[Rachaelxxx]

I know that probably sounds like a really strange question, but we have never used paid babysitting before and this is now something we need to look at . Our youngest just turned 5 and my oldest is nearly 11.

I know when I was little I used to babysit kids from the age of 12 and speaking to a few of the mums at school the range is huge. One mum was telling me yesterday she has a 12 year old girl babysitting her 8 and 10 year old.

There was a 16 year old girl who was recommended through a close friend I was going to talk to, but she is using her the same night I need her.

What are the rates these days as well. We're only heading up to the local restaurant with a group of friends and dinner will only be from around 7pm - 10.30pm and I was going to give the girl $50. She won't need do a thing other than sit and play with the girls.

Also while I'm at it, my oldest is just about to turn 11 and I'm noticing a lot of parents starting to leave their kids at home alone for short periods of time. Is there a rule for this as well. I know legally it's 12, so is that the general rule for everyone. Start of small and then build up to longer times and if so what age did you start leaving them at home and in charge of younger siblings.

[*-*]

Can't help you with the babysitting, we are in the same situation. Though have my SIL putting the feelers out with my niece, who is 15. That said, I have had one sitter before, she was a lady in her late 20's, and we paid her $15 an hour - That is the rate she requested.

As for leaving the eldest at home, I have done so with my eldest, since last year, when she was 9. Start with 5-10 mins then build up - now at 10.5, She is happy, and I am happy for her to be home alone for up to an hour. This is HER choice though, it is never forced on her.

Her sister, who is now 9, doesn't have a hope in hell of being left alone in the house for another few years. She is a different child, and far more aloof.

The girls have come home from school, and no one is home - this has happened maybe twice/3 times. DD1 walks in the door, puts her bag down, and rings me. They have both been left at home for all of 10 minutes together. I trust DD1 - I don't trust DD2 - and I don't want DD1 to have the responsibility of DD2's actions.

As for DS (5) - it's a LONG way off. And I will not leave him at home with his sister either.

[kboomba]

Our 15 year old neighbour sits our girls every now and again for 1.5 - 2 hours and we give her $20. She is super responsible for her age and her mum is right next door if anything were to happen.

[Rachaelxxx]

Thanks girls, it's hard when you are just starting out isn't it. I really need to work on letting go a bit and giving the girls a bit more responsibility as well and I know if I could just find the right babysitter, she would have a ball over here with the girls.

They would fuss over her so much, they would want to play with her hair, paint her nails, do her make up

[miriams]

Our DD is 11( almost 12) our DS is 5. I often leave DD home alone if ducking out to shops etc but I don't think she is ready for the responsibility. If anything were to happen, I'd never forgive myself and worse, she might blame herself too. I did try it with the gym a few times last year but ultimately felt it wasn't right.

[tle]

I don't know if thereis a legal babysitting age. I didn't even know it was the law that kids have to be 12 to be left alone. Is that all states?

When it comes to leaving them alone, I think it depends more on the individual kid rather than their age.

My kids are DS 12 (almost 13), DD 11, DS 9 and twin DDs 6. For the past 12 - 18 months I've been happy to leave DS 12 and DD 11 home alone during the day. I'll only leave DS 9 home if DS 12 is there too. That's because despite being very mature and capable (she helps me keep the kids organised) DD 11 doesn't cope well in a crissis and panics at the sight of blood. DS 9 being very active has frequent minor accidents so I can't leave him alone with DD11 because I don't know how she'd cope if something happened. The twins are too young to leave alone and too much responsibility for the others so they have to come with me evry time I leave the house.

With babysitting of a night I don't think I'd feel comfortable leaving the kids with anyone under 18 unless I really knew them. I'm thinking that in about 3 years time I'll feel happy to leave all my kids at home of a night with the two oldest in charge.

[Joey11]

I would assume the legal babysitting age would be the minimum employment age, as you are employing them. This depends on child employment laws in your state, in Vic it's 15 or 14 and 3/4 I think. There would then also be laws about the duration of their "shift."

I don't know about minimum age in terms of children having "adult" supervision for legal responsibility purposes.

[Jembo]

We have just started using our just turned 14 yr old neighbour to babysit my 9 and 4 year olds. It is her first time officially babysitting.

Her Mum is 2 doors down and checks on her constantly to see how she is going. My boys absolutely love her and ask if she can come over all the time. She is paid $8 per hour which is what her Mum asked for, I originally offered more but her Mum said no let her work up when she gets more experience and age.

It is a good situation for us as she is close (no having to drive and pick her up), is getting experience babysitting which she wants, and I can feel comfortable as her Mum is so close.

I started paid babysitting 1 night per week at the age of 13 for the neighbours children myself (same type of situation).

[kerilyntaryn]

Legally no child is allowed to be left at home unsupervised under the age of 12, and when supervised the one supervising must be 18

[Jembo]

According to this in SA : http://www.lawhandbook.sa.gov.au/ch05s01s03.php

There is no law that says how old a child must be to be able to babysit. Parents are expected to make their own decisions and in doing so the only guidance the law provides is that they make make reasonable decisions about their children’s safety.

What is reasonable will depend on:

each individual family’s circumstances;
the age and maturity of the child who will be babysitting;
any other factors that might be relevant (e.g. whether the child or children being cared for have special needs such as requiring monitoring of medication).