elementary age kids/ sleepovers with families you don't know well - Page 2

[LunaMom]

I voted no.

DD (9) hasn't been invited to any yet, but at the moment there are only two families I would say yes to. If I don't know all the members of the household pretty well, no way. I guess if she starts getting invited to some, I'll just offer to host instead or do an "almost-sleepover."

It's funny, because I loved sleeping over at my friends' houses when I was a kid - it was mostly the same two friends - but as a parent I find myself thinking "why the heck do kids have to have sleepovers anyway?"

[wemoon]

I have let my kids go to pretty much anything they are invited to. I do think about the extreme circumstances that could happen, but I do not run my life living in fear of the stories that make the news or get passed on like the telephone game. When I talk to the parents beforehand, I find out what all will be going on, who all will be there etc. I ask my kids extensive questions the next day. There has been one family that I was not all too impressed with and I don't allow sleepovers there any longer. Nothing bad happened, I just didn't like the way they ran their house... based upon my own personal judgment, which is completely biased towards what I prefer.

I'm obviously the minority here, which I'm fine with.

[mommy2abigail]

Never. I was not/don't know anyone who was molested, but I'm not blind to the possibility of that or something else happening. I would always wait until I knew the parents VERY well, and until my child was old enough to know enough to call me for whatever reason. I don't think a 5 year old is capable of that...
The family my mom nannies for lt


Sorry, dd posted this while I wasn't looking!!!!

[mommy2abigail]

Never. I was not/don't know anyone who was molested, but I'm not blind to the possibility of that or something else happening. I would always wait until I knew the parents VERY well, and until my child was old enough to know enough to call me for whatever reason. I don't think a 5 year old is capable of that...
The family my mom nannies for lets their 7 year old sleep over anyones house. Their 2 year old has stayed over here many nights, and actually prefers it here....After all, we don't CIO and we all fall asleep together, but that's another story.

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

DS is 8 and is just starting to be aware of and ask for sleepovers. Luckily he goes to a small school and I know all of the families of his classmates reasonable well -- been to their houses, had group and individual playdates there and here, gone to lots of birthday parties, that sort of "know". So I would be comfortable with him accepting invites from them. But so far he has decided he isn't ready for the couple of invitations he has actually gotten, and I'm not pushing him.

I think that baseline would be my overall standard -- I would have wanted to meet the parents a couple of times, seen the house, and have a basic comfort level with the family. Not that they have to be the same as us, but I would want to know what DS might encounter.

DD is 4 and she has asked about sleepovers but we've said she's not old enough yet. Since she doesn't ever go to sleep without being cuddled and held, I doubt she'd make it to the "sleepover" stage anyway!