If they had an infant CPR class and newborn care class that hospitals offer, I’d be ok with it. You’d probably be better off with a recently educated teen than 70 something grandma who will likely put baby on its stomach to sleep and prop a bottle up next to them.

Never. Nor children who can’t talk.

I was babysitting newborns by 15y. But I have always had some innate baby knowledge despite being an only child/no cousins. I was showing new moms swaddling/holding techniques, talking to them about trying different nipples, etc. I could get a baby to sleep when no one could.

I was even spending an entire weekend with 2 preschool kids (Friday-Sunday night) while their parents went out of town when I was 16y.

But I would NEVER do it with my own kids. Ever.

I agree with this former teen babysitter who would never leave her own babies with a teen - until they were older.

https://cafemom.com/parenting/130123-i_would_never_hire_a

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Y'all realize that teens took care of newborns for several millennia in human history right?

People also died by 35 and child mortality was 50%.

The average mortality was 35 (actually higher, but...) exactly because of the child mortality. It's not as if everyone dropped dead at 35. If you made it past childhood, you had a very decent shot of making it to your 60's even back then.

When I was 13, a family I regularly babysat for had their 5th child. I started babysitting the newborn within 2 weeks. But yes I was very experienced with siblings and cousins (and this family too.)

My 14 year old could absolutely care for a newborn for a few hours and do a wonderful job. Better than some adults I know.

The teen will be looking at her phone more than at the baby.
The videos on the phone would be too loud for her to hear the baby cry.

I babysat a one-month-old when I was 13 (so in 1996). Which seems crazy now... but it was fine. I knew the family, had been babysitting their older 2 & 4yr old for a few years. It went fine, just remember the diaper smell8ng so so terrible haha. But I fed and burped the baby, then held her awhile.

It would depend on the experience of the babysitter. If they have a baby sibling that they watched when their own parents would go out and were also first aid and cpr trained potentially 14 or 15 for a few hours. Same skill set I’d leave a 16 year old from say 6-11pm.

It would be very specific based on my comfort with the caregiver.

I watched my infant brother when I was 12. Only you know if your kid can handle it or not.

My baby is 6 months and I wouldn’t leave her with a teen to be babysat, but I am having a HS senior come watch her for a few hours while I’m at home to get some pre-holiday stuff done.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Y'all realize that teens took care of newborns for several millennia in human history right?

Teens these days are so infantilized by their parents that it’s an entirely different proposition from a time when 12 year olds were regularly having their own children.

+1

People used to have much larger families and tweens/teen girls were given experience with babies from a much younger age, under the supervision of their mothers and other women. That’s not the case for families today and hasn’t been for awhile.

Anonymous wrote:Never. I wouldn't leave my newborn with anyone except my own mother and my husband, unless I had absolutely no choice.

And I wouldn’t even leave my newborn with just my mother. She seemed to have forgotten how to handle newborns!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Y'all realize that teens took care of newborns for several millennia in human history right?

Teens these days are so infantilized by their parents that it’s an entirely different proposition from a time when 12 year olds were regularly having their own children.

Not necessarily …

It is still a big responsibility to take care of kids older than 5. Teens brains are not fully developed. Babies and very young children have immature central nervous systems/ hypothalamus (temperature regulation) and are much more likely to spike very high temperatures.

Give them realistic responsibilities and set them up for success while protecting your newborn babies/ very young children.

Experience is more important than age. If she’s been around new horns and knows what to do it’s good. Also must know infant CPR.