To consider leaving older children overnight

[Aurea]

Just checking other people's thoughts.....

I have a 16.5 year old and a 13 year old very sensible sons. Would it be reasonable to consider leaving them over night with neighbours on hand?

I lived alone at 16.

sounds fine just make sure they don't have a party

My sister also lived alone with a baby at 16 I'm sure they will manage.

Thanks

No chance of a party. My 16 year old is such a homebody and has NEVER gone out with his friends in the evening! He seems happy enough and is sociable at school though......

I would say as long as they both feel confident about it and you have some kind of back up plan if at 3am they’re freaked out and can’t sleep.

It's going to depend a bit on your DC but as a general rule I would say absolutely fine.
We left my DS when he was 16 while we went on a short holiday because he has always had incredibly high levels of responsibility. My DD I would leave check lists, phone her often and fret but I'd still let her stay here alone. She's forgetful but I trust her to make sensible choices.

They are ll different. It's mostly about to you trust them to make sensible decisions in a mini crisis. I occasionally so DD 'what would you do if the dog got out' or 'what would you do if a pan caught fire' so I can calibrate her potential for fuckwittery.

Definitely fine. When I was 16, I’d look after my 4 siblings when my mum did night shift, single mum so she just needed to do it.

If you have faith in them to behave appropriately then do. You know them better than anyone.

We left our DS17 and DD14 for a weekend. They each had friends round but not at the same time. All was fine. They even did the washing!!