• Should You Leave Your Baby Alone to Run Errands?

  
  

  
  

A Mumsnet post has prompted a debate about whether it’s OK to leave a baby home alone. (Photo: Rex Features)

Picture the scene. You’ve just put your baby down for a lunchtime nap. With any luck, this will mean two hours of baby- free time. Woohoo! You could have a cup of coffee or tidy up the house, but you know you’ve got to run out to a few shops, and it would be way, way easier to do so without a fussy baby attached to your hip. Can you pop out and leave the baby sleeping? Should you pop out and leave the baby sleeping?

One new mom posed a similar dilemma to the parenting site Mumsnet, and it has sparked a lively online debate involving nearly a thousand parents.  

The mom posted a comment asking whether anyone would leave a 10-month-old baby sleeping at home alone for seven minutes, adding that her baby “napped reliably at the same time every day for at least an hour” and that the situation would involve a parent who was going to pick up something at a shop approximately 55 yards away.

Some parents think it’s OK to leave a sleeping baby; others strongly disagree. (Photo: Rex Features)

The to-leave-or-not-to-leave question has divided parents, with some saying they’d never even consider it. Others were more open to the idea, depending on the circumstances, and a third segment of parents said they had left their children to do chores in the garden or walk the dog and didn’t see anything wrong with it.

In the no-way-never camp, comments ranged from “Absolutely not — that’s bonkers. Seven minutes is long enough for lots of things to happen” to “Hell no! I couldn’t do it, I just couldn’t.”

“Today, seven minutes. Tomorrow, 15 minutes. Who knows what time limit you’ll be justifying next week,” added another commenter, who clearly opposed the idea.

“Er, no. Even though it’s supertempting, I quite often want to shift my car when it’s parked 100 yards away and a space comes free next to the house. But I don’t do it, as it’s just not worth it!!” voiced another.

Others, however, pointed out that leaving a baby in those circumstances was more or less as risky as going outside in the garden or taking a quick shower.

“It’s logically as risky as having a shower (where you can’t hear s***) or going into your yard to do some work or enjoy the sun when they’re asleep. You’re hardly constantly monitoring them then either. It’s irrational to think popping out for seven minutes is any different,” wrote one parent.

And other parents admitted to doing it themselves.

“I went to the shop once, needed milk and he was asleep. He was in that deep sleep they have when they first nod off. I was five minutes and don’t need to cross any roads. I did a risk assessment and summarized that it would be far riskier for him to wake in the night cross because of lack of milk!”

The law is unclear on whether you’re allowed to leave a baby alone at home. [Photo: Rex Features] 

The mom who originally posted the question rejoined the discussion to say that she had already chosen to leave her baby earlier that morning, so she merely wanted to see whether others would have done the same. In addition, to justify her trip, she said:

“I did try and think through every possible risk: Fire? We don’t smoke, no appliances left on. Kidnap? He’d have to get through two locked doors first. Waking and crying? Possibly, but she hasn’t woken early for months, and even if she did, it would have only been a few minutes. Vomiting? Never happened during naptime before. Something happening to me? Walking 55 yards crossing no roads? Really?”

Revealing the reason for her going out was to pick up a parcel of clothing ordered online, she said: “We live in a flat with no lift, so my reasoning was it would be easier to get them while she was sleeping, as I wouldn’t have been able to carry her and the boxes up the stairs at the same time.”

She admitted to feeling “incredibly anxious before, surreal during, and extremely relieved afterwards,” but she said she had a busy day ahead and “selfishly” wanted to try the clothes on “in peace.”

So what’s the actual law regarding leaving a baby or child home alone? Well, it seems it’s a bit of a gray area, as the laws vary state by state and can be subjective.

A government website says babies, toddlers, and very young children should never be left home alone, as they are not old enough to care for themselves.