at what age do you let your child out the back unsupervised?

[2CheekyMonkeys]

DD will be 3 in a month, do you think i could let her out the back to play by herself and just stay inside doing my own stuff (ie housework etc)?

[Muffy]

I was thinking the same thing the other day!
will keep an eye on this thread

[ubba82]

I let DS (3.5) out the back by himself but only if I am doing the dishes cause I can see him. If he and DD (8) are out there together then I do what I need to do in other parts of the house.

I do it mainly for safety reasons, and DS likes to turn the outside tap on so I need to be available to turn it off!!!

ETA- On weekends, the kids are out there almost all day.

[kawazuki]

my 2 yo goes out the back we haev a very small yard and its fully enclosed we are usually in teh shed or the garden or kitchen cooking and she iwll be outside chasing the cat lol

we have really only just started letting our 9yo go out totally unsupervised without us watching or looking through a window, but thats because he couldnt eb trusted and would kick balls at windows and just be naughty and try adn escape.

i would say maybe 3-5 depending on the child and how close you are and if you can still hear them while inside and what type of play equipment and back yard you have.

if we had things tay could climb and fall off she would eb supervised while playing with those.
if she is just running around chasing the cat or playing with the balls then we turn away sometimes for 10 min while she laughs and runs.

[Visitor8]

Since the boys were 2 I have let them outisde alone. Having said that my backyard was safe, no way to get out the gate, no hiding spots as it was small and nothing really for them to climb on. I would check them reguarly. Now they both go out all day and play on their own and I might check them every 3 hours lol I can usually hear them fine through out the whole house

[misty]

DD was three when I first let her out by herself. I call it semi-supervised, because I still stick my head out every now and then and I can see a large portion of the backyard from my couch. It is a very child friendly backyard. DS is 1.5yrs and is allowed outside with DD while I stay inside - but like I said I can see almost all of the yard and if DS goes around the corner and plays in the dog water (which he loves to do) or anything else naughty, DD loves to dobb him in to me

I think it depends on what your yard is like as much as anything.

[Visitor7]

Both my girls are always outside on their own. We have a 6ft timber fence right around the house, and the shed is locked, so they can't get into that.

[Jennifer13]

We moved into a house where I let DD out in the back yard unsupervised (with an ear out for what was going on) just over 2 years ago. So she would play on her own out there from about 14 mths. She could get up and down the 2 steps without problem and the yard was fully enclosed with 6 ft high fences. There was a hazard at the back with a drop down into the neighbours yard (kind of a slope, though, for a metre) which she did get stuck down once (just before she was 2), but she yelled out for me and I rescued her! Otherwise, I would often let her go and she has proven herself pretty capable. In our new house the front yard is the playground area and I just make sure the gate is shut and padlocked. Here there are good fences and nothing that I think she could get into at all. I think she likes the opportunity to explore without me hovering. She's naturally a very capable child and aware of her own physical capacity.

[~clover~]

I only let mine out if I can hear them. My yard is fully fenced, but I know they'll escape, or get up to mischeif of some sort... As long as I can hear them I don't feel the need to keep checking, but if they go quiet for too long I'm at a window or door.

[mbear]

I let mine outside (not so much lately....due to the rain....)...but i always am at the back of the house pottering around. Its not like i would go to the front of the hosue and vacumn the car or something whilst they are out the back...

In summer i tend to go out there when they are out there. We live on the back of a reserve and my fear is a brown snake or spider will slither/crawl up beside them....

[Bathsheba]

Depends on the child and the yard.

Because my recently turned 3yo has an older brother (5yo) who I can trust to keep an eye on him and let me know if anything goes wrong I let them play out the back all the time... loosely supervised. However I also find it easy enough to let this happen because we have floor to ceiling windows all along the back part of the house making visibilty really good. Even sitting here at my 'pute I can see them. If I didn't have these windows I would be a bit more nervous about unsupervised play.

[Phteven]

I've been letting mine out for ages. They're pretty noisy so I can always hear what they're up to. Mainly Yasin just rides his bike up and down the path and Imran chases him. I used to feel like I had to always be watching them but then I decided I didn't want to be a helicopter parent so now I just let them be.