How old is the average babysitter

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The Guardian. Qualifications and certifications can be very important when considering a babysitter. Those that have taken babysitting classes, first aid training, CPR classes, and other specialized training will expect to get paid more. If someone has invested money and time in taking classes, they are now are more qualified when it comes to looking after your kids.

They are trained to keep your children safe and to know what to do in the event of an emergency. If you have a special needs child, you will probably want to hire someone who knows how to care for your child's special needs. This is something that is negotiated in the interview. Just expect to pay more for a babysitter with certifications. Some are seasoned babysitters. They come with years of experience and, in most cases, references.

You are more than likely going to pay a babysitter more if he or she has had a lot of experience with children, especially if they have experience with special needs. Most of the time a babysitter with experience already knows how to handle a variety of situations compared to someone who is just starting out babysitting or doesn't babysit frequently. Another thing to consider is if you have a regular babysitter, it is suggested that over time, you should give a raise in pay. Continue this for as long as he or she stays your regular babysitter.

Most babysitters are there to care for your child and not there to be your personal maid. So if you expect your babysitter to do the vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, or laundry, definitely expect to pay more. Same goes if you expect your babysitter to take your child to dance or sports practice. This will cost your babysitter gasoline and added mileage to their vehicle and these days, gasoline isn't cheap.

If your child is especially hyper, you can expect to pay more for a babysitter. Avi Waxman via Unsplash. Consider the time of day. Are they going to watch your children during the day when the kids are more active, or at night while they are sleeping? You should pay more if the babysitter will be watching your kids while they are awake compared to while they sleep. Babysitters have to be more alert and interactive while your kids are awake.

Patrick's Day, it is advised to pay more or at least give a bonus. Most babysitters that are willing to work late hours could have made their own plans for the holiday but chose to help you out so you can enjoy the holiday yourself. It is just etiquette to give them a little extra on holidays. These are just few things to consider when deciding how much to pay your babysitter. Understand that most babysitters these days already know how much they are willing to accept per hour and only negotiate in their range.

The best advice is to communicate with your babysitter and remember that most of the time, you get what you pay for. Why should the AGE of the Babysitter matter. If YOU deemed the Lady mature enough in the first place. Why as a " Mother" would you possibly want, to take advantage of you Babysitter? I suppose you ex on June 10, I am 13 and I have to pay my phone bill so some 13 and 12 year olds have to pay bills when I got my phone for the first year I did not have to pay but when I turned 12 it I wanted to have I phone a payed a monthly phone bill.

Today as a matter a fact I spent 6 hours sitting 2 kids, ages 4 and 7. I made a good 80 dollars. Although I think she should have got a free solicitor and not accepted the caution. I wouldn't think that she'd have been found guilty at court. These links do not directly answer your question, but they suggest that older is better and they suggest that 16 is a minimum unless the babysitter is a relative and the time is short.

Having said that, siblings are responsible for most abuse more than parents, step-parents, other relatives, and strangers and that is something that needs to be considered. I say it depends on how much you know and or trust the teen or person in charge. I have been watching my little cousins from the ages of a few months old; first, it started out with my aunts or uncles around then I was able to watch them for short periods on my on and now I watch them for hours on in.

I started when I was about 11 or so and been doing it for the past few years me and my family has found it a good way that I text them if I have any problems and or questions. If there is an emergency they have a list of numbers I can call of family and or close friends to the family. I do the same with the other kids I babysit for; for some it may depend on the age, while for others it depends on the responsibility. You should get together with the teen that's going to be babysitting for you and see how your kids react with them and how they react with your kids.

Depends on lots of factors. How long will the babysitter be in charge? What exactly will be expected of the babysitter? How well does the babysitter handle this kind of responsibility? I believe 13 is generally considered a suitable age to start babysitting where I live, but that doesn't mean every 13 year old will be a suitable babysitter.

I believe our babysitter started at 12 which my wife whispers whenever she mentions it, so I guess she really believes it's technically too young , but she is smart, mature for her age, and as far as we know, she handles responsibility well. Of course we started her out easy: we put our kid 2 or 3 at the time in bed, and then we go out while the babysitter stays. When anything happens, she calls us. We are not terribly far away, and the babysitter's parents live in the same building, so experienced adults are never more than a few minutes away.

Of course, while we call it "baby" sitting, an actual 0-year old baby requires adult supervision. The better kids can handle themselves, the less the babysitter has to do.

Obviously local laws vary, and maturity of a given child is a large factor. Here in Texas, as with many states, there is no actual law on how young a child can start babysitting, and 11 is an understood starting age and that's when the Red Cross classes start.

The laws are more usually stated about how young a child can be to be left at home unattended rather than stating it as "babysitting" - but many states don't have that either. I was talking about this with other parents, as my daughter is turning 12, enrolled in a Red Cross babysitting class, and is interested in babysitting.

She has two very young siblings and is as prepared as you can be, I reckon. General consensus from those informal discussions is 12 is fine to babysit a single child that's past potty-training age for up to 4 hours, about 14 for multiple kids, and 16 for babies.

This depends on what you value, as a parent, in your baby sitter. When we looked at some we were more concerned with maturity, age is relatively irrelevant depending on how long and at what times you need a baby sitter for. These days many babysitters take classes in CPR and such to differentiate themselves, yes marketing starts young if you are really going to "make it". Although strangely there seems to be a perspective for certain babysitters to be female and not male as I have seen noted mainly in the Free Range Parents blog.

The paranoia around males with children starts young for many, but not all. I bring up this aspect because any study that you look at may very well be tainted, if you take something like this into consideration.

Especially when you look at trends. I grew up watching some of my younger cousins, basically giving them some food, juice and playing with them a little, before my aunt or uncle came home. My niece did some babysitting jobs locally, when she was about 15, and did them until she was a bit older and was able to add to her resume by having a summer life guard job where she learned about choking and CPR.

When you look at maturity it comes down to many kids are different, so what society deems appropriate for one would not be so for another. Although it will also depend on what you need, if your kids are mature enough to listen, and the babysitter is good enough to control the children then you should be fine.

Personally I go with the ones you know and trust, especially if the kids know them, since they should already have a healthy respect for the neighbor. I believe that 12 is a good age for girls and 14 for boys, to babysit one potty trained child.

I believe this because girls usually mature faster than boys. It depends. But honestly I can't leave my 12 month old twins to some teenager unsupervised. I prefer leaving babies to a professional childminder, but this is my personal opinion. If you are comfortable and trust the teenager and are okay with leaving babies to a teen, then it's your personal choice and being a parent, you have got full right to decide what's best for your baby.

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Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. What is considered to be a safe age to be a babysitter? Free-Range Kids compiled a list of laws or guidelines by state regarding ages that a child can not or should not be left unsupervised in a home, and they can apply to babysitting.

The best thing to do, however, if you're unsure whether your child is old enough to legally be left on his or her own—and to babysit younger children—is to check with the department of your state government that oversees the health and welfare of children.

You should also keep in mind that local laws may apply as well. By and large, though, in most of the country, determining how young a child can be when they start babysitting is left up to parents. Both the parents of the babysitter and the parents of the child or children being babysat need to consider whether the babysitting child is mature enough for the job.

Deciding whether a child is mature enough to take on the responsibility of caring for other children involves a number of factors. They should all be considered when making that decision.

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