Babysitting

[Mumaontheedge1]

Hi,
I just wondered if anyone knows if there is a legal age you have to be before you can babysit? It seems to be a grey area or am I just uneducated?
I ask because a fellow playground Muma has said that her next door neighbour's daughter, who is 13, is going to babysit for them. Really?! Her children are 2 & 5. She said they will be asleep so that's ok...
I don't think it is, not that I'm going to be getting involved I just wondered if anyone else shares my slightly shocked reaction to having a 13 yr old babysit for you? Or is this the norm now?

[mouldycheesefan]

There is no legal minimum. Some 13 year olds are very responsible and presumably if they live next door their parent will be close at hand if needed. On the other hand, our neighbours used to leave their 13 year old dd to babysit their other 4 children and she used to get drunk whilst doing so.
Depends on circumstances.