Should you leave your toddler in the care of your ten year old?

Whether your ten year old is smart, brave, quick to react, it is just plain foolish to go out shopping and leaving a pre-teen in charge of things. Anything can happen. Your toddler can swallow something he should not, he could hurt himself, he can reach into dangerous things, he might fall from his crib; anything. It will first of all be a traumatic experience for your child should something happen to him or the baby and your ten year old is not equipped if a stranger should knock on the door and he is faced with a possible intruder. A child that age can dial 911, but he should not be placed in such a position – and can he react when there’s an intruder in the house? And should he be given that responsibility? He is not old enough to be a baby sitter and should not be placed in a situation where he is responsible for a toddler for two or three hours while you go out. And what is the legal age for a baby sitter? The answer is that there is not a lot of information about it; some states have a legal age of thirteen, and some states do not.


Responsible teens


Having said that an appropriate age does not mean that the babysitter is necessarily equipped and in fact there might be younger teens who are quite responsible and who have helped with siblings in the past. Here are some good ways to judge whether a teen is the right person to look after your children while you are out.


• Is your teen responsible and has she looked after siblings or other people’s children before?

• Can she apply CPR if there is an emergency situation and she cannot wait for the ambulance if a child is choking?

• Does she stay glued to the television or play computer games while she is supposed to look after the children?

• Does she know how to care for a toddler? Some ten year olds are very responsible and can help, but are you using good judgment? What if something happens? Looking after the house is a big responsibility for a child. Someone might play with matches and cause a fire, or the baby can fall into the bath.

• Does she know never to shake a baby who is crying no matter how angry or tired she may be?

• Does she have your names, the address of the house and the telephone numbers?

• Has she helped out before? It is up in the air whether a child under twelve should babysit unless they have helped parents who need help with the kids when they are home.


A good way to get a sitter is if you have a trusted friend with children and you can have the kids take turns doing a babysitting job – provided these kids have babysat before and shown good judgment. Test your children with the babysitter. See how they react when she is around.


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