How old were your children

**estrelas** · 08-11-2009, 12:37 PM

when you let them get up by themselves?

I mean as in come down stairs tv on? etc
My daughter is 6 now and i think i deserve a lie in!!
How long till i get one?

**Ripeberry** · 08-11-2009, 12:47 PM

I think 6yrs old is OK, as my two daughters are 7yrs old and 4yrs old and they know how to turn on the TV and they are only allowed to make themselves cereals and nothing hot, until we get up

**Tink** · 08-11-2009, 12:49 PM

I would say when you feel confident enough to let her get up on her own, when you, hear her get up, know she is going downstairs and feel you can turn over and go back to sleep, would be about the time

LOOPYLISA · 08-11-2009, 12:53 PM

I think 6 is ok too

My dd is nearly 12 and brings us a cuppa in bed now

**mushpea** · 08-11-2009, 01:01 PM

My daughter was 8 and my son 6 but my daughter is quite sensible for her age and would come down and help her brother make breakfast, they were only allowed cereal or bread and jam. I also used to buy those brioche rolls with the jam in and they were allowed two of those insted of cereal as all they had to do was unwrap them.
now they are 11 and 9 and my daughter brings me a cuppa in bed which is lovley.

**Twinkles** · 08-11-2009, 01:13 PM

I'm sure six is fine , but you know your daughter.
I used to let mine at that age and like mushpea made sure there was a snack and juice available.

**sarah707** · 08-11-2009, 01:15 PM

My 2 used to be asked to stay in their rooms until I was ready to start the day.

I taught them what 7 looked like on their clocks from very early on!

They could use the loo etc... just not get up and make a noise.

**The Juggler** · 08-11-2009, 01:22 PM

about 6 or 7. they have to stay in their rooms and play quietly until 8am then they can come down and watch tv for an hour on sat and sunday while we have well deseved rest. Now nearly 8 and 10 they can get a drink or have breakfast also but they usually prefer to wait for us.

Get me having a 9am lie in!!!

**hayleychildcare** · 08-11-2009, 01:22 PM

My boys are 14 and 9 and STILL come into my bed in the morning for a cuddle.

Neither one of them would think about going down stairs themselves until they know either me or hubby are only gonna be a few minutes.

I think you can safely say my boys are SPOILT

**margimum** · 08-11-2009, 03:01 PM

Originally Posted by hayleychildcare

My boys are 14 and 9 and STILL come into my bed in the morning for a cuddle.

Neither one of them would think about going down stairs themselves until they know either me or hubby are only gonna be a few minutes.

I think you can safely say my boys are SPOILT

Sounds just like my ds.

He is now 18 and has (thankfully) stopped climbing into my bed!!
We used to joke he would one night say" you'll have to move up further mum and dad because I've got a girl with me too!

"

**babs** · 08-11-2009, 05:19 PM

think my son was round 5 or 6 use to get up and make his breakfast cereal, then come and ask if he cud play on computer or have tv on in his room he always made sure he was real quite not to wake dad then he got more tv time

hes 17 now and still sneaks on his computer when he sud be havin breakfast which he now skips much to my disaproval...

**mumof1** · 08-11-2009, 05:31 PM

My dd is 7 and gets up by herself, goes down stairs and watches tv until i get up abt an hour later and make her breakfast, tho sayin that i think she could maybe start putting out cereal for herself, as she is always sayin that she likes doin things for herself!

My baby isnt a baby anymore

**tinynippers** · 08-11-2009, 05:32 PM

ive had a lot of trouble/worries with my dd about this. she's only 3. but she's more like a 5 year old v.sensible & switched on. we live in a bungalow so you dont always hear her getting up and sneaking into the living room sometimes we didnt have a clue how long she had been in there. we eventually found out it was about 5am which we knew we had to put a stop too. so now monday to friday shes not allowed to as shes up at 6am anyway ready to leave for school at 7:15am but we have taught her what 6:30 is on the clock and as she knows how to work tv etc shes allowed to sit on the sofa and watch tv/dvd im always up by 7am with my ds. but because off her real age i was still v.worrid to begin with. what if this or what if that. but after a couple of weeks as long as i made sure nothing was laying about the night before i knew she would be safe (we have put a lock on kitchen door as we used to have a stairgate in the doorway but she can open them so we know she carn't get into the kitchen). one of my friends thinks we should not be letting her do this and should put a lock on the living room door aswell. what do you all honestly think? xxx

**babs** · 08-11-2009, 05:33 PM

Originally Posted by mumof1

My dd is 7 and gets up by herself, goes down stairs and watches tv until i get up abt an hour later and make her breakfast, tho sayin that i think she could maybe start putting out cereal for herself, as she is always sayin that she likes doin things for herself!

My baby isnt a baby anymore

your baby will always be ur baby ....mine is at 17

**madasahatter** · 08-11-2009, 05:51 PM

DS was 5 when he started coming downstairs on his own to watch tv. He already knew not to leave his room except for the toilet until 7am (I know

but we are all fairly early risers). It was a bit of a surprise the first time he did it as he'd turned off the burglar alarm and everything, we weren't even aware he knew the code, he'd obviously watched us very carefully! Told him he had to come and ask us before going downstairs after that for quite some time.

**haribo** · 08-11-2009, 05:53 PM

couldnt remember-then realised my eldest was 7 when she woke me with the words princess diana has died

thats when i found out she had been going down to watch cartoons in the mornings on a weeked

all the channels suddenly had news flashes and she decided i had to know bless her . hadnt the heart to stop her after that . my youngest was four she used to follow her down too

**Heaven Scent** · 08-11-2009, 06:36 PM

Mine were quite young really - I can't remember the exact age but they were 6 & 8 when we moved here and they had been doing it for a few years before we moved - I let them make a bowl of cereal which they had to have in the kitchen before going to the living room to watch TV or the conservatory or their own rooms to play.

I used to get milk delivered in 1 pt plastic bottles so that they never smashed a glass bottle and it was a managable size. I taught my DS how to turn the alarm off and how to unlock the front door so he could bring the milk in.

I am Montessori trained and as such I encourage children to be independant so that was what seemed natural to me.

My DS was very sensible and mature and he used to look after his little sister - I just wish that now he is in his early teens he could have just one tiny fraction of the sense he was born with

**Lou** · 08-11-2009, 08:01 PM

Do you know what, i honestly cannot remember!!!! (bad mum) but my DD is 6 and has been getting up by herself for ages, mind you i have DS who is 11, so i guess he keeps an eye on her.

I always lie in at the weekend, both days unless we are going out for the day. My children do not do sleeping in, no matter what time they go to bed, so they are normally both up by 7 or 8.

They come downstairs and either wait for me to get up or DS will make them brekkie and a drink, and then bring me a cuppa in bed bless him.

**PixiePetal** · 08-11-2009, 08:07 PM

Originally Posted by Heaven Scent

Mine were quite young really - I can't remember the exact age but they were 6 & 8 when we moved here and they had been doing it for a few years before we moved - I let them make a bowl of cereal which they had to have in the kitchen before going to the living room to watch TV or the conservatory or their own rooms to play.

I used to get milk delivered in 1 pt plastic bottles so that they never smashed a glass bottle and it was a managable size. I taught my DS how to turn the alarm off and how to unlock the front door so he could bring the milk in.

I am Montessori trained and as such I encourage children to be independant so that was what seemed natural to me.

My DS was very sensible and mature and he used to look after his little sister - I just wish that now he is in his early teens he could have just one tiny fraction of the sense he was born with

I can't remember ages of a lot of things my kids did as it has always been a natural progression and I have encouraged independance. They made their own packed lunches for school since about 8 or 9. Once they knew that they needed a sandwich, 2 fruit, yog and a treat for instance.

Daddy Day Care · 08-11-2009, 08:32 PM

I dont think you can put an age on it, it alll dpends on the child

I'll probaly get shouted at for this, but at the age of four we use to let dd come down and wathc tv on here own. We trusted her and she acted a lot older than 4. She use to go down and wtahc tv for maybe 15 - 20 mins before we got up.

We did have to stop it tho, after doing this a while she tried to push the boundaries and started to do things she knew she wasnt allowed to do.

Its not really an issuie now shes still 4 (5 in december) but we have to wake her up in the morning, shes never up early now.

Gareth
xx