Underground Journal

Is there a Legal Age to Babysit?

Both parents and young babysitters often wonder what is the legal age to babysit kids.  In short, though many states do not have a minimum babysitting age, the ones that do typically have it set at 13-years-old.  Having said that, there are other factors that should be considered beyond the biological age of a potential babysitter:

Experience
One of the more important factors when considering a babysitter, is how much experience they have babysitting and whether that experience has involved children of similar ages to your own.  No matter how much experience they might have however, it is strongly recommended not to leave especially young children and babies with a young sitter.

CPR / First-Aid Certification
If you’re like most parents, your primary concern for your child is their safety so it should come as no surprise that most states highly recommend that a babysitter possess both CPR and first-aid certificates.  The last thing you want to worry about while your out of the house is your child’s well being.  In addition, be sure to leave the sitter with your contact number and an easily viewable emergency contact list.

Maturity Level
Last but certainly not least, the babysitter needs to posses a certain level of maturity in order to be able to babysit children effectively.  Just because someone turns 13 and posts a babysitting flyer at your community center, it doesn’t mean they are automatically mature enough to mind children.  After all, at that age many could argue they are still a child themselves.  To help you gauge whether a particular sitter is mature enough to babysit, you might wish to look at how they handle other important items in their life.  Are they a good student, for example?  Do they speak respectfully and are they generally polite?  Do they have a good reputation among other students and more importantly parents?  If at all in doubt, ask them for references; you’d be surprised what can be revealed but simply speaking with others who they have babysat in the past.

As you can see there’s actually a lot more to simply knowing the legal age to babysit.  In the end it’s really more a question of whether you’d want a particular sitter babysitting your kids regardless of their age.

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