Leaving kids home alone for 5 days?

Yes and I have done, left them for 5 days when DS was 17 and DD 14

This is fine if you can trust them not to party

Yes, as long as the 19 year old was OK with being the responsible adult.

It honestly depends on their personalities, how responsible they are and how much you trust them - bear in mind my mum and dad trusted
me and my sister implicitly when they did the same and we still threw a party!

It’s not always the oldest who is the likeliest to be guilty of this either.

My parents went away when my sister was 16 and I was 19. I worked on the same street and did a 4 hour shift thinking she was chilling at home and came back at 8pm to a houseful.

To be fair we tidied the house till it was spotless and made smokers go outside and use plates for ash trays so there weren’t fag ends everywhere outside. We hoovered, dusted, deep cleaned the whole kitchen and even took recycling and rubbish to the tip to hide evidence, we would have completely got away with it if the neighbour hadn’t grassed on us, we denied it but left the ash tray plate in the dishwasher and forgot to turn it on 😂. We also took photos which were then used as evidence against us.

Are your kids housetrained? I’d actually moved out at 18 and stayed at my mum and dad’s to look after my sister. We were completely self sufficient and apart from the party looked after the house and ourselves perfectly well.
Do they get on with each other and would they all behave or would one encourage the others to have a party like my sister did?

It you think they could all look after themselves without being at each others throats then the eldest should be old enough to look after the others, they are old enough to live alone.

If they can’t boil an egg or would go out and leave the house unlocked or do nothing but argue then you will just worry the whole time. If that’s the case then you might need to work on them developing more domestic skills and being more responsible!

For me it would depend on the 13yo and the relationship between the 3 of them.
I'm a latch key kid middle of 3 mostly raised by my older sister, with her as the eldest in your situation we could be left as she ruled the roost and we respected her as a parental figure.
My younger sister (4 years my junior) was physically abusive towards me and we couldn't be left overnight together without my elder sister/parent/grandparent. When we were to be left just the 2 of us she went to stay with grandparents.

need to bring this post to my parents and tell them owe me a lot of money! 😅

I would, I've left my 16 and 13 year old for the odd night together. If the 19 year old is happy to be responsible for her siblings then I think it's fine. I think if my youngest was told she had to go with grandparents whilst her sibling stayed at home she would be very unhappy.

I would ask 13 yr-old if they'd rather stay with granny or at home, If at home, I would ask 19 year old to be responsible for their welfare and pay them some babysitting money in return for specific tasks which you'd normally perform, such as:
Making sure they have a healthy dinner each night.
Making sure they have done their homework
Making sure they have clean clothes and school uniform
Knowing where they are and who with and what time they will be home
Making sure they have safe ways of getting to and from any clubs or social events.
Making sure they do not spend 4 days online, but have some fresh air and other activities lined up.

Just pointing it out as an option. Personally if happily leave 3 (sensible) teenagers.

Why on earth not? They could have had children of their own a full 3 years ago.

It's a bit of an imposition on the 19 year old, but if they are happy to do it then I think its OK. When I was about 19/20 and at University I would occasionally come home for the weekend to look after my sister who was 11 years younger than me while my parents were away.

Personally I'd go for 2 nights and see how they get on before looking at 4 nights

Yeah, as long as the 19 and 16 year old are sensible.

With grandparents dropping in every day too and close by in general I would do it.

Go OP, and have fun. You know your children, there’s a big variation in maturity and sensibility at those ages. 19 is an adult! At 19 I had my own house and my then 13 year old sister stayed there with me a few times. I had friends with babies at that age living alone. A sensible 13 year old is no problem!

Assuming they’re sensible and all get on and the 19yo doesn’t mind I don’t see why not. After all the 19yo could have a baby of their own and that’s far more responsibility than a self sufficient teenager.

I would if the 19 year old is responsible and explicitly agreed to be the responsible adult - to be in the house/with their siblings say 7pm - 7am and to ensure there was an evening meal whether bought or cooked. If the younger siblings cook the 19 year old would need to supervise.

I would probably offer the 19 year old a couple of hundred quid to mind their siblings- on top of grocery/take away money - to be paid when I got home and everyone and the house was in one piece.

If the 19 year old did not agree to mind their siblings I wouldn't go.

They all sound very sensible so go ahead. Good to have the grandparents as back up.

What's the reason people wouldn't leave the 13 year old with their two older siblings?

Why not?

The older two together is fine, I'd want the 13yr old with grandparents or older family.

I wouldn't leave the 13 year old. If you wouldn't leave them alone, it's not fair to leave the older ones reasonable for them. Can they stay with the GP?

Why? There’s an adult sibling in the house. Much nicer/more fun to be at home with all of your stuff, your bed, your bath etc. than packing up to stay somewhere else while your siblings get to enjoy some freedom! I’m sure the 3 siblings would love a few days of running the house, great bonding for them.

No problem. I was 19 and my brother 13 when my parents went away for a week. A 19 year old can be out working, even married with children, so why wouldn't you?

They will have an adult with them so they will be fine.