What age would you leave them?

[Sofiegiraffe]

Not an AIBU but just wondering what the consensus is with this.

What's the minimum age you'd leave a sensible older child in charge of their 7 month old sibling while you briefly nipped to the shops, for 45 mins to an hour at the most?

Not at all, unless the sibling was 18+. A baby is a massive responsibility.

16. 7 months needs attention from someone with adult capabilities

15/16 if they were sensible maybe?

I just wouldn’t. I’d take the baby.

I’d leave a sensible older child at home alone for that length of time from secondary school age.

It really depends on the child. As an absolute cut off in all circumstances, 13- as in definitely no younger, but in reality it would depend on a lot of other factors, eg time of day, how far away I was going, how long till baby would need feeding/changing/nap etc etc.
Ideal would obviously be to take baby with me.

I'd trust 16 year old DD to babysit a 7 month old, absolutely. Probably not younger than 15 for a "proper" baby like that. I'd trust my 14 year old to look after a slightly older child for half an hour or an hour. He'd actually be perfectly competent to look after a 7 month old with instructions but hasn't done first aid courses wtc as dc1 has, and would be more anxious, so it'd be too big an ask.

14 at the very youngest

For clarity, when I say 13, I don't believe that all 13 year olds would be capable. I probably wouldn't leave a 13 year old with a baby. But if I had to choose an arbitrary age cut off, 13 would be the youngest I would even consider it.

18+
I don't think it's fair to ask a child to take on that responsibility.

14/15ish as long as very sensible, i babysat little ones from around that age.

@NoDecentHandlesLeft

It really depends on the child. As an absolute cut off in all circumstances, 13- as in definitely no younger, but in reality it would depend on a lot of other factors, eg time of day, how far away I was going, how long till baby would need feeding/changing/nap etc etc. Ideal would obviously be to take baby with me.

Time of day mid afternoon (after school time), baby freshly fed, changed, and napped before adult left. 10-15 min drive away.

Yes I think 14-15 if they are very sensible, because some teens babysit strangers' kids from that age

If the child was very familiar with the baby and the home, and was totally sensible, 14 I think. I certainly looked after baby cousins at that age, and that was without mobiles etc. My bf at school had her own baby at 15 so maybe that colours my opinion on it.

Start with leaving the house for 10 minutes then work up gradually. It's the only way to find out.

Thanks everyone. Confirmed roughly what I thought the consensus would be!