Would you hire a teenage babysitter??

[crazymuma]

Just wondering how many of you would.

Obviously someone you trust, has references and the kids adore.

[Boobycino]

I think I would if I felt they could handle themselves if something went wrong.

I think generally speaking an older teen (like 16+) could handle baby sitting, particularly at night if baby is asleep and they dont actually need to do anything, but when I was 17 I regularly baby sat a 9 month old without any issues, for up to 8 hours at a time during the day while his mum was at work. It was a great experience for me, I took him to the pool a couple of times even, his mum was close friends with my mum and she knew me fairly well, so she knew I was a responsible teen.

Thats what I'd be looking for.

The ONLY thing is how well is a 17 year old going to handle themselves in an emergency. I would tell them if in doubt, call me. No matter how minor it seems, how annoying they might feel they're being, I would need to know if something went wrong they'd maybe risk appearing incompetant and they'd call and check. I'd also need to know they had the confidence to call 000 if they needed to.

Pretty extreme circumstances, but I'd need that confidence.

I wouldn't inflict my son on anyone that young at the moment though. Bub is a mammas boy and when he gets baby sat he screams his head off, so I wouldn't traumatise anyone with having to take care of him! On the other hand, if you have a teenage daughter and you want her to be absolutely safe with birth control, send her my way, one day with my son and she'll be too scared to have sex :laughing:

[EmPowering]

well as a teenager who loves babysitting i would hope some people would hire me

butt in saying that i can think of heaps of teenagers i would never hireee/ want looking after children:no:

i guess its really up to the individual teenager and how much you trust them etc/there experience with kids.

:yes:

also as a PP said its important a teenager has some sort of idea of what to do in an emergency. when i was babysitting a 2 and 4 year old, and 4 year old was up all night vomitting etc, i rang the mum and she told me everything was ok as he had just had gastro for a few days. so i think its important that they feel comofrtable ringing if theres a problem

[SassyMummy]

Kate, StudyingECS, has looked after my daughter for a few hours before last year.

If I still lived close enough to her now, I'd do it again and again - DD loved her and I love Kate too... lol... so it was great.

[~Candy~]

It depends on the teen :yes:

Some teens LOVE kids..and other's don't.
Some are great with kids and have a good sence of responsibility...other's don't....so for me..it's really up to the teen in question :)

[EmPowering]

Kate, StudyingECS, has looked after my daughter for a few hours before last year.

If I still lived close enough to her now, I'd do it again and again - DD loved her and I love Kate too... lol... so it was great.
kate is great:thumbsup::)
where abouts are you now?

[sockstealingpoltergeist]

Yes My DD babysits for us sometimes when we go to the movies or out to dinner and DS is in bed.

I wouldn't use someone to young and they would have to be very responsible and trustworthy.

[SassyMummy]

North of Brisbane... about 40 mins north I'd say?

A bit too far to get Kate's help...:p

[Mummaholic]

I don't allow anyone to babysit my kids except grandparents/aunts/uncles. One of the aunts is 18, so is a teen.

If I was absolutely desperate, I know I could ask a close friend. But I would not like to impose.

I babysat from age 12 :eek: Other people's kids! IMO they were crazy LOL. I also babysat my own siblings many, many times as a teen.

[~Temet Nosce~]

I wouldn't hire a teenager to babysit no, but I wouldn't hire anyone I didn't know, makes me feel waaaay to uncomfortable. Only her grandparents or her aunty.

[rainbow road]

I babysat from age 12 too!!! SO YOUNG! I started nannying one day/week from 17 but have looked after kids nighttime and daytime at least once a week for 8 years!

if i knew a teenager like I was, i'd definitely hire them.

[Mathermy]

Probably noone under 17, and even at 17 I would have to know them like a busy-body old lady and would be verry cautious. After reading the news today it is unlikely that we will leave her with anyone other than family for a while yet :no: Too much to risk for one night out :(

[Mum2Bug]

There is only ONE teen (shes 14) i would ever allow to supervise my child...and that is because she is the 3rd of 8 kids and has spent her whole life helping out around her own house with the other kids and is absolutely wonderful.

Otherwise.....no way.

[Boobycino]

Probably noone under 17, and even at 17 I would have to know them like a busy-body old lady and would be verry cautious. After reading the news today it is unlikely that we will leave her with anyone other than family for a while yet :no: Too much to risk for one night out :(

What was on the news? Did I miss something?

[Mathermy]

What was on the news? Did I miss something?

Theres a thread somewhere :( it's in News I think

[missie_mack]

yes indeedy and we rarely have left our son with anyone

[codswallop]

it would depend on the sitter and the age of my kids
at this age no, but when there in primary school? probably yes
you have to remember that there are teens out there doing a great job raising there own kids so i think they can do a more than adequate job looking after mine for a few hours
i started to baby sit at 12-13 just for family (older kids 5 years +) and buy 15 i would look after little babies as well
the only restiction i would put on (besides the no boys rule!) is that they must have a suport person they can get in contct with if they need help
EG: they could call there mother, grandparents or the next door nieghbour if they felt the need

[Boobycino]

Theres a thread somewhere :( it's in News I think

FYI... dont google "teen baby sitter"

EVER

I'll have to find out more on this another way as I'll never use google again... :no:

[Mathermy]

FYI... dont google "teen baby sitter"

EVER

I'll have to find out more on this another way as I'll never use google again... :no:

Sorry, I wasn't clear, I meant the news section here on bubhub. It wasn't a teen sitter, it was a grown adult :(

[Boobycino]

Sorry, I wasn't clear, I meant the news section here on bubhub. It wasn't a teen sitter, it was a grown adult :(

Oh, okay.

I though this thread was triggered maybe by something on the news, which happens often, and I thought i'd missed it. So I thought I'd just google it and see if something came up.

Obviously I was wrong... and I've now put a filter on google to avoid further misunderstandings with google.

[Mathermy]

Oh, okay.

I though this thread was triggered maybe by something on the news, which happens often, and I thought i'd missed it. So I thought I'd just google it and see if something came up.

Obviously I was wrong... and I've now put a filter on google to avoid further misunderstandings with google.
oh dear :(

[studyingECS]

Kate, StudyingECS, has looked after my daughter for a few hours before last year.

If I still lived close enough to her now, I'd do it again and again - DD loved her and I love Kate too... lol... so it was great.

I think you need to move closer:p


If a teen is an experienced, trustworthy babysitter they will have references.:yes:

[EmPowering]

North of Brisbane... about 40 mins north I'd say?

A bit too far to get Kate's help...:p
:laughing: fair enough thought you may be closer to me but guessing not:p

[InSaneOne]

i would and have done. as long as i know the teenager and their parents - no problem. the young girl i use has a brother who is 10 years younger than her so i know she can handle little ones. plus i used to babysit her myself when i was in my early teens.

[RmumR]

i do. I have a friends younger sister who is 16 babysit my DD quite regulary. My DD is a great sleeper and i put her to bed b4 babysitter comes over so DD doesn't even know she has a babysitter most of the time..lol.

Babysitter sleeps over and plays with DD the next morning so they know each other quite well.
Obviously i trust her cause i know her sister very well and know her parents too, she has strict instruction to call if there is even a hint of a problem.
So far she has only had to get DD out of the cot once in 6mths and still managed to get her back to bed without any fuss.
Hopefully i can keep hiring her for quite a few years.

[mim1]

I babysat from the age of 15, I remember being upset that I had to wait til 15, but mum insisted. I thought I was more than capable at 13 :D

We've used a 17 yo babysitter, but she wasn't that experienced, so we only asked her to help my mum on the day (once a week) that she had to look after 2 2yo's and a 4 mo. That gave the 17yo experience and now she's looking after our ds here when we need her.

Our nanny is only 20 and she is just amazing with our ds. I have complete confidence in her ability to manage him. Last year (before we knew her) she was regularly looking after twins who were under 1, including for a whole weekend while the parents went away - and the twins got gastro that weekend!

Some people are just naturally capable (or not) regardless of age. Finding them is a challenge of course and I wouldn't let anyone we didn't know look after our ds. Thankfully we have a large extended family and know lots of people through our church, so that widens our potential pool of people to ask.