone though.

when they're old enough to whoop some ass.. lol

but seriously they have to know how to protect themselves..

i leave my 3 year old and 1 year old in the car while i ran to the ATM it was less than a minute and the car was within like 5 steps. i was also on a military base. i love pay at the pump so now you dont have to drag the kids into the gas station to pay. that was a pain with my son but i didnt want to risk someone taking my car. but im not gonna take them both out when im on a base and 5 steps away for less than a minute.

Around the age i would leave my kids home alone. It depends on the child but I'd say around 12 at the youngest.