At what age should kids start babysitting their siblings?

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Permalink Reply by Toni on October 8, 2008 at 10:15pm

I have a 7 month old daughter and a 12 year old son. He has always been very responsible and is completely capable of taking care of his sister. On the other hand my 18 year old step son would never be left to babysit his sister because he is not responsible enough. It complelety depends on how they are raised. My 12 year old was raised by me alone until he was 10 years old and had to be independant because I had to work and couldn't afford day care when he was about 8, where as my 18 year old was babied by his mother and not even aloud to empty the dishwasher or stay home alone until he was 17. If you feel they are ready and capable than there is nothing wrong with iand it is your decision. I do not how ever think that an 8 year old could handle 3 kids of those ages. I know some adults that couldn't handle that!!!

as far as wether it is legal, when I was trying to decide if should go ahead and leave my son home alone I called the Sherrif office and child protective services and they said (atleast in my state) that there is no set age that a child can be home alone. If the child knows what to do in an emergancy, or even just answering the door and the phone than it is fine. Call your local police and child realted offices and find out what they have to say.

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Permalink Reply by Tracy on October 8, 2008 at 11:06pm

My first question did anything bad happen? How did anyone find out? Also, I agree with Toni, I feel the 1yr.old & 4mth yr.old are way too young for an 8 yr old to be responsible for. I don't know how the 6 yr. old & 8 yr. old interact with each other. My brother Rickey & I were that close in age & we would fight like cats & dogs. I, too would ask Human Services & the police about an official stay at home age. I live in MI & we don't have any set age either. That's kind of scary considering all the abductions & other things that have happened to kids over the years, by neighbors, even some by family members. The latter is why we never leave our 14.5 yr. old daughter alone. We explain that we would rather have her feel over protected now, (which she doesn't) then to have something bad happen to her, that she has to live with the rest of her life. Maybe you could barter babysitting with a family member, friend or neighbor that you trust. God Bless, Tracy:]

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Permalink Reply by Deana on October 14, 2008 at 2:04pm

8 years old is way to young!!!! When I think of my 8 yr old niece caring for younger children I just shake my head because I know there is no way she is equipped to handle that! I let my older child babysit when I felt she was mature enough to handle an emergency and had taken a CPR course, which was about age 11. I did however let her stay home alone for short amounts of time at age 9, once I was confident she could follow the rules and express herself clearly should she need to call 911 for anything. My middle daughter was older since she just didn't seem to have the confidence to be in charge of our youngest daughter. She was able to stay by herself when she was around 10, but only for an hour or so. Our youngest, who is now almost 14, started babysitting other children at age 12 and staying home alone around age 10. She loves being home alone and is very mature for her age. Many times I have to remind people who ask if she can babysit that she is only 13 since they assume she is 15 or 16!

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Permalink Reply by Debby on October 14, 2008 at 2:54pm

I have a very special circumstance to say that my oldest has never baby sat his brothers--It's only because he hasn't been part of my life due to a nasty divorce. Right now, only knowing him and his girlfriend for 2 months I think I'm going to carry on in that trend.

The middle boy isn't going to have to watch his younger brother after school like I was expected to. Maybe for short shopping trips once he's about 13-16 but not until it's legal for me to leave the youngest one home without adult supervision which is 12, I think.

The youngest, well I think he's going to be a good babysitter but I'm still going to wait until he's in his teens.

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Permalink Reply by Amy on October 14, 2008 at 4:45pm

I made sure my girls had the babysitting class before I let them stay home alone and followed my rules. My girls are close together-no babies-they have their issues but we work them the problems when I get home from work.

Trying to teach them responsibility.

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