How old does a babysitter need to be?

[crazylazydaisy]

My dd is nearly 14 and wondered if anyone knows how old the law says a babysitter has to be to look after little ones? Thanks

There is no law stating the age a babysitter has to be

However if you leave your child with a minor (eg under 18) you are legally responsible for any accidents/damage that is done

This means (effectively) that if your 17yo dd burns down the house while you are out the insurance company might decide you were liable......(but they prob won't)

So if you 14yo is in the house and an accidnet occurs - the parenst are responsible not your DD

BTW my 15 yo next door neighbour babysits my dd (when she was 8) but only when her mum was home

Oh thats very interesting thanks Katymac. Thanks for that

If in Scotland, then for a long time I believed that the babysitter had to be 16 years old. But Central Scotland Police say otherwise - here

In law, a person under 16 can not be charged with the offence of neglecting a child. Thus parents remain responsible for the welfare of their child, if they use a babysitter under the age of 16.

I started babysitting when I was 14, caring for the children living next door. As I got older and more experienced, I cared for children in my local neighbourhood, then expanded again to include the entire town.

my dd has been babysitting since she was 14.

In NZ it's 14, but bizarrely that's also the age you can legally leave a child home alone. So in otherwords 13 years 11 months can't be left at home alone, one month later able to look after as many children as you can cram in the house. Weird.

nannynick - you babysat the whole town?? Did all the parents go on a mass walkout at the same time?!

I too thought the age (in engalnd) was 16

would make sense given that at 16 you can legally marry and have children

Well i started babysitting too at 14 but as that was eons ago i thought things had changed. My dd is already licking her lips at all the money about to roll in- think i shall have to start the "spend a third/save a third/give mum a third" line my dm kept!