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What parents should know before allowing their children to outset babysitting. Getty Images
  • Enquiry presented at the national conference of the American University of Pediatrics found that children should be at least 12 before they should be left alone for more than than 4 hours.
  • To gear up a child to be domicile alone or exist a caregiver to another child while home solitary, parents should judge an older child's level of interest in caring for a younger child.
  • Testing out an organisation with short increments is a skillful way to see if an older child is set to be a caregiver.

What age should children be when they crave a babysitter — and what age is information technology okay for them to exist the babysitter?

A contempo survey examined what constitutes neglect when leaving a child home alone, and has people thinking about when a kid is capable of caring for another one in the absence of an adult.

"There's no set historic period when kids are set to babysit. It actually depends on the age of the child and the availability of developed backup," said Eileen Kennedy-Moore, PhD, a psychologist from New Jersey and author of "Child Confidence: Assist Your Child Brand Friends, Build Resilience, and Develop Real Self-Esteem."

Parents demand to consider the dynamic between family unit members when considering if an older kid should be allowed to treat a sibling or another family member, said Sarah Berger, PhD, a clinical psychologist from Maryland. For example, she wouldn't suggest that a 12-yr-old and ix-yr-old be habitation alone if they don't become along.

"Yet, that same 12-twelvemonth-quondam might accept a great relationship with the neighbor's kids and it would be appropriate for him or her to watch the neighbour's kids," Dr. Berger said.

"Most children could probably be left home for varying lengths of fourth dimension between ages 10 to 12," she said. "It depends on how long and the maturity level of the child. For some children it may be older."

Children who are afraid to be left lone, impulsive, or aren't enlightened of their surroundings should non be left home alone, Berger added.

Fran Walfish, PsyD, psychotherapist from California, said she tends to believe that child should exist 15 in order to exist left alone for at to the lowest degree 4 hours. Once again, numbers are subjective.

"I can tell you lot that at that place are plenty of 15- and 16-twelvemonth-olds whom I would exist very uncomfortable leaving home alone for 4 hours. On the other paw, there are many 13- and 14-year-olds whom I would be extremely comfortable leaving domicile alone for a span of 4 hours," Dr. Walfish said. "Parents need to evaluate their child individually. Independence, autonomy, and freedom is earned by consistent demonstration of responsible behavior."

Getting practiced grades, listening to parents' directions, having a healthy social life, being respectful of elders, having a reasonably amicable relationship with siblings, and doing household chores are what she defines as responsible behavior.

"Younger children do not automatically go the same privileges their older sibling may have earned past demonstrating responsible behavior. Each child must earn his or her way," Walfish said.

Enquiry presented at the national briefing of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) plant that children should be at least 12 earlier they should be left alone for more than 4 hours. That'due south according to a survey of 485 social workers with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) who say they are more than probable to classify a situation as neglect if a child is injured while not supervised.

According to the social workers:

  • Almost every social worker said leaving a kid 6 years quondam or nether home alone for four hours was child neglect. More than eighty percent deemed it neglect if the child was younger than 8 years old, and nigh 50 percentage said leaving a kid 10 or nether home for 4 hours was fail.
  • Social workers were more likely to consider it a case of kid neglect in scenarios where information technology was illegal to leave a child at home or when the child was injured.
  • More than half of them said it should be illegal for children under 12 to be alone for iv or more hours. Nearly lxxx per centum said it should be illegal for children nether 10.

To prepare a kid to be home alone or be a caregiver to some other kid while home alone, parents should gauge an older child'due south level of interest in caring for a younger kid. If the level of interest is low, it is all-time to hold off, Berger said.

Parents with interested older children may desire to explore babysitting courses, which tin be useful for children who stay home alone and care for themselves.

"Being a parent helper, meaning your child watches some other kid while a parent is nearby, is first-class exercise for solo babysitting," Dr. Kennedy-Moore said. A next stride could be watching a child whose parent is out only with the babysitter's parent available to call or come up over, if needed.

Testing out an system with curt increments is a skilful way to see if an older kid is gear up to be a caregiver.

"Shorter stints of babysitting are easier than longer ones, and watching one child is easier than watching multiple kids," she added.

Parents should run through different scenarios — a possible break-in or a stranger at the door, for instance — to assess how the child may answer.

Families should be clear on the rules that govern things like if the child can play outside or have screen time, Berger added.

Other ways to decide if a child is prepare include gauging a kid'south response to an emergency in the past, assessing if the kid is enlightened of his or her surroundings, knowing if the child is impulsive, and whether or not the child knows their telephone number and address.

Don't just focus on how to handle truthful emergencies. Assist them plan for more mundane ones, such as when the younger child misbehaves, Kennedy-Moore said.

"Your kid also needs some guidelines about what is or isn't an emergency, when to call a parent, and when to just try to handle things," she added. "Kids gain confidence from handling responsibilities and learning to manage on their own."