What age would you leave a toddler with older sibling for 30 min?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| I know a paid babysitter has to be 13. I knew a mom who left an almost 3yo with an 11yo for an hour. I also know families allowing kindergartener to stay with fifth grade sibling alone. I remember the dad saying the age guidelines are just guidelines, not the law. |
Anonymous
| At what age. |
Anonymous
My youngest is 2.5 and oldest is 10.5. I remember being shocked that other parent let an 11yo watch a toddler but now that my kids are nearing that age, I can’t believe I’m considering it. The situation is when toddler is napping and I have to either pick up or drop off middle child at nearby camp (2 miles) and don’t want to wake up toddler. |
Anonymous
| When I was 11,12,and 13 my parents would leave the baby/toddler (who’d they’d put to bed) and walk to a local bar for a drink. Literally minutes away walking, and we had close neighbor friends, too. I watched TV -which is what I’d be doing anyway - and he never woke up. This was in the late nineties. |
Anonymous
|
It might depend on how far away I was going for that 30 minutes.
If I was just out in the yard (shoveling the driveway after a snow storm or gardening)--well, I did that when my oldest was about 9 and youngest was 3. I had to--Dh was travelling for work and we got a massive snow storm. But more than a mile away, like a a store or something? I'd say 13. |
Anonymous
|
Not for my kids, because the oldest is a pushover and the youngest is really strong-willed.
|
Anonymous
| I’d say 12 is the earliest, but they would need to be strong enough to carry the toddler out of the house. That would be my test. |
Anonymous
| I have very responsible 12 year old but wouldn’t leave him alone with his 3 year old brother if I were more than just a moment or two away. For us, I’m comfortable with leaving both while I walk the dog down the block or drive 1/2 mile to the neighborhood pool to drop off for swim team, but not with driving 2 miles away for camp pickup. |
Anonymous
| I have a very responsible 11-year-old and I would feel comfortable in certain circumstances, depending on how close I was, how long I’d be done, the age and disposition of the second child, the time of day. |
Anonymous
Op here. We have mix of camp and tennis team. One camp is at their school. Pool, school and camp are all about 1.5-2.5 miles away. |
Anonymous
| There are laws. It depends on the kid. We had a friend's kid who was 14 at the time visiting and we left our 7 year old with her and she ended up sleeping and ignoring him the entire time so never again. Had I know she was like that I would have taken him. He was fine playing video games but she offered so it made sense. I was babysitting at 13 and was very attentive. |
Anonymous
| Hmm depends. A responsible 12 yr old should be capable of watching a 3 yr old for a short time. But how disciplined are they? If they have a cell phone and start getting some messages from friends are they going to zone out and not pay attention to toddler? |
Anonymous
My 10yo is super responsible. He is like 10 going on 35. I would probably never leave youngest with my middle child ever. |
Anonymous
|
In Maryland this is illegal. The child supervising has to be at least 13 years old.
Virginia and DC do not have laws specifying how old unsupervised children have to be. |
Anonymous
|
I’ve left my five year old with a 12(?) year old (just finished fifth grade), but for short times when I and her mom will be nearby. Like to walk the dog.
|