At what age would you leave your DC with a 16yr old for the evening?

[lottymadbird]

Said 16 year old is very sensible, but how old would you say your DC would be before you left them with a 16yr old for the evening (prob til 1am)...?

Well my dd is 16 and babysits children ,she does babies from about 6 mos.

I have left my sleeping 3 and 1 year olds with our 15 year old baby sitter. BUT he only lives a few doors down the road and his mum is always in and "on call" when he babysits. And they know him very well because he helps out with suppertime and bedtime once a week when DH works late.

It depends how far I was going, and how easily i could get back.

Mine are 9, 4, 2, and I would be a little uncomfortable.

Same as mazzystar. Our next door neighbour is 16, and when we ask him to babysit, his mum says "yes, I'm free that evening"

I used to babysit for a 4 3 and 1 yo when I was 16.
(but my Mum was a few doors down so on handi n case of emergency)

I have left my ds with a 15 year old babysitter since he was 5 weeks old! BUT only at night time when he was asleep (and he's a really good sleeper so I knew the chances of him waking up were slim), and the 15 year old is our next door neighbour who we know really well. She is old for her age, very mature and sensible. I think it depends on the individual 16 year old.

We've left dd with her 16 year old babysitter since she was about 6mos ish, often till 1am ish! But the 16 year old is very sensible, would call me if there was a problem and has 2 younger sisters who are only 7 and 6, so she knows plenty about babies and toddlers! She does putting to bed and playing, although we do bath and PJ's before we go out.

We left DS and DD with DH's sister (who was 15 at the time) for the evening when they were 1 and nearly 3. Didn't have any worries about it at all. And all was fine .

im a bit concerned because friends DD is only 4 months old, is a real crier and the babysitter although absolutely lovely doesnt really know the DC. none of my business really and I cant think how i could express my worries to friend without her thinking im being a nosy interfering cow.

I was a very sensible 16 yr old babysitter, but i had no experience of children and so small things went wrong like squirting the baby in the eye with milk and not knowing how to change a nappy. The thing that strikes me is that i was often left without contact details and that the parents didn't think to ask if i could do these things and i didn't think about it either!
so in short i'd much rather do what i do now and do swaps with other experienced parents - free babysitting and they have as much experience as i do!

yes probably none of your business

I think id depends on the child,my dd was babysitting her cousins at 12,only during the afternoon for a few hours,but she is sensible and the kids are well behaved,wheras she is now 14 and i wouldnt leave her with her 9 year old brother,they kill one another..

They would have to be verbal and past that psychotic stage where they try their level best to injure themselves.

i wouldnt, but that is just based on my 17 yo who i wont even leave with her 2yo sister

I don't think the age of the babysitter or the child is really the issue. Does the babysitter know what to do if there is a fire? Is the child likely to wake up and if so will the babysitter know what to do? That's all I'd be worried about.

It would depend on how sensible the 16 year old was, how good she was with children, and whether she could cope in an emergency. It would also depend on whether you could trust the child to behave for a teenager.

I wouldn't expect anyone that young to babysit until 1am, though.

I left my children 5 and 2 with a 16 year old babysitter for the first time a couple of weeks ago. We were only one street away although I was very impressed with his list of questions he came armed with. Very sensible young man, if we were local I would happily use him again.

babysitter is very sensible, she has babysat for older children before. When I looked after friends DD a couple of weeks ago she was awake nearly all the evening until about 11, crying on and off and I think this is usual for her. Friend will be about 45 minutes away but I think babysitter is sensible enough to cope if there was a real emergency.

i wasnt about to lay down the law to her and say she shouldnt leave her DC with the babysitter, was just curious what others thought was acceptable.

I started babysiting at 14, but the houses were all less than 2 mins drive/5 mins walk from my parents in case I needed to call on them in an emergency.

Depends for me on lots of factors

What sort of kids mine are?
What sort of 16 year old?
Where I was going
Other options for babysitters ...

I used to babysit from about 15 for babies and pre school kids. Looking back I was very trustworthy.

My first baby sitting job was when I was eleven for a 2 year old and six month old. Most Saturday nights from about 4pm until the parents came home after pub closed at 2am.

I had a flashback when I was training of leaving them both in the bath while I went to get washing off the line - it makes me sick to think what could have happened. I also used to wake the baby up to play with him when the older one had gone to bed.

By the time I was 16 my whole summer was spent babysitting. It was my start out to a nanny.

I leave my 3 yo Dd with my 15 yo Ds.
I know its probably different as hes my son and I know him.

Would depend on 16 yo otherwise and how well they knew my Dd.