Depends on the child. 3 of mine are 11 years old. One daughter I would have no problem leaving for a while looking after her baby brother. The other daughter would burn the house down and my oldest son would panic.

It depends if the babysitter could cope with any panic, i find most 13/14 year old girls would manage fine watching a small child for a couple of hours. No cooking tho! I certainly wouldnt have left mine any longer than that. If i went out for the night, my kids were left with my sister

you have triplets? wow.

i'm trying to think back to when i was 11 and I'm sure i did 'keep an eye' on my sisters.

I have twin girls and a stepson 

I bet a lot of us did. I'd never go out and leave them for the night but if it's just to nip 2 mins to the shop they're fine

oh still 3 11 year olds. Phew.

3 11 year olds, well done you

Must read up more about this. how did they find out,she was only gone for 1/2 an hour.

Some nosey neighbour, presumably ........

Thats what i thought Moonbeams, 30mins without incident. Maybe a teacher at school heard about it, or a neighbour who felt the child wasnt capable stuck their ore in.

it definitely depends on the child, on the child they are minding, on the time of day etc.   Also on the instructions & contingency plans in place should something go wrong.

I can't remember the first time I left my daughter in charge of her brother...   she'll have been about 13 I reckon, so he would have been 8.   It started with me leaving for just half an hour to pop to the shops, always making sure her mobile was topped up and charged, and she knew I had my mobile on.    In the event of me not returning by a certain time she was under instructions to phone my parents.

Oh & the home alone mantra...   "nobody in, nobody out, no cooking" 

The boy is 13 now...  & I have no problem leaving him home alone for an hour or two.

One of the many issues I have had with the ex when he has had the kids for the weekend was the "leaving them".    I was horrified to discover that he was popping over the road to the shop when my boy was a baby, sometimes when my daughter was there (aged 5), which was how I found out he did it (he later admitted that he would pop to the shop when my son was asleep in the cot and my daughter wasn't there).   He didn't get it that yeah, he would only be gone ten mins...   but what would happen if he got run over by a car or something...  (and thats not that unlikely to happen...  he had already been run over twice...  fecking surviving both times!!).

I think having someone the child knows they can call for back up if needed is the key really.

I agree with NSPCC: generally16, (depending on maturity etc. etc.) Loads of younger children can help out/change nappies etc. etc. but a lot of them would not know what to do/cope if suddenly something terrible happened like the child suddenly started to choke, there was a fire etc. etc.
I used to babysit when I was 14 and heaven knows what I would have done in the above circumstances...The assumption was that the kids would go to sleep and all would be fine..but what if something had happened?

I think it's ridiculous and I do wonder whether it would have been reported, if it had been a 14 year old girl left in charge.

I was babysitting at 13, for babies, as well as older kids.

There are many girls under 16 with their own children, who manage well, albeing with parents, SW help , how does the NSPCA answer that one ?   I babysat my sister at an early age, and she was a right pain !

Whenever I left Mr Blizz in charge of my oldest, he would fall asleep and wake up to her flooding the bathroom, or putting nougat in the toaster! 

hahahahaha!

My ex allowed my daughter (then 7) to go out to play on rollerskates...  when it had snowed & was icy!

ended in another trip to A&E with bleeding head wound!

Your daughter's, or the ex's? 

I started leaving my daughter in on her own for short periods of time during the day or very early evening when she was about 10 or 11, with the usual strict instructions to never answer the door or phone, and to ring me immediately if she was worried. But I would never have considered leaving her in charge of a younger child until she was at least 16, and I can't imagine the circumstances when I would have left her in the care of a teenager when she was little.

daughters unfortunately!!!   

Whilst he was looking after my kids I had 2 other trips to A&E with head wounds... both my son.  Once he left him (aged 3) on a MacDonalds tall stool unsupervised whilst he went & got straws & napkins...  Alf fell off!    The other time, he thought it was a good idea for him & Alf (aged 3 again) to bounce on MY sofa to Kylies "Spinning Around"..  son bounced right off into the coffee table!

I tell ya Blizzie...   Its a wonder how I managed to keep my temper when I was faced with the judgemental cow at the solicitors who had prejudged my withholding contact as me using my kids as weapons!    

After 3 hours of me listing the long long list of things that happen to the kids whilst under his care (including him drink driving with them in the car),  her attitude did change, and they turned down his application for legal aid.

 Blimey!

Maybe 14 year olds are safer than some adults.
At least they aren't driving, or drinking.
Well, most of them, anyway! 

Bliz: I think it's ridiculous and I do wonder whether it would have been reported, if it had been a 14 year old girl left in charge.

You may have a point there Bliz, thing is, it's more complex than age alone it's about a whole host of other factors re being able to cope with emergencies, competency in looking after children etc. etc. Most cases like this, regardless of whether it is a male or female child would, of course, get nowhere near the police being interested, unless something had actually happened, so this one does seem a bit strange in that respect, and if the reporting is accurate and the 14yr old lad didn't for e.g. have learning disabilities or his brother special care needs etc.....If none of those things applied then I think the police's time could have been much better utilised elsewhere!

Bliz: Maybe 14 year olds are safer than some adults. At least they aren't driving, or drinking.
Well, that's definitely true.....However, hangs head in shame and admits to sometimes helping myself to a wee drink or two when I was a teenage babysitter

perhaps a few are on the estate I used to live before moving to me nice rural village! 

the "drinks cabinet cocktail"...    a plastic tumbler filled with a mix of everything in the adults drink cabinet?

I know the one

the "drinks cabinet cocktail"...    a plastic tumbler filled with a mix of everything in the adults drink cabinet?

Oh stop, you'll ruin it for the next gen of babysitters

the "drinks cabinet cocktail"...    a plastic tumbler filled with a mix of everything in the adults drink cabinet?

I know the one 


Mebees

Growler is your daughter an only child?
I wonder if being an only child makes a difference ie you being one or them being one?

Yes, she is, but I don't think that would have made any difference with me.

Agreed.

I think most parents would take competency and such into account. I, for example, would not leave certain of my kids in charge of certain others, as they didn't have a good relationship and I knew that they would end up in fights and arguments.
I knew I could leave 1 with 3, and 2 with 3, but never 1 with 2 and 4 can't be left with anyone!

(apart from his grandparents, who think he's an angel!    

   I think I used to mostly concentrate on emptying the fridge.

I may have tried a little drink and used some used fag butts to roll some cigarettes, but I would never admit that on here! 

I know that, in my case, I was the oldest and helped care for my sisters since as far back as I can remember so, for me taking charge of others kids at a young age was the norm.

*tries to think back to when baby sister started babysitting*

I was one of six, Moonbeams, and we all grew up looking after ourselves and each other.
Then we got to get paid for looking after other people's kids.

My youngest sister was a lot younger, so she ended up in charge of nephews and nieces!

It depends on the child as some have already said.  I don't think 14 is too young to be looking after a 3 year old though.  Just occasional babysitting that is............. Not full time caring!

What I do take great exception to though, (and what happens/has happened, in quite a number of families I know/have known: )  is women having loads of kids, and not being arsed to look after them herself, and the older ones (11 to 15,) end up not only looking after the younger ones, but doing laundry, shopping, cooking and housework and all sorts. 

There was a story on the news tonight about a lad that got some 'paperboy award' for delivering the papers every day, and looking after his eight siblings; ie: getting breakfast for them, dressing them and doing lunchboxes and helping them get dressed.  Excuse me, but isn't that the mother's/parent's job?    Why was he doing all that? 

Don't have kids, if you can't be arsed to look after them yourself, and you have to depend/rely on your older children to do your job!  Children should be children and should be children, and enjoy their childhood; not be 'parents' at 11/12 years old.  I know it's useful for children to learn 'life skills,' but not for the mother to keep pushing out one kid after another, when she isn't capable of looking after them all, and the older children end up being parents! 

Ok thanks for that

I shall tell my mum. 

I was the eldest of 5 Blizz and that's how it were for me too.

 I was the fifth, but my eldest brother was just six when I was born, so we were all very close (in age).

Mum was 'pushing' us out at quite a rate. 

There were actually 6 of us but my little sister died when she was a baby,I'm 9 yrs older than one of my younger brothers  and 13 yrs older than the other but the 3 eldest(including me) all came along within 3 yrs and 3 months,whole lotta pushing going on.

When I used to work in the local shop we used to have a young girl of 5 come in for her families weekly allowance of milk, 7 pints to carry home on her own, very often in the dark & very often in bare feet, (they weren't just round the corner either), had to be said - I told her to tell her Mum she was not allowed in the shop anymore without shoes & that if she had a problem to come see me! Utterly disgraceful imo! (mother did come & words were exchanged) Little girl only came for her sweets from then on, after school! A dear little soul she was.
I have 5 & yes they entertained each other, but would never expect them to do a parents job!

Aww, that's awful, slim!