Applying for a baby modelling agency - would you?

[Marabou]

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum to post this on, but I didn't know where else to ask...

I've been thinking of signing DS (7 months 3 weeks) up on a modelling agency after a few friends suggested it (none of these friends have children). I have found a few agencies online, but somehow feel a bit uneasy about the whole thing.. Has anyone done this and what experiences have you had?

I realise that you first apply and then find out if your child has been succesful, so probably a lot of my potential concerns are not even relevant at this stage, but I was mainly concerned about safety issues. I am very careful not to post any pictures of DS on social media sites like Facebook, so I was just thinking about where any potential pictures or other material of him might end up. Obviously, if this is a worry, I probably shouldn't think about signing him up in the first place, as any pictures of him used in adverts would be public anyway, so there would be no way of monitoring their use really..

What are your thoughts on this?

I'd not want a childhood spent this way or have pictures public property. But obviously some parents feel it is OK

What are your reasons for wanting a modelling contract? The money may be helpful but I would have thought there are lots of cost involved too.

I have a very close friend who did it for various reasons. What she found was that castings were all in London and mostly with less than 24 hours notice. If your child then got the job you had to go back to London for the job itself. Often you were told to bring specific things to the casting like a pair of trainers.
She did it for about 2 years both her kids were in several ELC catalogues and her DD was cover for some baby magazines.
She gave it after 3 trips to London for call backs for a casting running around to get the local authority licence the well known children's liquid painkiller pulled the ad and she didn't get any payment at all.

Any pictures of your DS wouldnt be associated with any information eg name, geographic location, so people may see the picture, but wouldnt know it was him, IYSWIM.

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Two of my friends are doing this with their kids. One had initial outlay for putting together a portfolio. Both have said they basically ferry kids around for photo shoots often at short notice and can be anywhere location wise. If you are a SAHM then this is easier than if you are a working mother. There is no guaranteed regular income if you are relying on it for extra money. I personally feel uncomfortable with young children modelling but do not judge my friends for wanting this for their kids.

Evening ladies and thank you for your thoughts and insight. It has given me some perspective and made me realise I don't really want to do it.

Off the outset I also felt uneasy about the idea in general and also more specifically as even if the child's identity was not revealed in any way, that wouldn't stop the picture or any other material being used by pedophiles (or at least that was the perhaps slightly exaggerated image in my head..)..

I guess I had just sort of briefly considered it as a nice way of making some extra money, as I had quite a positive experience doing some commercial modelling, when I was younger (and a few pounds lighter:)). But I now realise that even though I work flexibly from home (and live in London) and could relatively easily take him to castings etc. I wouldn't want to disrupt his "schedule" with running around when he obviously wouldn't understand the value of any of it...