Boys as babysitters

[ckay87]

Anyone with little ones - would you ever have a problem hiring a boy as a babysitter?

My youngest DS is too young (he's 10.5.) But he loves to make money and I told him that in another few years he can find a goldmine out there called babysitting.

I have 7 neices under the age of 6 years old. Whenever we visit, they think my DS is G-O-D! He is a bona-fide hero in their eyes. Their parents already pay DS to babysit while we are visiting sometimes because he is just so darned good.

And this summer, I'm thinking of paying him to babysit his older brother (you can reference my woes on some of the other "teenager" threads for an explanation of THAT.)

By the time he is 13, however, he might have trouble finding a job. Would you, really, hire a 13 year old boy to babysit? Seriously? I'm just curious.

 

[TheGoofster]

Obviously it depends on the boy you are asking, but no, I don't have a problem with it. In fact, my wife and I have left our two kids with a young man (15 years old) on a few occassions. He is much more mature than almost any young girl I know of at that age.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Not a problem at all. Our current babysitter, who watches our 6 year old after school a couple days a week, is a 19 year old guy. I babysit a couple times when I was 13 or 14, mostly whenever my older sister wasn't available for a couple families she used to babysit for.

 

[debster812]

In a HEARTBEAT. And we do use one.

DS is 9, and on 3 occasions within the past 2 months we have had the older brother (15) of one of his pals babysit.

We have a 'stable' of sitters we can call from, 1 young teen girl, 1 young teen guy, 1 college age girl, and 1 college age guy. The 2 college students are either current or former daycare care givers.

Fasten your seatbelt though, there are a lot of polarizing opinions on this topic.

 

[Galahad]

I did some babysitting as a teen also - all for kids of friends of my parents though.....

 

[piglet too]

I would do it after I talked to him, just like I would a girl. Our DS12 watches his younger brother and sister for us now. I hope that down the line, some one would consider asking him to watch their kids. he loves little kids, and is very good with them. We had this one girl babysit, who let our DD sit in wet and dirty diaper, because looking at it made her feel sick. (that was the last time needless to say) Just because it is a girl, does not mean she will be a good babysitter, just like a boy does not have to be a bad babysitter. (our DS, BTW, always changed the diaper if he needed to, not a fun job, but he knew it had to be done.)

 

[ilovejack02]

I have an older son 17.5 who is really good with kids and a cpl of my friends have asked him to watch their kiddies. Recently he was busy and couldnt watch my DS4 so I asked him if he thought his best friend would watch my little one. He is really good with my Jack when he comes to visit. SO to answer your question, yes I would as a boy.

 

[belle_of_the_ball]

AHHHH BOY BABYSITTERS ARE THROWING ME OUT OF WORK!!
No, but they are good. People are seeing that boys can take care of kids and they do make fine babysitters. Its the same as with girls, it depends on the person. Girls can be bad babysitters too. I was replaced by a boy because I did an art project with the boy who a babysat and there were glitter and jewls on his mask......too girly. Yes, the father felt that his son should not have a girly mask. I was relpaced. Its all good, Ive got other houses.

 

[GEM]

We have two regular babysitters - both boys, one age 14 and one age 19. Paul absolutely ADORES them. They have so much fun together and I have absolutely no concerns at all. They are both students of mine, and I know them and their families very well. I have a lot of specific things I look for in a babysitter, but gender isn't one of them.

 

[Sleeping~Beauty]

I would absolutely hire a boy sitter if he was the one that worked best for my children.
When my brothers and I were little, we had a guy babysitter. He was the best one we ever had. We always had a blast with him.

 

[mickeyboat]

I am sure there are a lot of great boy babysitters out there who are safe, responsible, wonderful with kids, etc. But I will NEVER hire one for my kids - not even my best friend's boys.

When I was about 7 my parents hired the boy across the street to babysit me and my brother. At bedtime, he insisted on tucking me in after I insisted I didn't need him to. He proceeded to start french kissing me. I protested loudly and he left my room - and I am so thankful that it ended there.

I don't think I have any lingering psychological issues because of that event, but it will not allow me to hire a male babysitter for my girls. Don't read this to day that I think all male babysitters will do this just because I experienced a bad apple, but I can't bring myself to do it.

Denae

 

[megan4777]

I used to babysit for a few families when I was a teen. My younger bro (6yrs younger) took over when I went to college and did it all through h.s.

My parents also hired both male and female babysitters when we were young. My mom would joke that you could tell when a male was watching us b/c they'd come home to a huge sink of dishes (even though we ordered pizza), toys everywhere, etc. We would also be exhausted b/c they'd tire us out by wrestling with us for hours.

 

[shirleyb]

Yes, I would. I remember growing up, there were 4 or 5 girls in my neighborhood that babysat, and one boy as well, and he got called for babysitting just about as often as we did.

 

[pixiemomma]

I would hire a boy in a minute. My nephew is a terrific babysitter because he actually interacts with the children instead of just dealing with them when it is nessessary.

 

[AC7179]

I wouldn't, either, for much of the same reasons listed above.

I'm kinda ashamed because it is so non-pc and not fair, as well, but I just coulnd't do it.

My hubby doesn't even want our 13 year old daughter left at home alone when his good friend his staying with us for a few days. Not that he really feels that anything would happen, but I guess you can't be too careful. I know there are TONS of wonderful boy babysitters and young men around, I just have a fear. My problem more than theirs, I guess.

And, just to be fair and further fuel my illogic.......when my stepdaughter's sister was five, she had a 15 year old FEMALE babysitter that told the girls to take off their clothes and put in an interesting film into the VCR. Thankfully my hubby's ex forgot something and came home and found them that way.

 

[AC7179]

Okay, fine.

In the interest of full disclosure I don't leave my kids with babysitters at all. They either go to my parents' house or I stay home.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

My 16yo son babysits quite a bit and my 13yo son has started babysitting some (he's too busy with sports to ever babysit much). My 16yo is a good babysitter...a bit ditzy, but he makes up for that with his ability to really interact with the kids.

My DD used to baby sit (and still does when she's at home from college) and she used to do a good job, but was more controlled and probably interacted less with the kids--less games and fun than her 16yo brother.

 

[ckay87]

I appreciate the honesty of those of you who said no. I actually expected a lot more.

And although it is un-PC, I can kind of understand it, especially if you have daughters.

I kind of feel, like some posters, that boys are generally more fun as babysitters. They're still into physical play as young teenagers (for better or worse) and kids love that.

Now, that's probably an un-PC thing for me to say, but again, I appreciate the honesty. I wouldn't have asked on THIS board if I didn't really want to know!

 

[kpm76]

Yes I would. When my brother and I were teenagers, the people I regularly sat for had friends looking for a sitter so they recommended me. I was not available the first time they asked but said I had a brother who was mature and responsible. My brother sat for them and their son adored my brother. From then on, they would only go out if my brother was available....not even I was good enough and I was the original recommendation...lol.

 

[Mickey Fliers]

We have a boy babysitter now and he is great....granted, I have 3 sons. They think he is fabulous b/c he can open all the secret levels on the video games . If I had daughters, it may be a different story, but I don't, so I don't know.