If your older child has special needs, such as ADHD or behavioral issues, it will take them a little more time to develop the maturity level needed to babysit younger siblings. Children at any age with ADHD will most likely be too impulsive, distractible, and lack the judgment to care for younger children until they are quite a bit older. You have to have an excellent attention span and be able to focus and think ahead to assume the responsibility of one or more younger children safely.
One way to look at the situation more objectively would be to consider the kinds of reinforcements your older child needs to get through a school day. If your child has an IEP individualized education plan and needs accommodations at school due to the problems mentioned above, it will be explained pretty well in their IEP. Reviewing the goals set by the special education teacher will help you determine if your child possesses the skills needed or is still working toward attaining them, in which case it is best to wait until they get a little older.
The more that your children are already able to care for themselves, the less you'll need to worry about when letting siblings babysit each other. Your oldest is probably ready to babysit their siblings if they're capable of cooking meals, washing dishes, going to bed on time on their own, and completing other tasks around the home.
If your child takes the initiative and knows to do things without being asked, that can be a very strong sign that they're mature enough to babysit. When you do give your child instructions, you should be able to trust that they'll reliably follow them.
Your child should also be able to identify safety hazards and avoid them, both inside and outside of the home. When you're letting your oldest child babysit their sibling for the first time, it's best to start small and work up in increments. You can start by having them watch their sibling while you are still in the house, for example, working in another room.
You will likely be in earshot and can determine if there are control issues or other problems. If that goes well, the next step might be to go over and talk to the neighbor for just 10 or 15 minutes. If you come back and nothing has gone seriously wrong, then you can leave for longer periods of time.
Next, you may leave your children at home for an hour or so while you go grocery shopping. Let them know it's a chance to prove that they're trustworthy. Although if you come home to fighting kids, broken objects, or messes, that's a clear sign they aren't ready to be left alone yet. Eventually, if things are going well, you can start leaving your kids alone for a few hours at a time. I would not leave an older child to babysit overnight until they're at least 16 and can drive safely.
You have to be able to follow the rules, be watchful, and avoid being impulsive. Those are pretty close to the skills needed for babysitting.
An or year-old may be ready to babysit in the afternoon or evening. But babysitting at nighttime is an entirely different situation that they aren't quite ready for in terms of maturity. Finally, role-play situations that might arise. What if your brother throws up? Then go out for an hour, then two, and then maybe a whole evening. In addition to walking the kids through emergency scenarios and setting out behaviour guidelines, tell them how they can spend their time.
Are they allowed to pig out on chips and use their devices, or are they expected to snack on veggies and do homework? That first time we put Avery in charge, we asked her to make popcorn and put on a movie to watch before bed.
We thought that would be easier than having her make dinner and get Bennett to do his school reading. Bell applauds that decision. But Caleb, high on power, put on airs and acted unnecessarily bossy. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance. Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile.
Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. Be the first to comment! No comments yet. Close this dialog window Add a comment. Add your comment Cancel Submit. Close this dialog window Review for. Back to story Comment on this project. Tell us what you think
0コメント