at what age would you allow your teen to babysit a newborn?
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Anonymous
| Hi, At what age would you allow your teen to babysit a newborn? Thanks in advance for any opinions, trying to form ours..... |
Anonymous
| Newborn? How little? I don’t think I would want my teen watching a baby in general. 1 yo or older, okay. |
Anonymous
| A mature 16 year old with babysitting experience. If I were the parent hiring the sitter, I’d go for an adult. |
Anonymous
| Teens and babies do not mix. If the teen can't handle the babies crying they may throw the baby. I've heard it happen. |
Anonymous
| I wouldn’t unless they’d spent lots of time around babies and toddlers. |
Anonymous
|
How newly born? When I was 12 I was caring for 6 month olds.
Although I can’t imagine my 15 year old DD caring for a baby. She’s responsible, she just doesn’t like babies or toddlers. |
Anonymous
| Probably around age 16 but only if he/she had significant prior experience with babies. |
Anonymous
| I personally would only ever leave my newborn with a professional nanny or someone who has had her own kids, not a teen. |
Anonymous
Baby must be 3 months or older. That was my rule. I nannied for a summer with 3 kids - ages 5, 3 and 3 months - before I went to college. I was 17, but had lots of experience at the point with babies/toddlers. I was also very responsible. Being a mother myself now, I really can’t imagine leaving my baby with a 17 year old. But it was a different time back then. |
Anonymous
| Nope. |
Anonymous
|
For an hour or two? Sixteen, probably. I have a teenager who is a bit of a perfectionist and while that’s an issue, she is a very responsible babysitter.
Now would I allow my newborn to be babysat by a teenager? No. I don’t think we ever had a babysitter for a newborn, unless you count my MIL rocking them while DH and I slept. |
Anonymous
| Never. They just don't have the maturity to handle a baby that young. |
Anonymous
| Never a newborn. When my aunt was 20 and a nursing student, she and a fellow nurse had night duty in the maternity ward nursery. It was not a NICU or anything. This was in the 1960s. Women and babies without any complications regularly stayed 4 or more days before being discharged. One night, a baby died in its little bassinet. They only noticed because all of the babies were bottle fed on a schedule and if still sleeping were flicked on their heels. |
Anonymous
| Y'all realize that teens took care of newborns for several millennia in human history right? |
Anonymous
| My teen, never. Their own child, sure. My child, maybe but I doubt I'd leave my child that young. |