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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To expect the babysitter to stay awake?

30 replies

Martha200 · 12/12/2008 23:57

You pay the sitter,you get home at 11.30pm to find the babysitter in the living room with lights off just waking up.. haven't said anything but this is the first time I have come home to find a sitter having planned for a snooze at some point in the evening.. have a school aged child and one under one yr old. I know babysitting can be boring, but a bit surprised, what's your take on this out of curiousity?

OP posts:

PenelopePitstops · 12/12/2008 23:58

and you would be doing what exactly if you were at home?

bookthief · 13/12/2008 00:00

Is this a problem really? Why do you need her to stay awake?

DCSsunhill · 13/12/2008 00:01

I have snoozed on the couch when I have been babysitting for a friend.
TBH, I don't think it's a big deal. As long as the baby monitor is on and the babysitter has not been drinking...

littlelamb · 13/12/2008 00:01

How old was she? I sometimes used to fall asleep if I was babysitting and the parents were home late. Especially if she has been at school all day?

ruddynorah · 13/12/2008 00:02

when i used to babysit i'd sleep if i was tired, like by 11pm. not a problem surely? i mean, what if you'd have come home at 2am, should she still have been awake?

Monkeyblue · 13/12/2008 00:02

What do you do when there is nothing on telly
How would you have felt if she was on your laptop or phone

She would of heard the kids

PenelopePitstops · 13/12/2008 00:03

honestly parents tell me to sleep, if they know they will be back late the leave blankets out aswell

Original poster

Martha200 · 13/12/2008 00:04

In her 20s, baby monitor was not on, though it was talked about before I went out, btw I am not having a go, I just remember never falling asleep when I used to babysit

OP posts:

HumphreyCushUponAMidnightClear · 13/12/2008 00:04

It wouldn't bother me.
If the children had woken up, he/she would have heard them.

bookthief · 13/12/2008 00:04

My nextdoor neighbour spent most of the night on the landing (tenement flat) a few years ago because the babysitter had locked the door and fallen asleep.

Neighbour wouldn't stay with us and wouldn't phone the police (which I thought a bit at the time) but did borrow a bean bag and a duvet to wrap up in. She eventually roused the babysitter at 6am...And got an earful for staying out all night.

It was strange though. I did wonder how old the babysitter was that she was so reluctant to phone someone to break the door down.

VinegarTitsTheSeasonToBeJolly · 13/12/2008 00:05

YABU you sleep when your dc sleep dont you? or do you stay awake all night watching them?

She would have heard them if they woke up, so whats the problem exactly?

Twims · 13/12/2008 00:06

Have been known to doze off when nothing on the telly and feeling sleepy - but have always been able to hear the children/parents coming in etc

Original poster

Martha200 · 13/12/2008 00:10

okey dokey, note taken to self, check subject heading before posting.. I am not having a go, was curious take note, also feeling a bit because a message was not passed on about dying relative, just a matter of time now, but that's more of an issue with my relatives for not phoning the bloody mobile rather than landline!

OP posts:

TLESinChristmasStockings · 13/12/2008 00:11

do you never fall asleep when you are at home?

I know I do if there is nowt on tv or I am just feeling sleepy but I always hear ds1 and ds2.

macwoozy · 13/12/2008 00:22

I wouldn't be happy with that at all, I presume you pay her so the very least she could do is to stay wake for the duration.

themoon66 · 13/12/2008 00:22

I never slept when I babysat as a teen... I was far too busy sneaking my boyfriend in for a shag ;-)

SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore · 13/12/2008 00:25

erm just a thought but maybe she thought it would be a chaper idea to sleep on the landing than to pay some one to kick her door down and then have to pay some one else to repair it?

TeenyTinyTorya · 13/12/2008 00:34

I always used to start dozing off when I babysat, had a couple of naps during the daytime as well when 8 weeks pg and looking after two boisterous school age boys.

Sometimes it's unavoidable, and as long as she could hear the kids if anything was wrong, YABU.

I bet you've dozed off a few times in the evening - and at night you're asleep anyway aren't you? I wouldn't worry about it.

oilandwater · 13/12/2008 00:35

When I was a teenager I babysat for a 3 year old who liked me to sit on his bed for a bit after I turned his lights off. One night I was awoken by the parents who came home to find me fast asleep right on the kid's bed, with the kid in it. I was a bit embarrassed but they thought it was funny.

Used to fall asleep all the time at that family and others too while watching tv or doing homework. No one ever said a word, and I was always asked to babysit again.

Tigurr · 13/12/2008 01:17

PMSL themoon66 - same here!

Pre-boyfriends, though, when I babysat I would sometimes doze off... did it quite a lot over a period of a few weeks and then the parents found out their gas fire was faulty and had been leaking carbon monoxide into the room - so I hadn't been dozing off, I'd been passing out from the CO poisoning - whoops!

Dragonbrandybutter · 13/12/2008 01:20

i always fall asleep when i'm babysitting.
other peoples quiet houses are very relaxing.

magicofchristmas · 13/12/2008 01:55

I find it really annoying when I go to a babysit and the house is freezing cold (14 degrees I kid you not) I end up grabbing a blanket an find myself dozing off, snug as a bug, if tv is crap.

mm22bys · 13/12/2008 09:10

YABU. The children are probably asleep, as they probably are most nights at that time, and if they woke up, she would hear them would she not?

I think baby-sitting must be so boring (but did it when I was a teenager), late night TV is so cr*p!

phraedd · 13/12/2008 09:22

i do everything i can not to fall aslepp if i am being paid to babysit.

I always take a book and when i am feeling sleepy, i go and check on the children.

I don't think YABU at all.

WinkyWinkola · 13/12/2008 09:24

YABU. You're asleep at night, aren't you? And you're still considered capable of looking after the children should they need something or something happens?

I wouldn't worry about it. As long as an adult is there in the house.

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