To think this is totally ok and I am not a lax parent

[Northernsoulgirl45]

Have 3 dd 15 12 and 6
Very occasionally I leave them with the 15 year old in charge. Never more than an hour or two and not at night.
Another mum of a small child btw has made me feel like a bad mum for giving dd1 this responsibility.
So who is unreasonable?

Totally fine. My 12 year old looks after my 6 year old occasionally. He is very sensible and DS2 looks up to him and doesn't give him grief.

Lucky you having an in house baby-sitting service!

MasterBaker that must have been so frightnening for both you and him! I hope he recovered ok?

Family dynamics aside, I would mostly trust a 15yo to look after DC of that age for a short time.

If the DC had a history of winding each other up, etc, then no.

Totally fine.

Totally fine! My eldest DC has been watching her youngest sibling since she was 14 and youngest was 5. It's perfectly normal for older siblings to occasionally mind younger sibs your friend is either weird or has no idea about having DC of different ages.

I got my first job at 14. My DB was 7.
I use to take him out on bus and train etc and treat him. Wasn't unusual to have him and my DSis for a few hours at home with me and cook them dinner either. M
Yanbu

All the babysitters club were 13 😊

Totally fine, some 15 year olds have babies of their own!

Absolutely fine. I wouldn't give this a 2nd thought. I've left a 13yo watching my 8yo for half an hour.

It's fine

Ha! I leave mine with my eldest and she's definitely not 15! I was babysitting much younger in my youth. It was totally normal.

For goodness' sake - of course it's fine for a 15yo to babysit if you, as parent, think they're capable - and not just for an hour or two either. There are 15 year olds who have their own kids, after all. At 15 I was the main jobbing babysitter in my village and used to babysit for a family of 5, amongst others. I have left my own kids in charge younger than that - it all depends on the kids involved.

The woman who criticised you for this sounds utterly daft. PFB syndrome probably.

Sounds fine - just because another parent does something you wouldn't do doesn't make them lax or negligent.

I babysat every week for various three children families at that age. Of course it's fine!

Well I had my first ds at 16 and was left to look after a newborn. As an only child I had never been around dc much and I was fine.

You eldest know their siblings and I can't see what the issues is or why it is the other mums business to make a judgment

Thank you. Feel better now.

as long as 15 yo is happy to babysit then no problem.

Ffs she’s being ridiculous! How old are her kids? What’s her experience with children?

I was babysitting my siblings & cousins from 13 and doing paid babysitting including babies and overnights from 14. Even did basically “pyjama parties” with others similar age, army brat, quite common for there to be a celebration when the men got back from deployment and me and other neighbours kids would be in one house watching all the younger ones, we had a blast although admittedly not much sleep was achieved, I have very fond memories of those times and 2 of my “charges” ended up getting married having first met at one of these aged about 8!

I love kids and went on to be a nanny and childminder later.

Dd (18) was babysitting for friends and family from 14 and her friends were sitting siblings from around 13/14 too.

A sensible 15 year old babysitting their siblings is totally reasonable and normal.

What you have to remember OP is that some parents wont allow their 12 year old to walk to school or the shops and still ferry their 15 year olds door to door for fear of them having to have any independence or responsibility.

My 15y old babysits the 12 and 9y old once a week while DH and I go to an evening activity up nearby 8-11. Never had a single issue. Depends on the kids but it can be perfectly fine.

When I was 15 I was babysitting for my siblings aged 10, 8 and 1 regularly.

We all survived, so its probably fine unless your kids are really feral.

I'm 20 and my little sister is 7 - 13 year age gap. I practically brought her up alongside my mom, babysat her for hours on end when she was a toddler. Absolutely nothing wrong with it, my moms phone was always on and she'd come back if needed. It depends on the older child though, I've always been really mature and good with kids, my mom would of never trusted my brother who is a year older! Don't think she'd trust him now at 21 😂

Fine. My 14 yr old watches my 7 yr old if I am popping out to the shop (not far away). Both are sensible.

I'd have no issue with this.

Perfectly acceptable if she's responsible, and you'll know if she is.