'Older Brother'

[Mynxie]

Do you think there could be a place for an 'older brother' type of childminder/babysitter? I know when my children were little they really needed to run off some steam and would have welcomed someone who could play football and other energetic games with them (or even computer games/lego when wet outside) when I didnt want to was too tired.

I have a 20 yr old who has just finished Uni and is really good with kids - Im guessing he could get himself CRB checked easily enough.

Would it be worth looking at, or would it be a waste of time and money do you think?

There are jobs available for male au pairs/babysitters/childminder/nannies. They face a bit of discrimination from some small-minded parents, but there are others that prefer a male. I think he needs to be able to do the other stuff (cook, keep them safe, cuddles/comfort, change a nappy etc) as well though.

He could register with a babysitting agency?

Advertise locally on netmums as registered babysitter available for daytime care through registered babysitting agency?

Is this just a temporary thing until he finds a full time job?

We had a male childminder when we were kids (I was 14/15 and DB 12/13) he was great. My brother has done some babysitting since his late teens and has had favourable responses from parents.

Being a manny is tough. Getting work is a challenge. Whilst some mums are keen to start with, when dad was asked the answer was no. Least that is what the agency found when they were finding me work.
Fortunately there are some parents who will give it a go - I have great employers, been with current family 4 years now. Finding the right match is tricky but can last a long time once found.

Are you a childminder? If so he could be CRB checked and play with them while you are there. If not, if he was looking after children during the day he would have to go through quite a bit more than CRB checks to become registered and approved etc

Big difference between an occasional babysitter and a FT childminder - which are you talking about ?

I would not hesitate to hire a Manny, in fact if I ever win the lottery it will be pretty much the first thing I do!

I think he could easily get a live in job as an au pair in london - loads of my friends ended up having two boys and would have loved to have an intelligent sporty man looking after them during the summer.
Get him to go on au pair world.
The if he did want a nanny job ie more sole care he'd have the au pair experience to see him through. (nanny jobs are typically very well paid in london)