AIBU to suggest babysitting to my 13-year-old daughter?

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My dd is 13 and is keen to start earning some money. At her age I was babysitting every weekend, but I’m unsure if that’s the done thing now? What are the chances people these days that would be ok with a 13 yr old babysitter? I think if she sticks to our estate then I will be around in an emergency too?! What you think? AIBU to suggest it to her?

Sorry it won’t let me edit - just to say, I only pay my 17 to look after 12 yo if it’s evening, in the day time he’s fine.

But he still needs telling to go to bed etc (he has ADHD so doesn’t form habits easily) and would be scared in the evening alone.

I think NSPCC recommends no babysitters under16 but it’s not the law.

Dog walking is a good shout but the owners remain responsible for the dog at all times too.

They could babysit the 14 yo in the other thread.

😅 I just saw that one 🤣

I wouldn’t use a 13 yr old I didn’t know to babysit my kids and I definitely wouldn’t use them to walk my dog. I assume she has no insurance. Times have changed.

I would use her to feed a cat/guinea pig if I was away but only if I already knew you.

It would depend on the teen. I have left my pre-schooler with my 14 year old for a few hours at a time.

😂😂

there’s no harm in asking your friends if anyone is interested.

what my dd started doing at this age was looking after some neighbours kids, I think they were around 6, whilst the mum was in the house working from home. Her job was just to keep them entertained

I would not have had a 14 year old babysitter for my DC or wanted my DC doing any work at that age
They have all their lives to work
At that stage mine were fully occupied with school , sports ,youth organisations ,music
What on earth does she need money for

Some kids thrive on making their own money @Motheranddaughter. I’ve seen quite often getting a job is the making of teenagers and all of a sudden they’re more focussed at everything. If they have no interest, sure I wouldn’t force at 13, but if they do, I would support that all the way.

Each to their own
Mine did not do that and have all thrived
They did have allowances which they managed independently

I wouldn’t let a 13 year old I didn’t know babysit my kids.
I also think it’s a vulnerable position to put your DD in to encourage her to babysit for strangers

To save and spend, she will have all summer with no school…she wants to be occupied.

Has she got any old clothes/toys/bits she can sell on vinted (appreciate this in not regular money though) or older neighbours who might want a hand with a few things?

Unfortunately now things have changed and people are far more wary, rightly so in lots of cases, and so you need all kinds of insurance to do things that 20 years ago you could just do.

Unless you have friends with kids who would let her babysit or have friends with pets who would let her do that, I think you’ll struggle to find any takers because at her age she won’t be able to get the insurances required to be “legit”.

It is a shame though, there is a young girl where we live who just wants to earn some money and she posted on the local fb page a few months ago offering baby sitting or pet sitting services and was ripped to shreds by comments asking what training or insurances she had to even be offering her services… people are really wary now of who they allow in their homes, around their children & pets.

Fair enough,your call
Just not I wanted for my DC

She might be able to sweep hair, shampoo etc in a salon if there’s anyone you know. They will probably pay peanuts though.

I’ve got a 14 year old with two younger siblings and I would still be wary on leaving her in charge for more than half an hour. More so putting the responsibility on her if something went wrong, it’s not really fair - I know it’s a tiny risk but choking, or injury etc she’s not really equipped to deal with it.

Ok so what do you propose she should do from 1st June- 28th august…genuinely? She has sports training twice a week and matches at weekends. (Sat or Sun) I don’t want her out with friends ALL the time. So besides 3 weeks of the summer where she will away on holidays she will need something to do. She cleans her room, empties the dishwasher, and dusts the house already for money from me.

This^
100%
And I was babysitting at 13 - I was staying with my cousin’s daughter for about an hour while she was asleep at 2.5 y.o after her dad left and before her mum came back from work. But it was wild 80 - times are different now.

I was just going to post this, they should swap numbers 🤣

We paid our friends’ DDs to look after our DS in the evening when he was in primary school and they were around 15/16. Wouldn’t have left him with a younger teenager, one I didn’t know or when my own child was very young.

The same thing everyone else that age does… have fun and enjoy the free time! Get outside, learn to cook, see her friends, read… there are plenty of years ahead to be filled with working and earning, this is the time to just enjoy, have fun, learn to be a bit bored even, see friends.

Where do you live OP where your DD gets summer holidays that are so long?

Why wouldn’t you want your child to have a keen work ethic?

I think this is the yardstick most people apply which is why lots of people do hire young teens to babysit and you might find some people are willing to allow your 13yo to do so.

If nothing goes wrong then babysitting can be very easy - watch TV while children sleep upstairs. And 99% of the time that’s what will
happen.

But what if the house catches fire? There’s an intruder? The child suddenly becomes very unwell? The child has a severe accident? Even just wakes up and is extremely distressed?

Would a 13yo cope with these situations?

Personally, I would only allow an adult to babysit my children who would be able to cope well not just when they are sleeping peacefully but when a situation occurs that needs an adult to deal with it.

She already knows how to cook. Yes she will do all those things but a little bit of work would do no harm..like 4-8 hours a week is not a lot

Ireland