Leaving kids home alone for 5 days?

I think I'd be a bit worried if they couldn't be left.

do it ,these are he thing that build trust and encourage responsibility. Do you have a ring doorbell or and Alexa camera you could check in from time to time? it may help put your mind at ease. not to spy but you can see what time they come in and make sure the youngest get out ontime.

I am going for 2 nights soon and i have
Ds1 18 coming back from uni to babysit
Ds2 17
Dd2 15
And we don't even have grandparents around! Ds1 drives so can pick up/drop off.
Feeling brave for doing this also but figured that it's now or never.... but I know how you feel! I hope you have a great time!

My biggest concern would be my ds16 turning nocturnal on the Xbox

Honestly, for three or four days... so what? It really wouldn't matter. He's 16, not 6. It's not going to do him any harm to have a few all-nighters on his X Box and miss out on daily fresh air for four days in the school holidays.

A nineteen year old could be looking after their very own 3 or even 4 year old full time! Of course they can look after a 13 year old. Why are people acting like the 19 year old is a child.

Some of us know our kids! I've left my 16 year old lots of times, since he was 14 actually, including for a couple of whole weekends and he's never had a party. He wouldn't want the ballache of tidying it up after or the inevitable immense bollocking he would get.

My parents left me and my two siblings for a few days when my sister was about that age. We would have been 19, 16 and 9 at the time (me being the 9 year old). Assuming the older two aren't the type to throw a party and the oldest one doesn't mind being in charge, it's fine.

a 13 year old is old enough to be left alone! They are old enough to get paid to babysit younger children. It's a bit of a worry if they are not ready.

For me it would depend on the dynamic between the 3 siblings, but I can't really see what the issue would be.

The fact that you are asking suggests that you wouldn't be able to relax and enjoy your time away?

This. I would leave the 19 and 16 yr old and as GP to have the 13 yr old.

What does your 19 y.o think about it? Are you expecting them to cook all meals, get the youngest to school, clubs etc? What plans does the 19 y.o have to fit all this around? My parents did this to me all the time and i hated it. I was more than capable of doing it I just didn't see why looking after siblings for days at a time so my parents could enjoy kids free holidays was my responsibility. My brothers also fought a lot more when parents were away which was stressful. It was a thankless task made worse by the fact my parents seemed to think it was my duty to do it.

A couple of generations ago, many people were married at 17/18 and had a baby by 19, a lot harder to look after than a 13 year old sibling. You can fight in the army/travel the world alone/ drive a car/ work as a nanny looking after small kids at nineteen. Of course you can keep a 13 year old safe!

I was left alone with my older siblings from a young age and some of my best childhood memories are from these times. As long as they all get along (relatively well) and they’re safe, you should be good.

Absolutely fine…have a lovely break x

If they're all sensible and your older one is capable of cooking a meal without setting the place on fire (which I'm sure they are if at uni), then no problem. Maybe talk to your older child about it.

I would assuming the 19yo is mature. My parents left me in charge for 2 weeks at 19 and went to the other side of the world. My siblings were 17, 16, 13 and 9. They didn’t love all their meals but we were fine!

Same age gaps between me and my younger siblings. I think it’s fine, my parents did similar when we were the same ages and we were fine, they left us money to get a couple of takeaways so we had a treat aswell. If they all get on it’s fine.

13 is too young and it's not fair to ask the older ones to take on responsibility.

The other two will probably be OK (depending on temperament etc!)

My parents would have written this too.

I think you'd be better asking the 19 yo.

You have one adult, one nearly-adult who is technically a minor but should be completely capable of taking care of himself by now, and one child.

I wouldn't leave a 13 yo alone for 5 days, so what you need to find out is if the young adult is happy to be in loco parentis whilst you are gone.

Yes totally fine as long as they are happy.

Depends on how well they get on, can confide in each other, feel trusted and secure with their siblings.

a lot of people didn’t get that until everyone was matured - over age of 25 in my case

that’s why I clicked YABU. But with respectable responsible teens who can trust each other, sure. It seems a big skip from never to a 5 day break tho?

I am having a 3 night city break with my DH soon. I'm leaving my DS2 17 and DD 13 home alone. They will have to get themselves up to school and work. I have DS1 21 who can pop in on them or they can call in case of emergency.

I'm doing this for the first time with a 19 and 16 old, taking the 14 year old away. Biggest concern is they won't look after the dog properly. Leaving the 14 years old is tricky as 19 year old gets in parental mode and then it be ruins the relationship