Flying as an unaccompanied minor at age 7

[CrispyClo]

I’m posting on behalf of my sister as she is looking for some external views on the matter.

My niece is 7, birthday was in August. She started a new school in September, which closes for Christmas a week earlier than most state schools. There don’t seem to be a lot of options for childcare during that week as not many schools here close that early so there aren’t any holiday camps.
My sister has booked my niece onto a week long camp abroad for the week. The camp is well reviewed and offers a pick up service for children flying as an unaccompanied minor. My sister initially felt this was a good idea, and booked it.
Now she is having some concerns and is unsure it’s the right choice, mainly as she appreciates 7 is quite young and while the flight isn’t particularly long, they don’t actually have someone sat with them, just cabin crew checking in. She has admitted herself she was fine with it until other people seemed to think it was a reckless parenting choice. I think it will be fine, my sister and I flew as unaccompanied minors often as our dad lived abroad, we were a bit older (maybe 10 the first time) but managed it fine.

AIBU to think my niece will be fine? She’s looking forward to the camp and doesn’t seem phased by the thought of it.

So she'll send a 7 year old to fly alone, then get (hopefully) picked up by a camp representative and taken to a camp for a week?
I wouldn't be happy with a single one of those components. The risk is huge and potentially catastrophic. But even if the arrangements work perfectly, what about the child? What if they get scared or lonely or feel unwell? Who settles them into the camp? Who is there to pick them up in an emergency? In some countries a child that age will only just have started school. No way is a seven year old mature or resourceful enough to deal with the practical or emotional problems that might occur.
DS should use the camp and flight money to put some proper and appropriate childcare in place instead of shIpping the poor child off to a bunch of strangers.

If your sisters concern is that schools finish a week before other (more suitable!) childcare options are available then why can she not just take the week off work to look after her own, very young child? She can quite clearly afford to do this if she’s happy to pay for return flights and week long camp which I’m sure won’t be cheap! I’ve had 3 children and there’s absolutely no way I would consider this. Not least for how far away she’d be in the event of falling ill, or having an accident. Madness.

If your sister is so terrified at the prospect of looking after her own child, I suggest she contacts Social Services. It sounds like they should be involved anyway.

OP, you clearly think your 7 year old niece will be fine abroad by herself with strangers for a week so it’s unlikely anyone here will change your mind as we’re obviously coming from different places. I would love to see the camps website as I’d really struggle to believe any residential camp would take a lone 7 year old. Please do share it.

On the flight. You say you were fine flying as a ten year old with your sister to see your dad. Do you not see a difference?”

Couldn’t sleep, so scrolling MN and came across this. I’m utterly shocked. Could NEVER imagine doing this to my children who are similar ages. Both are sensible and pretty mature kids, but the risks are huge. Far too much that could go wrong.

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

I can’t speak for OP but these are two of the camps we used for DD. They took children from 7 but DD was 9 before she first went and 10 before she went as an unaccompanied minor.

https://www.campsuisse.com/front-page/
https://www.leselfes.com/

Sorry but this is utterly mad and I use all sort of camps and am of the mindset I’d encourage my children to do all sorts of trips when offered the chance at the right point. Schools tend to scaffold school trips rather than just send a child abroad for a week. I’ve got a child going on an optional residential abroad at 10 and lots of her class won’t go as it’ll be too much for them and they’ve been quite honest about that. I’m a bit torn about it as I’d be happier with year 7 but feel that the school has run the trip well for a number of years and she’ll be with familiar staff and friends and was begging to go. I still expect there may well be some tears and a bit of home sickness.

There is literally no way I’d send her on the same trip at 7 let alone consider sending a child to a residential camp abroad with no familiar faces while being passed off to a stranger in an airport. PGL in the UK don’t even take 7 year olds.

On the flight itself, not a problem. I travel a lot for work (solo) and have often had minors sat next to me - seems the airlines I was flying with generally tried to seat them next to women. Only once have I seen one panic when we had turbulence and admittedly they were pretty inconsolable for the rest of the flight.
The camp are obviously set up for young DC but it’s still a long time and a long way away at that age. Surely there is something closer to home? A lot of 7 YO would not be ok with that length of time away with strangers. And to be clear, they are strangers, airline/camp staff and other campers - all are strangers to the child.
Something else just struck me - What happens if, as is common, we get a bank of bad weather just before Xmas and lots of flights get cancelled? Your DN is stranded on her own/with a stranger in a foreign country in the run up to Xmas? I’ve been stuck before and it’s stressful enough as an adult capable of entertaining myself, advocating for myself and making a back up plan! Who would be responsible for DN during the delay? The camp/airline? Do they have someone to stay with her 24/7 and sort her accommodation etc?

No, not at 7. My DD was 14 when she flew unaccompanied (completely) - 9hr flight and I was on edge. At 7, not a chance.

Classic case of more money than sense.
The variable risks of all the things that could go wrong are huge. Not to mention how lonely and home sick the poor little kid will feel. Despite the fact she’s probably said she’s fine with it (we all covered up our true feelings as kids to do what we thought would make our parents happy).
She obviously has high levels of wealth to even consider this so look into a live in nanny for the week who can take her to museums, theatre shows, sports classes etc.
It’s 2025 not 1986, this stuff literally doesn’t fly anymore 🤯

Yes, but only used by a fraction of the population, the richest fraction. Mumsnet is more representative of the UK.

'camps' are not a particularly British thing either.

I think maybe the OPs family are from a different world to me. OP, did you and your sister attend boarding school? And does your niece? I think if you’re in the world where boarding schools and summer camps abroad are the norm for 7 year olds this wouldn’t seem as much of a big deal. Those of us that don’t live in that world probably find it more shocking that it would even be considered for a 7 year old.

My DC went as a day pupil to a boarding school on the Spanish/ French borders and we are not rich! Many children were boarders from 5 years old. Holiday residential camps are common place in the EU and very well run and organised. My DC attended as a day attendee but many of their friends from the school stayed as residents of the camp.

Staying overnight at boarding school and residential holiday camps are not something I would consider for my own children until they were in secondary school but it is not just rich posh folk who utilise them for their young children in the EU either! TBH my DC were very grateful and thankful not to be boarders like many of their friends and they wouldn’t want it for their own children (they say that now but who knows?).

I personally wouldn’t allow my 7 year old DC to fly alone. Is there no one who could fly with her?

Disgraceful parenting in my opinion

Hire a nanny for a week. Stay with grandparents. I’m agog that sending them abroad for 7 days seems to be the only option.

Do you not like your niece? Your sister obviously has heaps of money so why is she not just hiring a nanny . DN can go to some day camps ( usually 9-3) and then nanny can collect. This is all so weird. I flew a few times as an unaccompanied minor and , and it was only a 2 hour flight. Handed over by mum and collected at the gate by my uncle. I was about 11 years old. Even at that age I was so nervous to order a drink when they asked as I didn't know if I had to pay for it. Admittedly my parents fault for not explaining that to me. The simplest things can go wrong.

Hiring a nanny isn’t a bad idea but there are unlikely to be day camps for her to attend outside of the normal school holidays

Oh and an absolutely lovely man I knew, recently passed away, was talking about the horrors of his boarding school the last conversation I had with him. He was 82. Boarding school was in Scotland. I don't think saying " well people dump their 7 year olds at boarding school so what's wrong with a week " is the strong argument you think it is. It's just very sad.

So both you and your sister think it's fine. The vast majority of mumsnet think otherwise. Make of that what you will.

Fair enough, but the nanny can take her to the park or the cinema or a museum or whatever then. Then DN is home safe and sound when her parents get home.

7 is young for boarding schools too imo but at least you actually go with the child and settle them in etc.
How is the child ok with this?
Is it common occurrence in her family?

The thing i don’t understand is why?
There must be other options. Stay off work, dh stays off work, hire a nanny/childminder, grandparents, other family members.
The fact that your sister has thought’ I know send her off on a plane to stay with strangers for a week’ speaks volumes. As pp have said it’s all fine until it’s not.

I was that unaccompanied child many decades ago. From the age of 9 to 15, I'd fly solo from Europe to North America every summer. I'd spend a few weeks in a camp, and a few weeks with relatives. I loved it. And it made me very independent. I was never the one to blub about homesickness anyway. Many airlines today won't take an unaccompanied 9 year old, let alone 7. Travel alone depends on the child, and a parent's judgement of them. Nothing bad happened to me, and the memories of that time are cherished.

Years ago (I was a teenager) my mum and I were flying in Europe and the female cabin crew told us to swap seats so that we were sitting next to a young boy aged 5 who was unaccompanied and had changed flights from an earlier connecting flight from Australia. They put him next to us because we were female and sensible looking. Moved a bloke away from him. I seem to remember the child had passports/tickets on a lanyard around his neck. He was terrified on take off and I tried to talk to him but he’d obviously been told not to speak to anyone so he ignored me but his bottom lip wobbled. We effectively supervised him for the flight with cabin crew taking him off at the end. Poor kid. But it was obviously a thing even back then and apparently his parents had put him on in Aus and another relative was picking him up in Europe. Cabin crew said they walked him through the airport, so technically he was never alone. No idea how it works now, before people say it’s changed and doesn’t happen! I always remember it though.

Depends on the child. Mine would be fine with this. I genuinely don't see the issue.