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Imagine it’s 3:00 p.m. and your 11-month-old twins are finally down for a nap and they sleep everyday like clockwork for two solid hours. You are sleep deprived and have a ton of work to catch up on and would love a hot coffee from the café next door to sip on while you work.
What do you do? Do you forgo the coffee, wake the kids up and take them, or put the monitor on them and run the 25 feet next door to get your mommy treat?
A user from the British based parenting site called Mumsnet asked other users on the site this same question.
She said: “Would you leave a peacefully sleeping 10m old home alone for 7 minutes?” “Baby reliably naps at the same time every day for at least an hour. The 7 minutes is going to a shop to collect something approx 50m away”
Most of the parents said “no” and “no chance” while others left longer comments stating why leaving a sleeping baby was such a bad idea. One user said “No, absolutely not. I’m sure the baby would be fine for 7 mins in the cot, though 7 mins is a long time to scream and no one comes. The bigger danger is that something happens to you. If you get knocked down by a car and carted off to hospital no one will know about the baby in your house on his own. If your car gets bashed and you have to sort out details with the other driver then you’ll be loads longer than 7 mins. If your tumble drier sets the house on fire then 7 mins will kill your baby. Just not worth the risk. Either wake the baby and take him or ask a neighbor to sit with baby/run the errand.”
A few parents seemed to be on the fence about it and compared it to being the same thing as going in the backyard to do chores while they sleep. One user stated: “If you had a 50m garden, would you go to the end of it to do some weeding while the baby slept inside? Of course you would.”
Another user said, “It’s logically as risky as having a shower (where you can’t hear s**t) or going in the garden to sunbathe hang out washing when they’re asleep. You’re hardly constantly monitoring them then either. It’s irrational to think popping out for 7 min is any different.”
In addition to people’s opinions the bigger issue is a legal one. Although surprisingly, the law is kind of vague about the issue if something bad does happen to the child when you leave, they will have child protective services knocking on your door and you could risk having your child taken away.
According to info on Legalmatch.com, most state laws are vague on the subject and only two states have laws specifying the minimum age a child must be to be left at home alone. In Maryland, a kid must be at least eight-years-old and in Illinois, a kid must be at least 14-years-old. Instead of establishing a minimum age, the rest of the states weigh several factors to determine when leaving a child alone is legal.
The major factors include:
-The child’s maturity level
-The amount of time the child was left alone
-The parents’ concern for the well-being of the child
