How Young is Too Young To Leave a Child Home Alone in Texas?

So if you are thinking of leaving a child home alone while they are off on Thanksgiving or Christmas break and you are having to work, how young is too young to leave them home by themselves?

Shockingly, there are very few states that have a minimum age requirement for leaving your child at home alone. Texas is a state that does not have a minimum age requirement, but before you go off and leave your 2-year-old at home, here are some things to remember.

You, as parents, are accountable for the safety of your child, so not properly supervising your child would be considered "neglectful supervision."

The website for North Texas Family Lawyers lists some things the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services requires parents to ask themselves before considering leaving a child at home by themselves:

• How old and emotionally mature and capable is the child?
• What is the layout and safety of the home?
• What hazards and risks are in the neighborhood?
• Is your child able to respond to illness, fire, severe weather, and other types of emergencies?
• Does the child have any mental, physical, or medical disability?
• How many children are being left unsupervised?
• Do they know where you are, and can they contact you or any other adults?
• How long is the child being left alone?

My parents started letting me stay at home alone during the summer when I was 15 years old, and I was totally capable at that time of making sure everything was being taken care of and had my mom's office number in case anything went wrong and she would come in during lunch to check on me as well.

So my advice would be to make sure they are in their teens before you leave a child alone even though there is no minimum age for kids to stay by themselves in Texas, use your best judgment because you know your kids and you know if they are capable of staying by themselves without burning the house down.