Your tips for a teen starting out as a babysitter

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My 12 (very nearly 13) yo is desperate to earn some money to support her expensive horse habit. We live in a small town and I have plenty of people in my extended network who have small children/babies and might like a babysitter for a few hours in the evening.

Please could you share your tips - from a babysitting / parents' point of view?

What do you look for in a babysitter? Would you even consider a teen this young?
What are your expectations?
How much do you pay/charge?
How do you advertise / find a babysitter?
Assume COVID a consideration at the moment?

DD is very sensible, confident and she has experience of playing with / looking out for her nephew who's now 7. When he stays for sleepovers she reads him bedtime stories. She knows rudimentary first aid. She's good with cats and dogs. We could transport her to and from jobs.

Thanks

It's great that she wants to start earning, but personally I wouldn't hire a 12 or 13 year old as I think it's just a bit young.

Could she do dog walking, pet sitting etc?

I wouldn’t leave my baby with a 12 year old.

Too young. 14 maybe with older children, and you or her father very nearby in case of emergency.

I think it's a bit young, sorry. I'd hire someone that age for, say, entertaining my child while I sorted something elsewhere in the house or maybe if their parents lived next door and were going to be in the whole time, but otherwise I'd probably want at least a 15 year old.

I was a teen with a very expensive horse habit. At 12/13 years old I volunteered at PC rallies and gained enough experience to earn paid positions assisting at rallies at 15/16. I also started as a KP at a pub at 14.

I do agree that 12/13 is too young to babysit

Could she dog walk? Wash cars? Pet sit? If responsible/competent enough, turn out/feed/muck out/exercise other horses or ponies?

Too young for babysitting. 14/15 minimum I reckon.

She's good with cats and dogs.

Sorry but

I wouldnt leave my child with someone this young.

I wouldn't leave my child with a 12/13 year old either. 15 minimum i would think, and only then if I knew them.

I was babysitting at 13. I was left a phone number to call (days before mobiles) and obviously, I could call my parents if needed (never did).

I was left biscuits, something to drink and the remote control. Babies / children were always in bed before parents went out. Was given a lift home always.

Too young. I would think carefully about leaving a12 yo on their own at night, let alone having the responsibility for someone else's children. Would she really be able to cope with a choking incident, a very upset baby, a fire starting, a child puking everywhere etc without panicking?

Paper round, car washing, lawn mowing etc might be a better place to start.

I was a sitter at that age, but I would hesitate to hire one that young now. Possibly if the sitters parent was agreeing to serve as emergency backup.

That said, I highly recommend a babysitting course that include CPR certification. I would expect any sitter regardless of age to have that training.

It’s just too young .
Parents would be mad to allow it.
She may feel the most responsible teen in the world, but the reality when faced with a choking or severely injured child is very different.
It’s just a horror if something goes wrong.

Selling on Depop can be quite lucrative for this age group

Too young to babysit. Could she work at the stables instead? Mucking out, turn out etc? This is what I did from 11 until I could get a retail job for more money at 16.

I baby sat siblings at that age and would leave 1-2 older children (over age 3) with a 13yo for 3-4hrs (6-10pm for example). She is too young for an infant or toddler.

In the U.K., the British Red Cross offers babysitter training which includes infant care, first aid, cpr, healthy snacks, good tactics for discipline, etc. You can take the classes and graduate on your 14th birthday last I knew. This is what I looked for when I lived in U.K.
www.redcross.org.uk/first-aid/learn-first-aid-for-babies-and-children

Way too young.

Way too young in my opinion and I’m pretty lax compared to a lot a parents on MN. Due to an interest they had my child aged 13/14 travelled alone or sometimes with other young people their age (we started by accompanying them and building it up) across the U.K by train and even plane to different courses/events, they had basic first aid (can’t do full first aid certificate til 16) and bags of common sense but I still wouldn’t have trusted them to babysit a young child on their own. They did help out with young cousins etc but during the day when the parents were around.

I think she is too young for sole charge but I would consider someone her age to look after primary aged kids after school if I was working from home

@titchy

She's good with cats and dogs.

Sorry but

As in she isn't scared of them and won't bother them unduly!

I babysat at that age but now as a parent I would only leave one older child - 7/8 upwards with someone that young and probably only for an hour or two in an emergency. I would want to know the babysitter too so that I could understand their maturity level. I wouldn't leave my 8 year old with an unknown randomer pre teener.

[quote PlanDeRaccordement]I baby sat siblings at that age and would leave 1-2 older children (over age 3) with a 13yo for 3-4hrs (6-10pm for example). She is too young for an infant or toddler.

In the U.K., the British Red Cross offers babysitter training which includes infant care, first aid, cpr, healthy snacks, good tactics for discipline, etc. You can take the classes and graduate on your 14th birthday last I knew. This is what I looked for when I lived in U.K.
www.redcross.org.uk/first-aid/learn-first-aid-for-babies-and-children[/quote]

Yes, was definitely thinking of slightly older children.

Thanks for this link, really useful

Hell no, I don't actually think its legal to leave her in charge of younger children. Far too young, 16 minimum if I knew them.

My DD1 started babysitting at 13, but that was after a year or so of helping out with things like helping look after kids at parties, volunteering at a kids club, being a Guide who helped out at Rainbows etc as well as helping with her own siblings. So people had seen her dealing with children and seen her dealing with difficult situations (her requests soared after she was the first to react to a child being knocked down outside church because she was calmer than quite a few adults). People also knew she was historically very calm because her twin sister has narcolepsy and a serious allergy so over the years she’s helped her with injuries and accidents.

However, I think a lot of people are much more reluctant to leave their children with younger babysitters now. Especially if they don’t know them well personally.

Huge thank you to everyone who has fed back.

Interesting that 13 is perceived as too young. I'm not arguing as you are the target market so you're automatically right.

Dog walking etc. is a possibility except most people need dog walkers during the day when she'll be in school.

Entertaining children while the parents are at home is another possibility. How much would people pay for that?