Babysitting or nanny services are typically provided by teenagers trying to earn extra pocket money. It is common practice for most parents to employ the services of a high school or college student to watch over young children. School-age children may be easier for a teenager to manage, but there are a lot of debate about whether it is appropriate to have a teenage babysitter to care for an infant.
Upside and downside of a teenage babysitter
On the one hand, a teenage babysitter great because she can keep up with the energy of an overactive child. Teenage baby girls are energetic and fun because of their youth. They are also responsible cheaper compared to older nannies.
On the other hand, adolescents may not have sufficient experience in handling young children. Two-to three-year-old children have different needs and handling them is totally different. An inexperienced teenager may not be able to meet the needs of a small child. But that does not mean that teenagers in general do not lend nannies for younger children. If you wish to hire a teenage babysitter to watch your child, here are some things you might want to consider.
Extensive experience
It would help if you hire a teenage babysitter with sufficient experience. Teenagers who have younger siblings are more likely to come with proper care skills. Ask your candidate if she has younger siblings or relatives that she baby-sit. It is also important to consider hiring someone who has completed training babysitter or someone who knows first aid and CPR. Red Cross babysitting courses regularly offered to teenagers, so it would also be a good idea to consider candidates with such certifications.
If a teenager has already babysat for other families, you can ask for references and contact the other parents. This is a good way to determine how capable the candidate.
Your children
If you have a second child away from your children, hire a teenage babysitter can not be a good idea. School-age children are already a handful and combine with a small child can be more than what the teenager can handle. But if you only have a small child to be cared for, an experienced and trained teenage babysitter should suffice, provided that she is mature enough to care for the child.
Location
Some parents do not mind having a teenage babysitter watch over their young children, especially if she lives nearby. If your potential babysitter only live a few blocks away, and she can easily call someone like her mother or another adult for help in emergencies, she would still be a suitable candidate for the job.
Interviewing candidates
The interview is crucial to your decision to hire a teenage babysitter for your child. This is where you will be able to determine whether the applicant is mature enough to handle a child as young as yours. How she answers your questions would be evidence of her competence.
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