While there’s no magic age that indicates that a child is suddenly ready for sleepovers, most kids are up to the challenge sometime between ages 9 to age 12.
You’ll want to make sure your child’s first sleepover is a positive experience by ensuring that your child will be sleeping over with a group of friends and by touching base with the “host parents” ahead of time to let them know how you’d like them to handle the situation if your child decides she’d like to bail from the sleepover in the middle of the night because she’s feeling lonely or scared.
If you’re the host parent, be prepared to play chef, entertainment director, and camp counselor at various times during the sleepover. In other words, don’t count on a quiet evening in with the kids: expect to be “on call” all night!
