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Original poster

Can My 13 year old take care of my 5 yr old daughter?

28 replies

gsarmist · 24/09/2012 14:46

Hi I will be moving to London very soon from outside UK. being new I need advise on childcare. My 13 year old daughter can take good care of my 5yr old and can manage herself quite independently. My daughter lived in london along with us when our younder one born and then we left UK for a gap of 3 years. Hence it is not that the environment is quite new for my older daughter. My question If I feel confident on my daughter's ability can I leagally keep my 5 year old under her care at home after her school for 2 hours. I may still need go for a child minder for my younger one for an hour or so till my older one comes from school to take her. Both myself and my husband cannot come from work before 7.00 pm.

Need good advise from experienced mums.

thanks.

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Rubirosa · 24/09/2012 16:04

Legally it's up to your discretion, though the NSPCC recommend not leaving a child under 14 to babysit for younger children.

It would probably be quite unusual to have a 13 year old providing regular afterschool care for a 5 year old like this and neighbours/the school might raise concerns.

As nannynick says, the school will likely not want to release the 5 year old to anyone other than an adult, and you might also find childminders unwilling to release a 5 year old into the care of a 13 year old, incase they were held responsible if anything happened.

nannynick · 24/09/2012 15:59

One possible problem is that school may not release your 5yr old to someone under age 16. So I think you will need to check with the school concerned to see if you can put your 13yr old down as someone authorised to collect your 5yelr old.

NoComparison · 24/09/2012 14:58

There is no legal age when children are deemed old enough to babysit, so it is up to you.

But, you remain responsible, so if something happened that suggested your elder daughter wasn't sensible enough to be in charge of a younger child, you could be found negligent

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