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Original poster

would you do this?

703 replies

nappyaddict · 04/02/2008 11:34

if you worked nights and your child was always in bed and asleep before you went out and never wakes up, would you give your neighbour who was wellknown to your child the baby monitor to keep an ear out on the offchance that they do wake up and a key to get in on that offchance rather than giving up work? (a babysitter costs more than i earn an hour)

OP posts:
singyswife · 04/02/2008 13:06

In Scotland the law has been changed to 16. A child cannot be left alone until they are 16. I only know this because I have recently done a child protection course.

Sparkletastic · 04/02/2008 13:07

Lawks no - for all the important life-threatening reasons given and also my DDs have sometimes been sick after bed-time and haven't called me - just the smell to tip me off .

juuule · 04/02/2008 13:07

This probably would apply
"However, parents may be prosecuted for neglect if they leave a child alone ?in a manner which is likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health? (Children and Young Persons Act, 1933)."

nutcracker · 04/02/2008 13:08

Not in a million years.

AuntyThesis · 04/02/2008 13:08

no

dippydeedoo · 04/02/2008 13:09

i dont think its a wise idea and im sorry but if you cant pay a babysitter you cant work i know its harsh but its life.

OverMyDeadBody · 04/02/2008 13:09

No, for all the reasons already mentioned. It is not worth the risk.

bluenosesaint · 04/02/2008 13:09

Not a chance!!

dippydeedoo · 04/02/2008 13:09

i wouldnt even leave my 14 yr old in charge of my 7 yr old overnight

donbean · 04/02/2008 13:10

no

juuule · 04/02/2008 13:11

Me neither, Dippy.

FAQ · 04/02/2008 13:13

and tbh - I'm not sure you'd really feel comfortable about it if you did.

Before DS3 was born I did on one or two occasions pop next door to my neighbours with the monitor and house keys when DH was running 10/20 minutes late from work (my employers were gits and being late wasn't an option) - he would ring me as soon as he got home so I knew that there was actually someone in the house with them - but I still felt REALLY bad - even just for that short time.

I wouldn't have been able to concentrate on my job for the entire night knowing that there was no-one else in the house with them the whole time

Original poster
nappyaddict · 04/02/2008 23:32

"What happens if your neighbour had to pop out or fell asleep and didn't hear your child? Worse still, what if there was a fire? Too risky for me!"

she wouldn't pop out while she was meant to be watching my child! my thoughts were that she could just as easily fall asleep if she were downstairs in my front room.

it was the fire or gas leak thing i was worried about but then thought if we were outside in the garden we probably wouldn't smell a fire/gas leak or hear the smoke alarms and you would at least hear smoke alarms on the monitor.

she wouldn't be asleep i only work til 11 or 11:30. she has her own children so can't stay at mine and no room for him to sleep at hers and besides that is a lot to ask as a favour.

as for the child snatcher i find that very unlikely but again if it was a very silent child snatcher i doubt you'd hear them even if you were in the house. we've been burgaled (sp?) whilst in the kitchen.

OP posts:
MrsMattie · 04/02/2008 23:33

NEVER.

Original poster
nappyaddict · 04/02/2008 23:34

oh and surely it's the same as using a baby listening service in a hotel/caravan park?

ds wouldn't know there was no one in the house if he woke up. he would be in his cot. he would cry and then the neighbour would come and settle him off.

OP posts:
VeniVidiVickiQV · 04/02/2008 23:35

Nappy - still no. Sorry my dear. Fitting work around children really sucks, doesnt it?

colditz · 04/02/2008 23:37

no.

notjustmom · 04/02/2008 23:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Candlewax · 04/02/2008 23:39

Fire is a silent killer. Our smoke alarms never went off because the fire had started in the loft, a trapped wire between the rafters. It was only by pure chance that I was home and it was not the babysitter because she would not have realised that something was wrong, she would have thought a power cut as the fuses all blew.

No way would I leave a young child alone at home at night - EVER.

We were out of our home for over 6 months whilst they rebuilt our house.

If I had not been there and got the children out before the first floor ceiling collapsed, my children would have been dead or seriously burnt. All the bedrooms were completely destroyed, the roof, the loft. Need I say more.

colditz · 04/02/2008 23:41

you can try to justify it all you like - it's still wrong. What if there was a power cut in the middle of the night, switching the monitors off? What if there was a FIRE? Smoke is a silent killer. What if something happened to your neighbour?

colditz · 04/02/2008 23:42

What if the baby monitor simply packed up, leaving your neighbour with no idea that your baby boy was alone, frightened and screaming his head off to an empty house?

hellish · 04/02/2008 23:43

No, I would definately not do this, I can see that you really want to work and it's very hard to work and pay for childcare.
But no, it's too risky, what if the babysitter was round at your house settling the baby and her own children had an accident (or any of the above mentioned potential dangers)?

Candlewax · 04/02/2008 23:43

Just to clarify. The reason the smoke alarms did not go off was because the fire was ABOVE them.

Now we have a remote control system, thanks to the Fire Brigade, which puts an alarm in the loft and the garage as well and they are all interlinked, so if one goes off, they all go off.

They cannot go off if the fire is above them.

How many Mumsnetters have fire alarms in their lofts???? Food for thought ladies.

colditz · 04/02/2008 23:45

I would contact the nearest college running a childcare course, and try to hire a nice student at £5 a night, and if he never wakes up (as you say he doesn't) that's a bargain!

hellish · 04/02/2008 23:46

What about work you could do at home when the baby's asleep? There's always envelope stuffing / lots of online / telephone jobs you could look into. Not particularly inspiring I know, but better that nothing until you could get day time work. (presuming when he is at school / free childcare)

Child Tax benefits can help towards child care I think.

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