All kids eventually get to the point where they will stay home alone. Your child indignantly tells you, “I’m too old for daycare!” or claims, “All the kids at the after school program are kindergarteners.”
Once you decide your child is ready to stay home, it's important to prepare them for success.
Read more: Is your child ready to stay home alone?
Think Things Through so Your Child Is Ready
Drill down on the details of your child staying home. It’ll help to answer these questions and then address any concerns before your child is home alone:
- How long and at what time of the day will the child be alone?
- Will he or she be responsible for siblings?
- Is the neighborhood safe?
- Are parents reachable by phone at all times?
- Is there a backup person your child can call, like a grandparent, neighbor or the parent of a child’s friend?
- Are attractive risks in the house like alcohol, firearms, matches and prescription drugs locked away?
Start slowly when you begin allowing your child to be home alone. Leave your child in charge or on their own while you shop or run errands for an hour or so and see how they handle this.
Key Lessons Your Child Needs to Know
Have your child demonstrate some basic skills that will ease your worries as well as equip them for various situations. Make sure they know:
- How to lock and unlock the door
- Basic personal safety: answering the phone or door, fire safety, severe weather safety, poison prevention
- Basic first aid and when to call 911
- How to use the furnace, air conditioner, microwave and stove
- Mom and dad’s work phone numbers – by heart – even if they are programmed into a cell phone
Be Clear About What's Allowed While Home Alone
A foundation plan on what is allowed and what is not is a key ingredient for your child’s safety, so go over the rules for things like:
- Leaving the house
- Having friends over
- Eating and cooking
- Using screens, TV and technology
- Chores and homework
- Activities that are allowed
Create Systems for Emergencies and Practice Them
There are many security systems that allow parents to see their child as he or she arrives home. You can add apps to your child’s cell phone with emergency numbers, severe weather alerts, and how to do the Heimlich maneuver for choking. Do some research to find ways to use technology to keep kids safest.
It’s also a good idea to practice situations that may arise when your child is alone. Role playing gives kids practice thinking through a situation and finding a safe and logical solution. One family writes scenarios on strips of paper and puts them in a jar on the kitchen table.
Each night during supper, they choose one and discuss different ways of handling it.
Here are some examples:
- The dog eats a bag of candy bars.
- You are making toast and the toast burns, causing the smoke alarms to go off.
- Your two best friends come home with you after school. They have cigarettes.
- You are watching TV and the program is interrupted with a tornado watch.
- Someone is at the door and he says he is here to check the furnace.
- You arrive home after school, and the front door is open.
Your child’s safety is always your primary concern. Take the time to educate them before they take this exciting step toward independence.
Learn more about children's services at Avera
By the Avera Family Life Educators
