Ok to leave daughters overnight?

quietheart

Bestpud, though i'm totally against you leaving your kids you sound like a good person, really hope you work through your issues.

affordmylife

sorry if this has already been said but cant they stay at your mums or your mum sleep at yours.

my main concern after fire would be that if my youngest (age 8) woke up that the teenagers that we have would never wake up and hear her they sleep like the dead.

its not something that i personally would consider.

bestpud

affordmylife wrote: »

sorry if this has already been said but cant they stay at your mums or your mum sleep at yours.

my main concern after fire would be that if my youngest (age 8) woke up that the teenagers that we have would never wake up and hear her they sleep like the dead.

its not something that i personally would consider.

It's been suggested and it's not really an option every week unfortunately. Although I'm sure my mum would do it, I think it is too much for her and my dad tbh. Obviously it would be ok if dd was unable to do it one night, for whatever reason, just not every week.

Your last point is the first thing DH said. Because as parents we wake up at the slightest noise, but yes, we can't expect dd15 to do the same. I think dd6 would just get up and go into her room, but if she was ill that may be difficult.

That is one thing we don't have a solution for.

teeni

cant see a problem once your daughter is 16 if she is happy with it.

I was married with a baby at sixteen ( i know i was mad). Every one is different and as every one else has said it really depends on how both the children feel about it... If your daughter is happy to do it and wont feel put upon great as long as the younger one wont see it as a time to play up. but only you know what they are like together.

What ever you decide to do good luck and I hope hubby enjoys his new job there is nothing worse than being in a job you hate.

princessflea

Tbh, I don't think I would get into trouble if I were reported, as there is no set age as such, and dd is very responsible.

Erm...try 14 years old. Thats the legal age for leaving a child alone and allowed to 'babysit'.

To address the OP, why not try it on a week to week basis? See how everyone is feeling on the day?
alternatively, do your children have any school friends they could stay with whose parents you could ask?

bestpud

princessflea wrote: »

Erm...try 14 years old. Thats the legal age for leaving a child alone and allowed to 'babysit'.

To address the OP, why not try it on a week to week basis? See how everyone is feeling on the day?
alternatively, do your children have any school friends they could stay with whose parents you could ask?

Have you got a link for that? Where did you get it from?

I ask because I am pretty sure there are guidelines but not an actual set limit in the UK.

We will definitely review it regularly.

There isn't anyone I would leave her with on a regular basis, I don't think.

I'm actually very cautious about leaving them with other people.

Seems odd given this thread, I know, but it is different - in my mind anyway!

tarajayne

I worked nights for a while whilst single, my eldest was 14 but even though I would leave her for a couple of hours babysitting I decided it was too much responsibility overnight. I paid a student £30 week for 2 nights, she arrived at 8.45pm then went to bed later, she woke at 7am as I came home. She said it was great as she never actually did anything but sleep apart from couple of occasions when my younger one had a bad night. I don't think my 14 year old would have coped at 3am. She did have a visit at 2am one night from the police as the neighbours had reported them as left on their own, she had to show id to prove age, so although I checked and there is no legal age you could still get in alot of trouble. The police said had she not been there they would have taken them into emergency care.

HC_2

bestpud wrote: »

Have you got a link for that? Where did you get it from?

I ask because I am pretty sure there are guidelines but not an actual set limit in the UK.

I was under the same impression.

scottishf

Dont know if this will help

http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/leaving_children.html

vandanfc

Found this on the NSPCC website:

What the law says

The law does not set a minimum age at which children can be left alone. However, it is an offence to leave a child alone when doing so puts him or her at risk.

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/HelpAndAdvice/Parentsandcarers/HomeAlone/homealone_wda35965.html