How can my 14 year old DD get local babysitting?

[SuperGinger]

She is very responsible and conscientious nd I would trust her more than many adults, however I know nobody with young children She doesn't go to school locally, how do I find her some babysitting jobs locally. We live in London.

Thank you - this is exactly what I mean. I've given it a bit more thought and there are a few people I speak to locally.

There is no chance in hell I'd let a fourteen year old stranger in sole charge of children, no matter how mature they (or their parents) profess them to be.

And yes, I'm well aware that everyone used to do it in the 80s. But everyone also used to wear shell suits, smoke indoors and leave kids in the car whilst they went to the pub then too. None of it is deemed acceptable now.

I agree to some extent - my kids age 7+ were much keener on babysitters who were 16-21 than the much older ones we used. BUT a) they were 16+ not 14, and b) they all had experience with young kids via hobbies etc. Quite a few of them my kids already knew from their hobby or elsewhere.

If your DD has no experience with young kids how is she going to handle babysitting? What will she do to entertain the kids? Will she know they need to be supervised in the bath or shower and - crucially- up to what age? Will she know how to get them to get into bath or bed if they are resisting, does she have any strategies?? What if she gets them to bed and one comes down and says they miss mum, does she call the parent or not? What if parents don’t give instructions on what time is bedtime, will she know? Honestly it’s not that simple! Having you as backup helps but she can’t be calling you every 5 minutes. And the kids will run rings around her or feel uneasy if they sense she has no experience with kids.

Focus on how she gets experience first IMO, this may involve volunteering.

I just had a quick look. You can’t even get a DBS for a person under 16. She’s very unlikely to get babysitting work or voluntary work with children.

DD (14) babysits for friends. £20 for a 7pm-11pm type of evening. There are only 2 families she sits for, both of whom have known her since she was a baby. I don’t think she’d be happy sitting for strangers, and I’m not sure families would be happy with an unvetted stranger.

What experience does she have with children?
Has she done a first aid course?
How far does she know what to do in N emergency situation?

The only under 18s (and I think they were 16 at the time) who ever sat with mine were the NDN’s kids who I knew to be generally mature, plus it was very clear that their mum was there as a back up if needed.

I think 14 is too young, I don't know anyone who would leave their dc with a 14 year old.

I don't leave my very sensible 13yo in the evening yet, alone or with equally sensible younger sister.
Too young, sorry!

It might be worth her marketing herself in the first instance as an extra pair of hands for weekends and school holidays. I wouldn't leave my child with a 14 year old, but I have paid a neighbour's 14 year old to babysit when I've been working from home in the holidays and doing DIY at the weekend. That way I'm there if needed but can crack on with stuff. Then once people know her she can move to sole charge.

Try street WhatsApp groups and local area specific Facebook pages.

Also if she volunteers to help at Brownies or similar she'll build relevant experience and likely also find customers.

Too young imo. I didn’t let dd (17 in Sept) babysit until this summer. She has a regular gig now where children are 4 & 7. Wouldn’t let her look after younger kids.

My village ran a proper 6 week babysitting course that most 16 year olds seem to do including first aid.

Surely this just isn’t a thing anymore (and hasn’t been fot a good while?)

I wouldn’t let an unknown adult without relevant experience/qualifications babysit, and definitely not a 14 year old! They’re in year 9/10, too young.

She has done a first aid course.
She has looked after a five year old on her own.

14?? Get a grip, absolutely no way am I letting a 14 year old child baby sit my kids, particularly if I didn’t know them.
is this a joke?

Normal to babysit at that age where I am, in London. But mine babysat for next door neighbours or our friends locally. Church groups are good, especially if they’ve seen your teen grow up. Mine weren’t in a church group but it was much easier for those that were.

I’ve left my children with a 15yo babysitter but on the following caveats:

• they’re great sleepers once asleep
• we go to the pub at the end of the road so about 5m walk away tops
• the 15yo is a girl in our village and her mum is 5m walk away as well
• we only leave when the kids have been quiet for 10m ie we know they’re asleep or drifting off
• the babysitter knows to call us if there’s any signs of life from upstairs
• her mum is available if for whatever reason she can’t get hold of us

I get it wouldn’t work for everyone but for us it’s dinner out with someone in the house and for her it’s £40 which is a lot of money at 15!

I’d say for us it’s less ‘babysitting’ and more a listening service back when that existed. We found her via a post on our village fb group and had a meeting at the local playground with her; our kids and her mum before the first session. I did similar back in the early 2000s at the same age.

My young adult is paid to babysit a 14 year old 😁

You don't - not for another couple of years. It's not fair to give her that responsibility at all. My son's nearly 14 and, if we were babysitting our Godchildren 6&8 , I might leave him alone with them while I went to the garage to get milk, it's - 20 mins round trip. I wouldn't have left them together if they were any younger and I would leave them for more than 20 mins until he's 16.

I have two girls- 15 and 5- and wouldn’t trust the completely normal 15yo to babysit the youngest if I wasn’t around tbh

Plus if I did leave them, I'd leave them in an activity like a game that they'd likely just keep playing and I know they are fairly sensible kids so they would be very unlikely to do anything dangerous. In practice we could go out for a meal with their parents and he'd be fine with them for several hours, but it wouldn't be fair on him to have that responsibility. It's if one does hurt themselves, is ill or something happens in the house (fire etc), 14 is old enough to have the responsibility to get yourself out, it's way too young to worry about whether you can save a younger child.

Oh please. No flippin way.

I use a 15/16 year old neighbour during the day sometimes for 30mins - a few hours, but wouldn't feel comfortable using her during the evenings, let alone a teenager I don't know. Your DD's best bet to find work is through contacts/recommendations/asking neighbours i'd imagine. I pay 10 an hour, but that's because I really like my neighbour and she's very good with my two.

£10 an hour for a 14 year old? No way.
But word of mouth is how I’ve found any sitters. We also have a street WhatsApp and occasionally people put their kids on that if looking for dog walking/cat feeding or babysitting.