Minimum age for eldest sibling to babysit?

[MGMidget]

I wondered what age you would consider acceptable for the oldest sibling to babysit the younger? I have a 14 year old and a 7 year old. I was about to book a friend's daughter for babysitting for an evening out and then it occurred to me her daughters are not much older than my eldest (her DDs are 15 and 18 so if we booked the youngest she would be one year older than my eldest). I wonder if friend's DD and my eldest DC would feel rather silly in the situation. Would you leave a 7 year old with a 14 year old sibling for an evening out or is it too young?

Yes absolutely (assuming no issues such as SEN for the 14yo).

There is no legal age for babysitting up to the parents to decide.

it would depend on their dynamic - I would think most 14yr olds would be fine for a few hours. If they fight like cat and dog however I’d prob hire a 3rd party.

Totally depends on the individual children. My sister is three years older than me and from when she was about 13 there were no issues with us being left alone for a bit

There isn’t a legal age, as previous pp states

but if anything happens you could then be cautioned ( though you refuse a caution)

so make sure 14 year old is sensible and has your number for anything occurring and number of place where you’ll be etc

Hm. If it helps I leave my 13 y8 and 10 year old y5 together for two hours in the early evening.

I don't yet feel they're ready to be left till later at night and to go to bed by themselves.

Perhaps in year or so when they're both at secondary and Dd is 14.

My niece is 14 and babysits the neighbours toddlers . Unless yours really don’t get on, there is SEN or another concern I would have thought they’d be fine.

We've left ours during the daytime to go food shopping but tonight is the first time ever leaving them for an evening (well 7-9pm) while we go to play bingo at the social club 😁 They're 16 and 10

It depends on the quality of the relationship between the two children, I think.

If they get along well and the younger child defers to the older one, then they should be fine.

However, if they're always bickering and fighting, I would urge caution. If the younger would not accept authority from the older, it's best to get an independent babysitter, imo.
It would be very stressful for the older child, trying to control and keep safe a recalcitrant younger sibling.

Thanks for all your views. I think I’ll ask our older DC what he thinks first to see if he would have any reservations and then if he feels confident I’ll see how DD reacts to the proposal.

Depends if they want to and how much you'll be paying them 🤷‍♀️

Yes, absolutely, I was babysitting my 3/4 year old sibling at that age.

Is it ok to leave a 14 year old at home alone for a few hours during the day.. is it legal??

Yes!!

My 14yo babysits her 12 and 9yo siblings. If I ask her specifically to stay in for a particular thing I will pay her, if she just happens to be in the house and I need to go out for a bit she's expected to do that as part of her general allowance.

Why are people asking about it being legal to leave a 14yo at home alone? During lockdown the only way I could continue working was to leave a 12yo home alone and I was told then that I was ridiculous for thinking this maybe wasn't the best idea.

@MargeSa there is no legal or illegal age; what is illegal is to neglect a child, so obv leaving a 5yo for a whole day and night, or leaving a 13yo for a week is not a good idea. Totally fine to leave a 14yo for a few hours, in fact a good way to build up independence.

There isn't one but if something happens you do have to show it wasn't negligence etc.