14 year old babysitting sibling ?

[Eighteight]

My son is 14 ( he’s very responsible ) I’m just wondering if it’s an okay age to let him babysit his younger brother who is 7? Every weekend I have to drag my poor 7 year old along to his brothers football and rugby games at 8am and he hates going ! I would too at his age ( it’s cold , rainy and boring ) I’m already taking my baby as I’m a single parent to 4 kids ! Just thinking 2 hours tops on a sat and Sunday morning . Do you think he is too young for this responsibility? I don’t have anyone else to help me and it’s such hard work as it is . Would this be unfair on him ? Was thinking I could pay him 🤣🤔

It's fine if he's happy with it. My 15 year old twins would happily babysit their 6 and 9 year old sisters and they do it for a few hours without even thinking about it. We have never done it before but I reckon my 12 year old son would cope fine as well for a few hours. It does depend on how well behaved the child is likely to be and obviously it can't interfere with any other plans.

Totally fine - I used to get paid for babysitting strangers babies and toddlers when I was 14!

DS1 (13) looks after DS2 (6) for a few hours each week. No pay but he earns a late night and unlimited Xbox on a Friday. TBH he's very responsible and mature and has been doing it for over a year now.

My oldest daughter is 13 and occasionally watches over her younger siblings (7 and 4) during the day, I would have no problem doing that. Occasionally she is the one taking her brother football so I stay home or i take him and she watches the youngest. We are a family, we help each other. I do not pay her but she has pocket money, like the others do but proportionate to their age, and she is well looked after. Obviously if she is busy with her friends etc i just take the younger kids wherever i am going. Honestly we need to normalise helping each other out, especially in a family!

Yes I leave my 12 year old to babysit my 7 year old occasionally. He babysat her all day in an emergency when I had to take my other child to hospital lone parent and had no one else that could watch them so didn’t have much options as children weren’t allowed at the appointment it was fine.

My ex-childminder runs a babysitting course, I think it largely involves first aid and other things. She runs it for 14 and above, so I think 14 is fine.

My son was babysat by a 13 year old a few times (13 going on 23 mind you and ended up being head girl at her school, not at all surprisingly).

My 14 year old is very capable of looking after my 7 year old.

Heck I was babysitting toddlers at night at 12 which was totally normal then.

When were you 12 @mondaytosunday ?

As this hasn't been normal in any of my many decades on the planet.

Lol at 'many decades on the planet'. How dramatic 🤣

During my 5 and a half decades on the planet, I've noticed it's perfectly normal for some 12 year olds to be babysitting younger siblings and cousins etc.

I think it's fine if he's happy and you pay him.