Would you leave your young children alone?

I will not.because when my nephew is a child,my mother took care of him.sometimes my mother was at home alone,then there is something outside,she had to leave my nephew alone at home when he was sleeping.but she did not know once she left,my nephew just awaked,then he can not find my mother,he was so scared that he went out to find my mother.one time it was in winter,he did not wear shoes and went out,it made my mother so regretful.

It is against the law in canada to do that, children have to be at least 11 years old before they can be left for a short period of time, but if it is all evening they still require a baby sitter.

No I wouldn't leave small children alone. Too many dangerous things can happen in a short time. I waited until my son was a teenager, before I left him alone.

whoah... its sad to know about what happened to Maddy she might be in danger if chances would take.. being the parents of a child, I'm not just talking about Maddy's parents but to all parents out there... We should take into our mind not to leave the child unattended, cause they don't know yet to take care of themselves. They still need guidance and care. Its terrible to leave the child without anyone to look up to.. I hope Maddy is safe and no harmful things will Maddy gets wherever she is and hoping that she could be found or get home safely...

It is just so irresponsible for parents to leave their child/children alone. Being gifted of children is a miracle. Not all have that privilege to have children. To all parents out there, be responsible enough to take care of your kids. Remember, we were once kids, helpless and dependent to our parents. We were taken cared of by our parents that is why we here today. I am a parent but I make sure I take good care of my child after all she is my treasure.

I don't think young kids should be left alone, especially overnight. I think that a kid should be at least 12 or so before you let them stay home alone, and that would only be for after school type of things. Kids need to have someone to supervise them, if not for the fear of someone snatching them, you never know when a child may hurt themselves.

I definitely would not leave my young children alone if had children. I would not feel safe about doing so as they could hurt themselves by accident or someone may try and hurt them. I too would not leave them alone until they were at least in their teens, though in some cases I am not sure if that is safe either. You never know what can happen when you leave a young child alone so it is better to take them with you or have them in a daycare or with a babysitter.

I do not have any kids but I would never even even consider leaving him or her alone and I also think it is illegal here in sweden and that u can have the kids taken away for doing so. I really think that the parents in this case is partly to blame even if they were close by. I really think they did wrong to leave them alone in a hotelroom in another country

Well I won’t even leave my cats overnight in the house without a “sitter”, so my answer is definitely no. I don’t wish to attack the McCanns either – they must be going through hell now, but I was actually in Portugal a few miles away from Praia de Luz when Maddie disappeared, and everyone was saying the same thing. You do NOT leave 3 children under the age of 4 alone for a second – whether you’re on holiday in a “safe” place or not. It’s not just the threat of kidnapping which, thankfully is rare, but what if the older child woke up and panicked in a strange bed in a strange house, and started to cry – or worse, - wandered off to find her parents? Of what if one of the babies had a problem with their breathing that went undetected because there was no monitor close-by. Especially in the case of the McCanns, there were trained nursery nurses on call who could have sat in the apartment with the kids when the parents went out for a meal, and also a crèche where they could have left them – so there was no need to leave them alone in my opinion.

The earliest I left my kids at home the oldest was 10 and the younger one (she is no longer the youngest) was 8. It wasn't often but where we lived most people didn't even know there was an apartment. We only saw 2 trick or treaters in 10 years living there. The door would be locked and they were forbidden from opening it for anyone. My oldest has always been very mature for her age. She is 16 now and recently we went to a family gathering and she chose to hang out with us - her parents - rather than her cousins who are only a year younger than her because they were acting childish.

well i leave my kids alone but my oldest is 14 and has taken the babysitting course put out by the red cross...she watches her sister for times that we have to be out... i would not be out overnight (leave em @ grandmas) or for more than a few hours or so (3-4) and we always have our cell on (she has one too) so she can call us if there is an issue...

I don't remember a single day where my girls are not with me. I will never leave them alone even for a minute. They are still young and aren't capable to do things on their own. I can feel for those parents whose children disappeared But in the case of Madeline, the parents are to be blame here. I wouldn't mind having my girls pestering my dinner time. I would rather see them continue making a nuisance then leave them alone.

it is very dangerous for children, specially under 5 years old to be left alone, or even with other younger siblings / kids. As a mother, i don't leave my kids by themselves even if I leave the house for a few hours. I make sure I have help, if there's no available babysitter available, it is protocol that my hubby would stay. If both of us needs to go out, I would call my mother to stay for awhile, or other close relatives. To avoid accidents or any untoward incident, trusted adult supervision is always safe.

I'm not familiar with the missing girl, or the story, but for me I don't think I would leave my son alone until he is about 13. And that would be providing he was mature enough to take care of himself and if I trusted him. I'm not sure how old the girl was that is missing.

My head must be in the sand because I haven't heard this story yet. I am assuming she was pretty young? I don't leave my boys alone. My oldest is Autistic and can't take care of himself, much less his 1 year old brother. I think I was 10-11 when I was given a house key and allowed to be home alone, but that was with the neighbor across the street babysitting my brother and sister if I needed immediate help during the 2 hours or so I was alone after school. The closest I come to leaving my sons alone is a trip to the mailbox about 50 feet from our door, and I usually only do that when my youngest is sleeping and my oldest is at school. Even is my oldest wasn't special needs I wouldn't leave him home alone yet. He's only 8.

i dont have any kids but still i would not leave them alone till they are at least 13 years old and then they can look after there self. it is so sad what has happened to maddy and hopfully one day she will be found safe and well and unhurt.

Joey I've been trying hard not to judge Madeline's parents ever since I heard the story, but it's a bit difficult because the consequences were so serious.... In any case I never left my kids alone specially not at that age. When they were 4 I didn't leave them alone even to go to the corner store - less than 1 minute from my door. Kids that are asleep can wake up at any time and at that age who knows what they can do? I remember horror stories about kids playing with matches, falling from balconies or getting hurt in so many different ways that I wouldn't be able to even consider it. At about 7 I was finally able to run to the corner store to get milk one time while my kids were alone. At 12 I was able to leave them for about one hour. They came from school and went home and I came a bit later because i had a doctor's appointment. They had to call me when they got home and I talked to them on the phone about 4 or 5 times LOL But after that I slowly allowed them to stay by themselves here and there. Now they are 17 and 14. I let them stay by themselves but I still call hehe

NO way I have 4 kids ages 9,7,5 and 2 and there is no way in heck I would leave them home alone at all for nothing. I think anybody that would do that is just plan stupid and does not deserve to have there children. It makes me so mad because those children could get hurt very quickly.

Honestly, I won't even leave my 3 year old son with my husband, let alone, leaving them alone by himself. Even if he was bigger. (I love my husband and all, but he really cant take care of kids.. my son has had near misses/accidents while under the care of my husband). Especially in today's society, my mother won't even drop my 14 year old sister to a store for a few minutes to get a loaf of bread while we wait in the car. Moving on to the Madeline McCann case, i really feel for the whole family. It was a wrong judgment call... and they're paying the price for it. Something that parents should never endure in a thousand lifetimes. My heart and prayers are go out to the family.

I was not left the children alone till their ompletion of highschool days. It is the duty of parents not to leave them alone, if some things happens, instead of feeling sorry better to take precauions.