18 replies to this topic

[Deb aka Resume Lady]

For those who do not know it: The city, and several surounding cities: offer babysitting courses for a very minimal very a few times each year; through their parks and recreation programs. These baby sitting programs tech first aid and CPR for infant/toddler/and child. They also get very heavily involved in talking about identying child abuse, how to recognize scary situations-like strangers at the door or electrical outages. You do not have to limit your children through fear that they cant handle situations. You can empower them to learn and grow.

Absolutely. In addition, I always trained babysitters who were new to our family. I never left them with my children without getting together for extensive instruction -- for which I paid them. During the training I assessed their level of interest/participation/response and if I got the sense they didn't care or were distracted or just didn't get it, I never called them for a sitting job. I was the only parent I knew who did this.

[asbestoshills]

You are a good parent, you could teach asbestos how to not live with so much paranoia and panic all the time.

I'm not paranoid or fearful, just smart. You wouldn't leave your car without an alarm, but it's okay to leave a 12 year old with an infant or toddler for hours at a time? It doesn't matter how "mature" a 12 year old is, they don't have the experience to watch children. I feel sorry for your kids having to be responsible for other people's kids at age 12.
Children under 12 aren't allowed to swim alone, be left at a mall, skate park or movies alone, but yet you are willing to let your 12 year old who took one babysitting class with a newborn or toddler? IMHO very irresponsible on your part.
Unless you are part of the Duggard 19 I doubt if your kid has enough experience at 12 to watch any child by themselves.

[supermom]

Absolutely. In addition, I always trained babysitters who were new to our family. I never left them with my children without getting together for extensive instruction -- for which I paid them. During the training I assessed their level of interest/participation/response and if I got the sense they didn't care or were distracted or just didn't get it, I never called them for a sitting job. I was the only parent I knew who did this.

I can't recall more than once- ever leaving my children with a teen sitter. That one time was a couple of college girls who watched my two children and a niece while my entire family went to a wedding reception. The girls drove all the way up from the coast to sit for us. They came recommended as friends of a close relative.

Other than that, when my kids were young, I really didnt know anyone who had children old enough to watch my kids. I always had to relie on friends, relatives or dragging the kids with me.

Never did I actively go out and search for teen sitters. It wasn't that I was against it, just not part of the way I chose to have my children supervised. However, I know that teen sitters or sitter services are very successful. I know it prepares teens for a bigger role of eventually being a parent. Opens their minds to different situations and types of peoples, and managment skills.

I don't have a problem with the idea of using a teen sitter. But Asbesthills does have a good point that teens do need to be more mature than many of the young students their age. They do need to have experience with relatives, church members, friends of the family, etc. My kiddo got her first aid, cpr and babysitting qualified through the girl scouts. But she was already pretty danged smart about caring for kids because she hangs out with her younger cousins, alot.

Each kid is different and each sitter is different. Sometimes you may need to start out in small increments of time. Maybe asking a sitter to come over every friday for an hour to watch the kids while you fold laundry. Eventually you can feel comfortable leaving the house to get the car filled up and come straight back home. From there maybe longer durations of time away from home. But really, this does have to be about trust, respect, and experience on the part of both the children, the teens and the parent of the children.

And I have never heard of anyone saying that parents should never have a sitter watch their kids before. Suggesting parents are abusive or neglecting their children by having a sitter for a few hours such as Asbestoshills did, is preposterous. Unless ofcourse the type of people you are hiring to watch your kids are crackheads..

but that is what nanny cams are for.
And nanny cams are also a great way to monitor your children when they are home alone, after school....

[tessieca]

There's no law regarding home-alone age. If it were being reviewed by some agency, they would look at the maturity of the child, how long they're left alone, what access do they have to an adult in case of a problem, how many kids are there, etc.

The state cares more that if you have a babysitter for your kids, you need to give breaks.

Also a vehicle code states that no child under age 6 can be left in a car without the supervision of someone twelve or older.