According to Safekids.org, “Most states don’t have regulations or laws about when a child is considered old enough to stay home alone or babysit another child. Some states have guidelines or recommendations, but these often come from child protection services and are administered at the county or other local level.
For information about your specific local regulations and laws, contact your child protective services agency. If you need help locating your state child protection services agency, visit the Child Welfare Information Gateway’s Website (Links to an external site.).
Developmentally, children are generally ready to be home alone around the age of 12 or 13. However, children develop at different rates, so use your own discretion, within the boundaries of the law, to determine your child’s maturity level and capabilities.”
iMom.com lists the minimum age at which a child may be left at home alone, categorized by state, within the United States. - https://www.imom.com/home-alone-rules-state/ (Links to an external site.)
If you’re not sure about leaving your child home alone, this guide offers a lot of helpful information to help you make the decision. - https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/homealone.pdf (Links to an external site.)
Children under age 5 and less than 60 pounds must ride in a car seat, while children ages 5 to 8 and under four feet, nine inches tall must use a booster seat.
Infants and toddlers should be buckled in a rear-facing car seat with a harness, in the back seat, until they reach the maximum weight or height limit of their car seat. This offers the best possible protection.
Yes, it is required for your child to attend public school. If children miss too many days of school, parents may be fined and in some cases the student or parent could serve jail time.
No… In some states, there is an additional "hot car law", where the punishment is more severe if the child is left in a hot car.