au pair question

[neva]

21 year old au pair arrived 3 weeks ago. She is good-natured, responsible, follows instructions etc.

My question is, is it OK to leave a child in an au pair's sole care, overnight, on the odd occasion? My dd is 10 and well-behaved, so should not be a problem for au pair. Thanks.

if the ap is ok with it /not just nodding because she thinks she cant say no/, you offer extra pay or extra time off and your dd is ok with it - then i cant see a problem. i have done it on occasions too when i was an ap.

Overnight is no different from being in late, I have to do it on occasion as I have to be awake overnight for work. I make it clear with the APs before they arrive that this might happen and have agreed rates for when this happens.

Our au pair used to do this in her old host family (in fact she looked after the children whilst their parents went on holiday) - can't see it's much different to a late-night babysit and au pair getting them up in the morning as long as you trust your au pair and you recompense her well.

Have done this once - AP only had DS1 (5) as I was stuck in the snow with DS2...I would do it again if necessary, but only if I trusted AP 100% (which I do at the moment!)

Depends totally on the au pair. Does she feel confident with it? Is her English good enough to cope in an emergency? Does she know what to do if there is an emergency? Do you have a nice neighbour/local friend that she could call if she got a bit freaked out?

No reason why she shouldn't be capable - at 18 I was left in sole charge of a 7 month old for a weekend.

Belated thanks for your replies. Reassuring to know I would not be doing anything unusual asking ap to look after dd overnight, though I would tend only to ask if no other solution in sight.

We have done this a couple of times - most notably our honeymoon. We have always only been away for one night, within reasonable driving distance, accessible at all times by phone; and we pay her for every hour of overtime worked. And we only think of arranging this if we feel the au pair is responsible enough to do so, and if she is comfortable with it.

Having an au pair when the child is 10 is so much easier. Your child, one way or another, will reveal anything not right. If your instincts say yes, follow them. You have to have a life. Within limits that are too obvious to list, happy parents make happy children.