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The Babysitter Next Door
Choosing a Responsible Tween or Teen Sitter for Your Baby or Toddler
By Kelly Burgess
Amy Masson, of Lafayette, Ind., says her babysitter is more fun than she is – once the sitter even made her son a crazy, beautiful heart-themed costume from paper bags. What a lucky mom to find someone who loves her children enough to engage them through creative play!
This is what all parents hope for when they make their first forays into the unknown world of leaving their baby or toddler with a babysitter. In Masson's case, she lives near Purdue University and has access to a pool of college-aged babysitters. For everyone else there are steps and precautions every parent can take to ensure the best care for their precious children in those times when they just need a few hours away.
How can a parent find the right sitter? Three words: Word of mouth. Yvonne Currin, who teachers the Babysitter's Training Course for the Southwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Red Cross, says that's the best way to find a good sitter. If you know teens in your neighborhood, that's a good source as well, especially if you've lived there a while and have known them and their families for several years. Other possibilities are church and Girl Scout chapters.
It may sound like an 11-year-old is little more than a baby herself, but that's the minimum age to sign up for the Babysitter's Training Course sponsored by the American Red Cross. But just because they've taken the class, Currin says, doesn't necessarily mean they're ready to jump into solo babysitting.
"With 11- to 12-year-olds it may be best to team up and babysit with a buddy, or to train with the mom," Currin says. "This is a great age to start off as a mother's helper, not doing housework, but learning about the child and how to play with and feed the child. Also, just learning the family dynamic can give her good skills for when she is ready to babysit solo."