Babysitting Survey

What age are you comfortable with?

  • 11 or older

    Votes: 6 8.8%

  • 13 or older

    Votes: 27 39.7%

  • 16 or older

    Votes: 19 27.9%

  • I don't allow tweens/teens to watch my children.

    Votes: 16 23.5%
  • Total voters
    68
lizzyfizzy

lizzyfizzy

New member
DD will be 11 soon and will be taking some Babysitting/CPR classes to get ready to start babysitting in Junior High.

What's your opinion on the age you would trust someone to watch your children. Leave me a little comment to tell me the age(s) of your kid(s) and what you typically pay your sitter an hour.

Thanks Peeps. :)
 
I only do ages 13 or older and only if I know them really well (ie, girls from my church, etc.) If its a girl I don't know very well, I don't do younger than 16.

That being said, it really does depend so much on the kid. Maddie is so super mature and responsible and trustworthy, that I would have problem with her watching Connor for an hour or two while I run errands or something.

As for pay, we pay $6/hr when the kids are awake and $4.50/hr when they're sleeping.

eta: we also feed the babysitter if they're at our house during meal hours. :)
 
ya, see i personally think 11 is too young. maddie however could run our household better than i can. LOL! i think that she can maybe get her feet wet watching kids right around our house while i'm home if she needs help etc. thanks for your opinion, jenny! :wub:
 
I have never used a babysitter, but since I only have a 2 year old, I would want an adult to watch him and have no idea what to pay. It would be great to have like a 16+ year old to watch him when he's a bit older though.
 
I voted that I don't let tweens/teens watch my kids... that's only because 1) I don't KNOW any teens and 2) My kids are a handful... my SIL won't even watch them unless somebody's around to help... so that kind of says something. It's just their ages. *shrug*

As for pay, I dunno... only family members and close friends have watched 'em and they don't accept payment.
 
I voted 13 or older, but as I always post this disclaimer - I don't have kids, lol.

I started babysitting for friends when I was probably around that age. Mostly just close family friends. I didn't do much babysitting for strangers. I wasn't really that comfortable doing that.
 
lizzyfizzy said:
ya, see i personally think 11 is too young. maddie however could run our household better than i can. LOL! i think that she can maybe get her feet wet watching kids right around our house while i'm home if she needs help etc. thanks for your opinion, jenny! :wub:
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I started "babysitting" when I was 11, but it was more like a mother's helper kind of situation. I would go down to the neighbor's house and "babysit" her kids while she got work done around the house/yard. I did it a bit for a mom that worked at home a couple hours a day. She would just be in her office if I needed something so it wasn't like I was on my own with the kids.
 
This will be a useless reply seeing as how I don't have babies & FI's son has never been babysat by anyone but his parents, stepparents, or grandparents in his six years of life. He's gone to daycare, but no babysitters.

But I like to hear myself type sometimes. *lol*

I might allow my 11/12yo child babysit their younger siblings for an hour or two after school/during errands if (a) they only had 1 or 2 siblings, (b) if the younger siblings were at least in kindergarten or older, (c) my child was mature for his/her age, and (d) had taken a First Aid/CPR class.

I don't think I would allow my child to babysit for non-family and/or for an entire afternoon or evening until s/he was 13 or 14. I wouldn't hire a babysitter younger than 13 or 14, either, and it would need to be a child I knew: a friend's son or daughter, a child from church I had known for several years, a neighbor, or someone who a good friend of mine had HIGHLY recommended and had had babysit for her on several different occasions.

In all likelihood, I would never hire a male babysitter.

Honestly, I'm not one of those paranoid people, but I think it's asking for too much potential trouble to not be extra-careful in whom watches your kids when it comes to safety, maturity, etc. Not even the creepy-icky issues that could arise.
 
I require my babysitter to have a valid driver's license with NO marks on it for 6+ months. Here that means the sitter would have to be at least 17. Andrew's cousin Bethany comes to watch the boys for us pretty often. She's 21, extremely responsible, a relative (I prefer that), and local. Woot! So far there haven't been any conflicts with her schedule (she's a student at UW). IMO, Andrew overpays her, but if it gets us the reliable sitter, I'm all for it.

One thing you should look into is what the state laws are regarding children at home without an adult. In many states it's simply not legal to leave a child 12 or under home alone, so they wouldn't be able to babysit because of that. I know a friend of mine has only recently been able to leave her oldest in charge since he turned 13 earlier this year. Before that, it wasn't allowed. Her neighbor works for the state police, so she never took the chance that they'd get caught even though her son is extremely mature and responsible for his age.
 
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I think if it's toddlers or older children - 11 is fine. That's how old I was when I started babysitting. If it's a baby, then I wouldn't go younger than 13.
 
LeeAndra said:
In all likelihood, I would never hire a male babysitter.

Honestly, I'm not one of those paranoid people, but I think it's asking for too much potential trouble to not be extra-careful in whom watches your kids when it comes to safety, maturity, etc. Not even the creepy-icky issues that could arise.
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I'm the same way, LA. I adore the boys at our church, but I'm just not sure if I"m comfortable with adolescent boys being unsupervised with my children.
 
I'd leave a 14 yr old with my 7 yr old, maybe my 4 yr old too.

I'd be leary to have a 12 yr old even though I babysat at 12!! I can't help with pay, I make my 16 yr old do it for free! LOL
 
Well... you know how old my two are... I wouldn't leave Phin with his grandmother even, LOL. I'd let Maddie watch Yorick while I snuck off to a movie or a lunch date, though. But Maddie isn't your typical 11 year old.

ETA: I'd pay min wage per hour per child, btw.
 
We actually just recently used an 11 year old. She just turned 12 a couple weeks ago, but she was 11 when we used her. She is from our church and we know her and her family pretty well and they're all very responsible. My kids have enjoyed it the couple times we have used her. I actually like the young ones because they're fresh, excited, and not too busy.

And we're pretty cheap or lucky with babysitters. No one pays much in our church... so we usually pay $3/hour. If it was much more, we would never go out!
 
I used to get $10 an hour from family friends. They had 3 kids, one of whom screamed bloody murder for a solid 90 minutes after her parents left, every single time, for like 2 years.
 
p.s. i'm with most that i would not allow anyone younger than 13 to watch my own children and i don't think i would let maddie stay home with her brothers til she was 12 and they happen to be well-behaved. cause i can be kinda crazy too (shhhh...elizabeth :D). i think from the data collected in this survey, i'm gonna have maddie wait til she's 13 to officially babysit.
 
BrodoNY0123 said:
I used to get $10 an hour from family friends. They had 3 kids, one of whom screamed bloody murder for a solid 90 minutes after her parents left, every single time, for like 2 years.
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awesome. i used to babysit for my moms best friend. they have 2 boys and at the time they were like 4 and 7. the 4 year old would go around the house making 'bombs' with tissues. it practically killed me being the freakazoid i am with cleanliness. they always made me a deal though if i would play 'sniper' with them that they would help me clean the house. needless to say that house was sparkling by the time they got home. LOL!!
 
OK, well...I was babysitting from about age 11/12...not for long periods of time, though. I did babysit a 1 year old for a few hours when I was 12. THAT was interesting - I found out that diapers soak up water when I put her in the kiddie pool in the backyard. :blink:

I continued to babysit until I was about 17, I think...but there was a period of time in there (from about 14-16) when I didn't babysit, but that was because we moved to a new town and nobody knew me, etc. I had a regular babysitting job when I was 16, looking after a 6-month old. And I looked after twin boys (6 years old) and their younger sister (3) when their regular babysitter (my classmate) wasn't available.

ANYHOW, with that being said...I have never gotten someone to babysit my kids, except when Mason was in the hospital, and Natalie had to stay somewhere - but even then, it was adults that watched her. My neighbor was going to take me to town one day but I didn't have the carseats and she said her 15 year old son would watch them, but I decided to just stay home, lol. Is that horrible? Her son is very good with my kids and he looks after his 16 year old brother who has cerebral palsy so I know he'd have been OK with them, but I just...didn't want to leave them with someone not an adult. KWIM?
 
Sarah8914 said:
We actually just recently used an 11 year old. She just turned 12 a couple weeks ago, but she was 11 when we used her. She is from our church and we know her and her family pretty well and they're all very responsible. My kids have enjoyed it the couple times we have used her. I actually like the young ones because they're fresh, excited, and not too busy.

And we're pretty cheap or lucky with babysitters. No one pays much in our church... so we usually pay $3/hour. If it was much more, we would never go out!
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that's awesome sarah!! good to know that you would use a responsible reliable 12 year old that you know. :thumbup:
 
Because I have 3 children, I like my babysitters to be 16 or older. If I had one child it may be different, but 3 can be a lot to handle. I pay about $10 an hour. Tomorrow my babysitter will have the girls from noon until 8 am Sunday. I figure $150 should cover it. (I hope) :)
 
Hey Fizz... I voted for 13 or older but if they're 13, it would really depend on how mature they are. My girls are 8 1/2 and almost 7 and very well behaved for others, so they're pretty easy to babysit.

As for how much to pay... I have NO idea. I haven't actually payed a babysitter in a very long time and I have no clue what the going rate is anymore.
 
Cody started babysittng at age 11, for us and for our neighbors/friends. Never more than a couple hours, never late at night, and never overnight. Now at 13 (almost 14), I still won't let him do overnight, unless it is at one of our neighbors (my best friend here). At 11 though, Cody knew how to change a diaper (even dirty ones), how to do simple cooking (KD, soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, etc), make formula, etc. He was very responsible for his age (of course, he rebelled about a year ago, not so responsible now).

As for rate, I think it all depends on where you are. Here, I pay $5/hour for all the kids to be watched (including Cody, who technically may not need a babysitter, but sometimes I don't really care. lol).
 
I too started sitting when I was 11, as a "mother's helper" until she was comfortable with me enough to leave the house while I sat.

I chose 13 or older, but I'd hire someone younger to sit DD while I was still at home, like I did when I was young. And when and if I felt comfortable over time, I'd leave DD with them alone. I probably wouldn't leave an infant with someone that yound regardless, but DD's age and older, probably.
 
We live in a rural area...so to find a reliable sitter is hard. She is 21 and has been with us for 5 years. So a typical night from 5-11 we give her about $50-60, for a day and half I thought we should triple it and being Christmas and all...:)

When I was 16 a full day of sitting usually got me $20 and that seemed cheap back then :thumbdown:
 
I think a lot depends on the number of kids and their ages. I'll have 3 pretty soon ranging in age from newborn to 5, so I'd only hire an older teenager with lots of babysitting experience or an adult. On the other hand, I'd be comfortable leaving just my 5-year old with a 13 year old, maybe even an 11 or 12 year old if we knew them well and I could be reached easily. (I don't know any 11-12 year olds well so it's a moot point.) We have used an 11 year old as a Mother's Helper. I started babysitting around 11 or 12, and I never had any trouble finding babysitting jobs.
 
The only little one in our family that requires a sitter now is my youngest grandchild (Nathan, 18 months). The rest of them are 12 and over. So far only the grandparents have babysat him except for once when my 13 yo granddaughter watched him, but she watched him here at my home with me present. I tried very hard not to step in and help, although a couple of times I did. She did a great job with him, but I think my daughter will still have her watch him here for a few more times just to be sure she can handle the responsibility as he is a VERY active toddler.
 
depending on the situation i'd hire all those ages.

If I needed to run some errands in the middle of the day & the kids were sick or just hyper, I'd be willing to leave them for a couple hours with an 11 year old.

If the kids were already in bed and DH I wanted to go see a movie and what I really needed was not so much a babysitter as just someone to be around in case of emergency, I'd be willing to leave the kids to a 13 year old. I was this babysitter for many years. I was not so great with keeping kids entertained but I can do feed them & put them to bed and just hang out in case something happens.

I would do those things, if I had an 11 or 13 year old nearby & lived in a neighborhood, but living where we do anyone who watches our kids must be able to drive by themselves and have a car with them, which means they have to be at least 16 and a half.

Our regular babysitter is 25 and used to work with DH. Her cousin, our occasional babsitter, is 21. Her cousin's friend is 20.

We pay them $10 an hour plus $5 for gas money
 
I voted 13 and older but it all really depends. I have had my niece who is 13 watch all three of my kiddos (basically my oldest would help her) for short periods but my usual babysitter is my oldest niece who is 16.
 
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that would depend on the age of the child being watched and the child themselves (whether I think they are likely to give the sitter a hard time or not) For my kids for the most part Id say between 14 and 16 and I would have to know the person. Honestly the only ones who babysit my kids are my family/my husbands family and my oldest daughter. She is 17 and has been babysitting my son since she was 14. Never for long periods though. Like during the day on weekends when we would have to go grocery shopping or to do laundry and occasionally an evening here and there so we can go have dinner together.
 
I think I started babysitting in 6th grade so I was around 11/12. But I'm the oldest of 8 kids total since my parents are divorced, remarried and I have step siblings so I had lots of experience babysitting way before that. My first non-sibling job was for a little girl that lived 2 houses down from us. Her mom did medical transcription at home so I started out watching her while the mom worked and then later on watched her and her older brother while they would go out. Not too long after that I was babysitting for most of the families on our cul-de-sac, in fact most of the families were good friends so there were times I'd be watching several different families kids all at one house while the parents all went out! Now that ended up being some good $$ for me back then lol!

My girls have only stayed with a teenage sitter once or twice and that was with a friend of the family. She's the oldest of 4 and very mature and responsible but I don't remember how old she was at the time. I think we paid her $20, that was for 2 kids while we went to dinner and a movie with her parents so we were gone maybe 3-4 hours. Our kids most times stay with one of their 3 sets of grandparents when we need a sitter. It's much cheaper that way lol!
 
I voted but I think I need to change it because I voted for not allowing teens/tweens. But that is a bit incorrect because the daycare where my youngest goes actually has teens working in their afterschool care so I guess just not at home but then again I have only ever paid a babysitter once as my mom is always my sitter and she was a college student that worked at the daycare!
 
I voted 16 or older..but I also have 3 kids 4yrs and under plus my older 2. I used to get 2 sitters but now that Nic's 12 I let her cosit with a girl from our church and I pay them both. (She's cheaper than a regular sitter lol)

I pay about 10/hr for my regular sitter and nic gets like $20 if we're gone awhile or $10 if it's an hour or so
 
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