TO leave my 14year old to babysit my 18month old whilst she has her nap today.

[Bettydownthehall]

My two younger girls want to go to the school fete. 11-1pm. Then I have promised my daughter lunch out as a reward for brilliant behaviour. I am planning on taking all of the children for lunch. This will leave no space for the baby's nap and she is a nightmare without it. She reliably sleeps 3 hours per day.

I was thinking about putting the baby to nap, taking the girls to the fete and then coming back to collect them all for lunch.

14yr old could ring me if baby got up, but he is also capable of getting her out of bed and taking her down to play for a bit while I came back.

Seems sensible to me but I know the NSPCC guidelines. But...I also know my children.

Sounds perfectly fine to me.

I do occasionally ask my teenDC to alter their plans to help with family responsibilities if it's unavoidable and for the greater good. Sometimes I ask younger DC to alter plans to fit in with what teenDC have on. Give and take.

Flip, I know girls who've had babies at 14 so I can't see why some people are so worried about someone that age being alone with a baby for a couple of hours.

He's fourteen. He's too young.

To mind his own sister in his own house for a couple of hours?

We will have to agree to disagree.

Good grief of course it's fine and normal.

If you have age gaps like us it's what happens.

All Hands to the pump and all have to help and be helped.

My teens babysat their sisters when we went out and we did the lifts and the cash for going out.

Completely normal life

I would be worried if any 14 year old we raised wasn't capable of minding a sleeping baby

There's some weird thing on MN about never asking a child to watch younger siblings.

Yes!! Why is that?! It's bizarre. I used to watch my younger siblings all the time as a kid, it was fine. Didn't grow up resentful either!!

As long as the 14yr old is happy to do it and you trust them, then of course. Leaving them alone for a couple of hours in the day when you are 10mins away is totally different to leaving overnight or jetting off to Paris for the weekend (in the news today).
There are no hard and fast legal ages that children can be left alone, it's all about personal maturity.

I have no idea why anyone would think this wasn't ok.

Absolutely fine and normal thing to do.

Of course it's fine.

Absolutely fine. It's two hours at a school fete, not five days at Glastonbury.

I regularly babysat my cousin for whole nights at 14, I was collected by my auntie and driven to their house in the middle of nowhere. I like to think they thought I was responsible enough to call my parents or 999 if anything terrible was to happen.

14 year olds are pretty switched on and would know what to do in a crisis.

Enjoy the fete and the rest of your day OP.

I wouldn't either, a little because of the age but also the fact that i really disagree with older siblings being the default babysitter. They don't choose to have siblings yet seem to get lumbered with the care.

Not unreasonable at all. Your 14 year old seems to have several younger siblings it's not like he is an on,y child dumped in a house with a newborn.

18 months old isn't really a baby, it's a toddler in many cases capable of a few words, yes, no or shouting for attention.

Did I make the 18 month old bit up? Oops, either way it would be ok with me.

14 year olds could conceivably have their own babies, so why would it be a problem?

I was babysitting my neighbours toddler from 13 for the odd half an hour here and there and we never had any disasters.

I babysat a newborn at this age and regularly babysat my younger brothers for 2 / 3 days at a time. If you think your daughter is responsible enough then I can't see the problem.

son .. sorry I don't know where I got daughter from!

Of course it's fine OP. Teaches teenagers that's family life, gives them some responsibility. They are more than equipped to handle it. As for imposing on him when he might want to be doing something else, it's a good lesson to learn.

My DS babysits regularly. I give him a weeks notice, he commits and it's a job. If something comes up with his friends it's unfortunate but he will still babysit and I pay him pocket money to cover it. That's how being an adult works, and he is very nearly an adult. It's my job to teach him these things.

Don't see the problem if he's sensible and happy to do it.

When I grew up older kids looking after younger ones for periods of time was just normal life. At 14 I was also babysitting for friends and neighbours. Anyone who had said "wow you're amazing" for doing it would have been regarded as odd.

Surely this is just part of family helping each other out?

It mainly depends on the maturity of your 14 year old, but the fact you're thinking of doing so tells me you believe them to be mature enough.

Age wise I wouldn't say it's a problem, I was babysitting for my twin sisters from them being about 6-7 months old, so I was just turned 14 at the time.

Of course I would, wouldn't think twice.

lumbered with the care its two hours! Not two weeks! MN baffles me on this one

Of course it's fine! I cant believe you have to ask actually, but I think spending time on MN makes people second guess everything to a ridiculous degree. As with plenty of other posters I earned money babysitting toddlers when I was 14.

It sounds like an ideal solution as he is willing, why shouldn't siblings help out and watch out for each other, it's what family is all about.