Find your diamond
Find your jewelry
shape
carat
color
clarity

Young Babysitter? Is 11 years old to young?

Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
blissfulbride

blissfulbride

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 9, 2008
Messages
485
I dont know but I just got off the phone with my friend and she is planning to have her 11 year old daughter babysit her 6 month old brother. I know the baby will only be sleeping, because she is going out late at night for about 4 hours but I still feel that a pretty young age.
 
Depends on the 11 year old, but my instant reaction was too young. But I don''t know the 11 year old or have an 11 year old so I guess my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt..
2.gif
 
Sounds a bit young to me too...personally I wouldn''t do that with my children...I wouldn''t want an 11 year old alone at night, and not left alone with a 6 month old baby...but I am on the protective side...I hope everything turns out alright!
 
I personally think 11 is a bit too young still. 11 year olds don''t have the maturity to make the best decisions yet.
 
As a mom to a 4 month old, I would never, ever, ever allow an 11 year old child to watch my baby - regardless if the baby is sleeping or not. Anything could happen during that time frame and I don''t think an 11 year old is mentally and emotionally mature enough to respond to certain situations.
 
No way! In my opinion, an 11 year old is too young to be left alone at night, much less be responsible for a 6 MONTH OLD? Wow, nothing can be THAT important to risk the safety of your baby.
 
Most of us that were 11-12 in the early to mid 60''s were babysitting for anyone and everyone. It worked out fine.

Of course a lot of us were latchkey kids at age 9 too
2.gif
 
You know, my mind is going sure no problem since I helped my mom take care of my brothers at a young age too.

But for some reason I just want to scream out NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Guess I know how I really feel lol
 
I was babysitting other peoples' children at 12, including infants, I made quite a bit of money doing so. At first my parents always stayed home when I was working so that they were available in case I needed a hand and the parents always left emergency contact information for me, including the neighbors. I called for advice a few times but they never had to come over for any reason. As I got older (13-14) my parents stopped staying home while I was working. But kids are not given nearly the same amount of freedom nor the responsibility now that they were 20 years ago, in my experience.

I'm due in a few weeks and have a friend with a 13 year old, I would trust her to watch the baby for a few hours once the baby is a few months old.

11 seems a bit young for babysitting late at night, but I would trust certain 11 year olds to watch over their siblings while running an errand or two or going out to dinner.
 
This is why i put this post up because i dont think its a good idea. but it isnt my job to put my 2 cents in.
 
HI:

Bit young. Besides, they get sleepy early and when "out" are hard to arouse!

cheers--Sharon
 
Date: 2/9/2010 1:34:24 PM
Author: purrfectpear
Most of us that were 11-12 in the early to mid 60''s were babysitting for anyone and everyone. It worked out fine.

Of course a lot of us were latchkey kids at age 9 too
2.gif
Click to expand...
Yep, everything has changed since the ''60s (and ''70s).

I''d never let an 11-year-old watch an infant. In fact, my kids have an 11 year old friend who I still at the "playdate age." As in, she plays with my kids, but I''d never be comfortable having her in charge of my kids while I was gone for 4 hours.

A baby. . .eh. IMO, everybody, regardless of age, should know CPR before watching an infant and/or child. Does the 11 YO at least know that?
 
I''m still yelling Nooooo in my head lol

Why is she going out late at night? Is it an emergency? Plus, if they''re both sleeping will the 11 year old wake up if the baby starts crying? When I was 11 there was nothing that could wake me up.

DD is sleeping 12 hours at night now but at 6 months she would still wake up from time to time screaming her head off. I can''t imagine leaving my 11 year old cousin there to deal with it.

OMG seriously no.
 
I wouldn''t leavwe an eleven year old home alone at night.

during they day, if it was a responsible eleven year old, I could see short (one hr or less) babysitting e.g. when the mom ran to the store, but 4 hours at night is not a good idea IMO.

I started babysitting my brothers and for one family around 11 or 12, I was super responsible, my parents were right down the road, and it was only for short times during the day. More mother''s helper type assignments.

When I was about 13 I started doing longer daytime stretches, and around 14 or 15 I did night time babysitting.
 
Ya know, I babysat when I was 11-12 (that would be 1993-1994) and it was no big deal.

I just spent the weekend with my 11 year old niece, and I cannot IMAGINE leaving a baby with her!

It really depends on the kid, but it does seem a bit young to me, even though I did it myself.
 
I started babysitting at 11. In the state I lived in if you took a babysitting class you could legally babysit at 11 otherwise you had to wait until you were 12. I commonly babysat for families with multiple children including babies. I think it depends on the child. I was very mature and never had an issue. Seeing how the 11 year old is related AND the baby will be sleeping I don''t see a problem with that at all.
 
I think there are 11 year olds out there who are mature enough to babysit (I was one of them) but not a baby that young. I would *possibly* leave a mature, responsible 11 year old in charge of my 6 year old, but only for a short time during the day with a trusted neighbour at home, keeping an eye on the house and on the ready in case of emergency. So hmmm.. I guess I wouldn''t really trust an 11 year old much!

I have a 13 year old niece who is such a responsible, great kid. She has babysat for me before but I wasn''t ready to leave her alone with my kids until my youngest was more than a year and a half old (and at that, I made sure my friends up the street were home and I left their phone number with her). I personally wasn''t comfortable leaving my little babies in the care of anyone but an adult, even though she is the most trustworthy teenager I know. There''s just too much that can happen when they''re that young.
 
no way would I let an 11 year old watch my kid(s)! My sitter''s must know first aid and Infant/child CPR. I prefer collage age students but do allow my 16 year old to watch the kids. She is it. I baby sat when I was 12 too but I guess the older I get and the more I see what can happen so quickly, i.e. a kid choking on food, I really would want someone who has some training and can act quickly under pressure watching my kids. If I had an 11 year old, I wouldn''t even allow them to be home alone much less having to care for a baby or toddler. Maybe I''m overprotective but....
 
I would not have left my kids with an 11 year old (5th grader?). And I wouldn''t have let my 11 year olds babysit as they had no experience with babies. If the babysitter had younger siblings I would consider it if I was desperate. But it is a big responsibility to put on a child in case of an emergency.
 
I''m just like KimH (even to being due within a couple weeks of her). I did a Red Cross babysitting course with first aid and everything when I was 11 and started babysitting after that. I think I was probably 12 by the time I had my first job. I was babysitting 6 month old twins and their 5 year old sister very early on - I think at 12, if not definitely at 13. My Mom stayed home when I was babysitting for the first couple years so that I could call her too for advice and she could come over and help me if needed. I don''t think she ever had to come over though. Parents were usually home around 11pm.
It really depends on the 11 year old and their maturity level. It''s probably a little young for a late night thing, but for a dinner out, might not be too bad. It also depends on the baby. If the parents are pretty sure the baby''s on a schedule and will sleep the whole time, I might consider it.
 
For those that would hire an 11 year old baby sitter for night time care, you would do so even with a 6 month old? I could see an older kid but a baby that can''t walk or talk, still needs to have a diaper changed, still needs to be carried for comfort if he/she wakes up at night? And 6 months is right around the age where teething typically begins so while they may be STTN tonight, that may not be the case the next night KWIM?

DD just turned 7 months and I can''t imagine leaving her with an 11 year old, even if she did have an 11 year old mature sibling.
 
I used to babysit at that age but I''m not so sure I would allow an 11yo to watch a baby. I suppose it depends on the kid.
 
No way, not for a 6 month old.
 
I wouldn''t let someone else''s 11 year old watch my baby, but I might let my own 11 year old do it if I knew she was extremely responsible and trusted her, etc. I still think 11 is too young in general, but I''ll allow for situations where a mom knows her own kid and knows that kid is extremely responsible.

I also don''t see anything wrong with leaving an 11 year old home alone during that time (without babysitting responsibilities) so I''m sure that affects my decision.
 
I think it depends on the 11 yr old. I had full-time summer babysitting jobs since I was 9. There was never a problem I couldn''t deal with. My little sis (who''s now 20) was babysitting at around 11. She had a full-time summer job with a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old. She had to perform CPR on the baby after she fell in the pool. Thank God the kids were fine and Thank God that sis was trained in CPR. The bottom line is, things happen, things you''d never expect. If you don''t think this 11 yr old could handle any given situation, stay away. I know 16 yr olds I wouldn''t trust with JT but I know two 12 yr olds who would do perfectly fine.

As for having a sibling babysit, they''re probably better equipped since they know the baby and probably perform basic baby care duties anyway. 4 hours seems a bit long to leave an infant in the care of an 11 yr old, but if she''s prepared she should be fine.
 
Date: 2/9/2010 1:42:41 PM
Author: KimberlyH
I was babysitting other peoples'' children at 12, including infants, I made quite a bit of money doing so. At first my parents always stayed home when I was working so that they were available in case I needed a hand and the parents always left emergency contact information for me, including the neighbors. I called for advice a few times but they never had to come over for any reason. As I got older (13-14) my parents stopped staying home while I was working. But kids are not given nearly the same amount of freedom nor the responsibility now that they were 20 years ago, in my experience.

11 seems a bit young for babysitting late at night, but I would trust certain 11 year olds to watch over their siblings while running an errand or two or going out to dinner.
Click to expand...


I agree with Kim. I began babysitting for my sister who is 6 years younger fairly early on, just for a little while. As I got older, my responsibilities increased, as did the number of hours I watched my sister. I began babysitting other families'' children at age 12 (mother''s helper, that type of thing), and I had a similar experience that Kim did. I think it does depend on the maturity level of the 11 year old also.
 
I get a babysitter FOR my 11 year old!
 
OMG, no.
23.gif
 
The more of this thread I read, the more it scares me to think of what I did as a kid that age! I was a latch key kid at 10 and was babysitting a 3 month old baby at 11 and I didn''t know the parents. The mother saw me walking down the road, had just moved to the area and asked me to babysit her 3 month old that night. I would NEVER leave an infant in the care of an 11 year old stranger!
 
Isn''t there something in the law that states how old someone has to be before they are left alone (maybe aged 12)?
 
Status
Not open for further replies. Please create a new topic or request for this thread to be opened.
GET 3 FREE HCA RESULTS JOIN THE FORUM. ASK FOR HELP
Jewelry Blog
PriceScope-Concierge-Ad
Find prime cuts.
Top