• Research presented at the national conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics found that children should be at least 12 before they should be left alone for more than 4 hours.
• To prepare a child to be home alone or be a caregiver to another child while home alone, parents should gauge an older child’s level of interest in caring for a younger child.
• Testing out an arrangement with short increments is a good way to see if an older child is ready to be a caregiver.

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