2yr old outside alone?

[neeleymartin]

my mom was over this afternoon in our backyard. ds1 put up a fight when i had to go in to cook dinner. she says, "you know, he might be alright out here alone." not is a jerky way, just her opinion.

is he old enough to be out there alone? i can see him from all the windows and the yard is completely fenced in. there is a swing set, sand box and 8-in-1 little tikes climber. ds1 is not very daring or independent. windows are open with screens, so i can hear him.

just curious what you guys think.

[elephantmeg]

I would be OK with it

[kijip]

i can see him from all the windows and the yard is completely fenced in. there is a swing set, sand box and 8-in-1 little tikes climber. ds1 is not very daring or independent. windows are open with screens, so i can hear him.

This, almost more than age, makes me ok with it. If we had a similar set up when T was 2, 3, 4 I would have let him.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I wouldn't. Isn't there a gate to the sideyard? My 1yo can open our gates. Granted, we live on a major road, but I feel like there's just too many things that can happen. Maybe we have more hazards inside our fence (bamboo, climbing wall, a/c unit)

[bubbaray]

I would be fine with what you describe.

[Naranjadia]

We do that with the twins - not for any great length of time. We sound like we have a similar situation - fenced in backyard, visible from the kitchen. We have gates, but one has a lock and the other the kids can't open yet (need to remember to get a lock for that one, too!).

[egoldber]

In the situation you describe, I would be OK with it for short periods of time.

[neeleymartin]

great. thanks for the opinions. there is a gate, but it is made of stockade fencing. you have to raise the gate about an inch high to make the latch work, which is the type that you put through a hole and then twist. i have a hard time myself opening it. if that's the only real concern, ds will be outside more, for short periods, of course.

thanks again.

[momof2girls]

I wouldn't. There is just too much a 2 yr old can try to do once alone. Even with windows, all it takes is a second for something to go wrong. Maybe I'm paranoid, but it wouldn't be worth it for me.

[Corie]

No way! I would never do that and *if* I did, I think my DH would
divorce me.

[SnuggleBuggles]

No way, not in my comfort zone at all. You never know when a 2yo will decide to exercise poor judgment and it sounds like you have a lot of things out there that he could get hurt on. Accidents happen very quickly and I think at that age they need to be under constant visual supervision.

Beth

[MartiesMom2B]

I saw a big snake in my yard a couple of weeks ago. I would not let me 2 year old back there by herself. I'm fine with her being with my 6 year old for a little bit, but not by herself.

[sste]

Uh, my livingroom sounds way more dangerous than your backyard and I live DS in the livingroom alone for 10 or 15 minutes here and there - - and I can't see him in the livingroom so I have to run back and forth periodically to check in.

It must be the case that even a babyproofed interior of a house poses way more hazards than your particular backyard. So, I say go for it for short periods of time and just watch him from the window.

[wellyes]

Uh, my livingroom sounds way more dangerous than your backyard and I live DS in the livingroom alone for 10 or 15 minutes here and there - - and I can't see him in the livingroom so I have to run back and forth periodically to check in.

Me too.

I'd probably be OK with it for short periods of time, especially with a non-adventurous kid.

[o_mom]

I would be fine with it, but I also don't feel that I have to be within arm's reach of my 2yo at all times. Out in our fenced, chidproof-gated yard, he is no farther away than if they are in the basement playroom and I'm upstairs changing a load of laundry.

[Tammy]

I wouldn't feel comfortable with it at that age. My DD is 2 1/2 yrs old we have the Little Tikes climber like you, and she needs help with that. Just last week her foot got caught as she was trying to slide down and she would've fallen off head first if I hadn't caught her. JMO

[BeccaB.]

I'm another no. Kids fall easily and can get hurt while you look away for just a second. Maybe in a couple of years.

[Melaine]

Nope, not in a million years, but I am admittedly over-protective.

My children are just too dang unpredictable. Seriously, they are 2 and a half and I can totally see one of them putting an acorn in her mouth and choking to death the moment I walk away.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I saw a big snake in my yard a couple of weeks ago. I would not let me 2 year old back there by herself. I'm fine with her being with my 6 year old for a little bit, but not by herself.

ooh yes!! A neighbor kid was playing in our yard with a nanny and saw a snake. Nanny didn't see it or believe her. Luckily, DH was working from home and saw it slither across the carport. He went out and smashed it to smithereens, then put it on Twitter that he killed a copperhead. Later, we found out it wasn't, but still...

[kransden]

I used to when dd was that age. I had a very similar set up. I could watch her out the window when I was cooking. If I couldn't see her I went outside.

[edurnemk]

We don't have any playsets in the backyard, and it's totally fenced in, DS cannot open the side gate and I can see him from the kitchen. Hence the last couple of days (we just moved to this house) I have let him play in the yard while I cook or do dishes. And he's not 2 yet. I go out to see what he's doing every 2 or 3 minutes, on top of talking to him through the window so he can hear me and I can hear him talk back. I feel he gets into more trouble inside the house. In the yard he likes to kick his ball around, or sit in the grass and look at leaves. I'm very over-protective about some things, but I try not to be paranoid, and after a terrible day of tantrums and clinginess and him wanting to go outside all the time, I just thought "well why am I making it so difficult? he can totally play while I cook." I mean he can't get out of the yard, there's nothing to climb on, so the worst he can do is chew on a twig, which he has done (I caught him the instant he put it in his mouth), but hey, he's chewed on a lot of stuff indoors. My only worry is that he'll get stung by something, but then I remember last summer I was stung by a wasp indoors, it aparentely was riding in the stroller basket and attacked me when I took the diaper bag out. Thankfully it didn't sting DS, but it reminds me that there is no way I can protect him from absolutely everything.
It is absolutely impossible to keep your eyes on your kids ALL the time, so if the environment is safe you have to learn to relax a little if you want to get anything done.

[C99]

I do it with my 2-y/o.

[C99]

I'm another no. Kids fall easily and can get hurt while you look away for just a second.

Don't they fall and get hurt even when you are looking?

[StantonHyde]

It sounds ok to me. I leave my kids in another room for a while--same thing.

[kijip]

Don't they fall and get hurt even when you are looking?

I gotta agree with Caroline. I can't watch my child's every move (and expect him to grow up) and being in my vision, within a confined and otherwise safe place, does not add to safety. I wonder if the moms saying heck no here ever leave their children alone in the house? (Alone=mom or caregiver is in the house, just not in the same room).

[mom_hanna]

I would and do let my 2 yr old ds play in our yard alone. I can see him from the kitchen and family room windows, and the windows are open so I can hear him, too. He gets much more creative sometimes when he is out there alone (talks to himself, makes up stories, etc.). It's cute!

[neeleymartin]

Don't they fall and get hurt even when you are looking?
i thought the same thing.

[Ceepa]

Leaving my 2 yo in the yard alone is outside of my comfort range.

[hillview]

In general I wouldn't be ok with this but it depends a lot on how quick you can get out there and what sort of child you have. Both my kids -- esp DS #2 cannot be left alone for more than 30 seconds if there is ANYTHING he can get into / climb on etc. OTOH if you have a more sedate child and the distance is similar to a connected room that might be okay as long as you don't take your eyes off DC.
/hillary

[R2sweetboys]

Yes, I would be fine with it based on your situation. I've tried hard not to be a "helicopter mom", and to give the boys some space when it is safe and reasonable.

[veronica]

Reading all the responses, obviously, it depends on the set-up outside, the parent and the child's personalities.

DS will be two on thursday and I "leave" him on the deck alone. We have a slider and I keep the screen door in use. The deck gate is too heavy for him to open and the slider is off of the kitchen. If he pitches a fit when I have to do something in the kitchen, I will leave him playing (we have a playhouse on the deck and a small climber as well). But, usually he opens the screen and comes to the kitchen after I am in for a bit. DD will play with him out there too.

but, I completely understand if somoene is not comfortable with it as I likely would not have been if it were just DD at that age.

[stella]

I do it all the time, and I would definitely do it in the situation you describe.

[KrisM]

I gotta agree with Caroline. I can't watch my child's every move (and expect him to grow up) and being in my vision, within a confined and otherwise safe place, does not add to safety. I wonder if the moms saying heck no here ever leave their children alone in the house? (Alone=mom or caregiver is in the house, just not in the same room).

I agree with this, too. I definitely am not within sight of my kids all the time. I leave my older 2 in the yard briefly when I'm inside tending dinner and it's not even fenced. I let them play for longer if I am in sitting on the couch feeding DS2 (couch is in front of the window and I can see them 100%).

[alirebco]

If you didn't have the little tikes climber, then I would say maybe. But I have seen DS fall off of those climbers and a toddler could get really hurt without close supervision. But in a fenced in yard with some balls and a sandbox, I would be more ok with.

[mamicka]

I would be perfectly comfortable leaving my 2 yr-old for very short periods of time in your scenario if I were withing eye/ear-shot.

I leave my kids for very short periods in our un-fenced yard to play on our playset together when I'm just inside, looking out the window making dinner or something.

[s7714]

Totally depends on the child for me. My older DD was fine being left alone outside at that age for a few minutes. I never left my younger DD alone outside OTOH. She would have been doing something she wasn't supposed to do within a millisecond!