I was 17 back in 2003 and had graduated high School. Did overnights and after school care . 17 hr for after care and about a similar hourly amount for an overnight. Maturity level does matter in a caretaker. I have many friends that I would still not trust to provide quality care.

I think that 19 is fine. I started doing overnights at 17(but was about a month away from 18 then) and it was fine. At that time the kids were 1 and 3. Now at 21 I do overnights pretty often with 3 kids and two are toddlers. Like someone else said,I would honestly be less concerned with the overnight part.It just depends on the person and your gut feeling.

Anonymous wrote:I was 19 when I started my first after school position, and I was definitely mature enough to handle it. I'm only 21 now, and I offer overnights all the time. She's an adult, so why couldn't she handle spending the night with your child? My younger sister did babysitting jobs overnight when she was 15.

That's not even legal.
Maturity does not necessarily come with physical age.

I am less concerned about overnights than the normal work. A 19 year old can sit on the couch and watch tv and sleep while your children sleep, but they are usually not very good nannies during the day. They are lazy, not serious, immature, and inexperienced. I also wouldn't want a 19 year old driving my kids.

I would trust my gut and can easily imagine a 19 year old being responsible and mature enough to handle this. I can also imagine many who wouldn't be, but I know people in their 20's and 30's I wouldn't trust either.

So my gut and knowledge of the person would trump age.

I need an after-school nanny. May I ask whether you used a service or posted an ad on a forum or did something else?

I agree that you made the right choice to go with the 26 yrs old nanny.

While there are many 19 yrs old women who are mature, for the most part at that age many of them are still teen-agers themselves and are still growing up and trying to figure out who they are in life. It is part of the growing up process.

A 19 yrs old would be a fun babysitter for an Elementary-aged girl, like a "big sister-type" to play with after school and hang out with.

But ideally not someone to leave your children home alone with.

She just needs to have some more real life experience first.

And that is not necessarily a bad thing. All of us have been there at one time.

I would not hire a 19 year to care for multiple children alone. A job at the mall working a cash register is not the same. Your nanny won't have any relief, there is no one to give her breaks. If the kids have a rough day she may not have any down time. There are always exceptions but as a rule a 19 year old has yet to exercise the level of responsibility you are giving your nanny. She certainly has not had time to build experience.

At 19 I had a full time job, a dog, my own apartment and absolutely no support from my family. Age doesn't automatically identify maturity. At 28, I know many "professionals" my age that are completely irresponsible. I guess it's best to go with your gut instincts.

I got my first full time nanny job right out of high school at 18. After 6 months of being with them they started leaving me with the twins overnight at first they would just go to a hotel nearby for one night and gradually increased it. I worked for them for 4 years and by a year and a half I would have the babies for an entire week while the parents went on vacation. The grandparents would come by one-two days a week to give me a break up to 4 hours.

It all depends on the nanny and her maturity. I was never the type to party or go out drinking all night. If you have a nanny of any age who is more into partying (not talking about small social gatherings I'm talking about the college type parties) or a nanny who's social life interferes with their job or job performance, they stay out and go drinking all night 2 or more times a week and always tired then that's a nanny to avoid.

Go with your gut op and if you feel the 19 year old is a better fit don't let her age old you back

I'd have to meet the 19 yr old. The go to war thing isn't relevant - in the military the 19 yr olds are supervised by others up the chain who are older, more mature and have experience. So that's out.

And when you need these occasional overnights is critical - in the next 4 weeks or by January when you would know her better, you'd see that her discipline style is such that the kids respect and listen to her, etc?

I do think there is a difference between being able to hold down the fort from 3 to 6 or 6:30pm and being there overnight, getting kids to get homework done, into bed, asleep, up , breakfasted and out the door to school. And being comfortable staying in your house overnight.

I could have done it at 19 yrs old, but that was in a different era when teens were expected to have and take more responsibility, and I'd been babysitting since 13 yrs old. Again, in the 70s when 13 meant something different than I sense it means today for many kids and parents.

I was in college by then, a sophomore, and would have been capable of doing an overnight.

But you've made your choice and I'm sure she'll be good! And you'll be more comfortable during those overnights, and that's really important because no way do you want to be worrying when you're away!

I would not leave a 19 yr old in charge overnight (or a 21 yr old). And I DON'T think 19 yr olds should be allowed to go to war.

Ours was 24 when he started, but he never did overnights.

She can go to war at 19, but not watch your children overnight?
Are some 19 year olds immature? Absolutely. Are all? No! I know women more than a decade older than me who still act like stupid high school drama queens. Age does not equal maturity.

I was 19 when I started my first after school position, and I was definitely mature enough to handle it. I'm only 21 now, and I offer overnights all the time. She's an adult, so why couldn't she handle spending the night with your child? My younger sister did babysitting jobs overnight when she was 15.

I've spent the weekend interviewing after school nanny candidates. My kids, husband and I all agreed that our favorite woman was a 19 year old college sophomore. But, we've just extended an offer to a 26 year old whom we can only have until March, due to her own career plans. I like the woman we've chosen, but I still feel torn about not choosing the 19 year old whom my gut said was going to be the best fit for us and we'd likely be able to keep her for longer. I just couldn't choose her because we need an occasional overnight and it seems irresponsible to leave a 19 year old in charge. Wondering what others think?