WWYD - 6 year old travelling short haul with only 16 year old cousin to look after her?

[broguemum]

I am considering allowing DD (6) to travel to the UK with her cousin (16) accompanying her. What do you think? They would be met at arrivals so it would be only from passport control, through a small airport, onto the plane and then out through passport control on their own. I am not convinced but she is my PFB.

Which airline, and from which country? Has the 16yo traveled by herself before? If so and you would be happy for the 16yo to babysit, then they'll be fine (but make sure that the paperwork is clear that she has permission to take your dd, so that she isn't suspected of child abduction).

from where?

whats the cousin like?

i'd say it'll prob be ok, but you need to go with your gut instinct.

hope plane isnt delayed cos you wont rest until they're there will you!!!

BA, from Luxembourg (nice small airport) to Gatwick.

16yo has travelled by herself a couple of times but is not the most confident of traveller but will probably have her confidence boosted by having to look after someone else IYSWIM.

16yo has been "au pairing" for us for a week and has been left alone with DD for up to 5 or 6 hours at a time.

I will hate it. But I think she will want to go. Aaargh!!!!

Not something that I'd be willing to do - even with my 9th.

all sounds good...but...if youre not happpy

It depends entirely upon how confident/competent the 16 years old is.

I would let my 16 year old DS take DD who is also 6 anywhere. But DS has been travelling alone on trains since he was 10 and is very savvy and sensible.

Depends on the 16 year old - and you sound unsure tbh. If I was unsure then I wouldn't

I'm not so much unsure about the travelling, it's more me missing her when she is gone for 6 days that is making me so unsure. I do not think she will miss me very much though as she will be with her cousins, her auntie and grandfather - she is an independent little madam you see.

It would depend entirely upon the character of the 16 yr old. They are old enough to be married themselves by then, but some are mature and confident and some are not.It would also depend upon the character of the 6 yr old and whether they do as they are told. In theory it is fine-in practice it might not be.

My 8 yr old went to France short-haul (1 hour flight, met other end by girl's parents) with a 16 yr old family friend. Mature girl. It was fine. I think your daughter will be fine! As long as she's happy about going, I would let her.

My 8 yr old went to France short-haul (1 hour flight, met other end by girl's parents) with a 16 yr old family friend. Mature girl. It was fine. I think your daughter will be fine! As long as she's happy about going, I would let her.

I've used BA's Skyflyer solo service when my DC have travelled alone.

I think it's for children aged between 5 & 12 years old so it may be worth looking into this as a fall back.

My friend when I was younger took her little sister (she was between 11-15 and sister was 4-8 if I remember correctly) with her from UK to South Africa with changes in France on numerous occasions, it worked well, and the companies they went with organised it so that they'd have an 'escort' the entire time, maybe see if they can do that for you if you're worried?

Thanks for all your replies - I've booked it with the nice man from BA who was v reassuring. I will, however, tremble from takeoff until I get a call from my sister to say that she has met them safe and sound at Gatwick.

Wish me luck!

Good luck-I'm sure it will be fine. My 16 yr old cousin took me on the train when I was about 7yrs and I felt really grown up-it is great for confidence boosting!

Um.... She has already packed her bags. It's not for a week!!!! I think she is quite keen on going.

OK - she's in the air now. She is soooo excited and happy to be going. Bit of a hitch at the airport as none of us (DD, me and her cousin) have the same surname and all look completely different from one another. I had to produce passport, drivers licence, credit card, e-mail trail between me and my sister who's picking them up etc etc. Just an hour and twenty minutes to landing and then about half an hour until they get picked up (I hope).

brougemum? All went well I take it? DD very happy, you muching finger and toenails as you anticipate the retun journey.
DS 13yo has been doing this by himself for years, today in fact and I still worry.

She (your dd) will be so pleased and so will you when she gets home, her increased level of maturity will amaze you.

It all went well. She had a marvellous time on the flight and made friends with lots of people. She is a v. sociable young lass.

Thankfully there won't be a return journey for her on her own - I will be collecting her in a week.

I miss her horribly though but at least I can now get some work done....

Now you are being funny. You wont get any work done, you'll be too busy worrying all the time. lol.

First time Ds flew alone, I painted a "welcome home starmummys ds" banner persauded the real softy of a guy to let me through so I could see him coming and held up my poster for him and all the people on the flight clapped and stopped to tell me what a lovely boy he was. I bet if I had done that yesterday he would have pretended he didnt know me, but it was a few years back. lol.

However on that same flight were 2 children about 10 and 8 and there was nobody to meet them. I was and . They went as unaccompanied minors so at least the air hostess stayed with them.

Enjoy your week.