How old do you have to be?

Question

I live in PA. I want to babysit but I don't know if there is an age limit or not. Also, I am 11.

Answer 1

With babysitting, there isn't a definite rule about how old you have to be. It is more of a common sense guideline and maturity level.

When I was 11, a neighbor would hire two of us to watch her kids for a couple of hours after school. It was a good way to build babysitting skills.

The Red Cross offered a babysitting class which covered a lot of the basics: simple first aid, emergency situations, even how to pin a cloth diaper correctly. You might look into something like this so that your clients will know that you have some training with these things.

Parents will feel better about hiring you if they know that you know what to do if something goes wrong.

Answer 2

Well I don't think that you are old enough to babysit at 11 even though you are getting just a little to old for a babysitter...be patient years go by so fast and pretty soon you'll be13-14 old enough to babysit for a couple of hours. I think in most places it is illegal to allow someone under the age of 12 without a guardian at home...I am almost positive that 11 your parents aren't allowed to leave you alone at home and especially not alone with other children younger than you.

Answer 3

"While there is no minimum age requirement to baby sit and no standard for certification under the Pennsylvania babysitting laws, many teens chose to take a babysitting class. Excellent classes are offered by both the American Red Cross and the Girl Scouts of America.

No state laws require babysitters to be certified or trained to prevent SBS, including the Pennsylvania babysitting laws. Unfortunately, according to experts there have been instances where teenage babysitters are accused of shaking children. Few babysitter classes educate students about shaking injuries or train students to cope with persistent crying."

So you can see that there is no age requirement. You could take classes so that the parents feel safer and trust your judgemant/you more (because of your age), but it's up to you. Charge fair and know what your doing and you'll have plenty of people wanting you to watch their kids.

Answer 4

Currently only Illinois and Maryland have laws about when a child is old enough to care for him/her self.

The consensus seems to be that you should be at least 11-13 to babysit and at least 14-16 to babysit overnight.

Your local Red Cross may even offer a babysitting class that teaches you what to do if a baby is choking.
http://www.redcross.org/services/hss/courses/babyindex.html

Answer 5

No there's no age limit...some local organizations like the red cross offer babysitting safety classes

Answer 6

I don't think that there is an age limit, I've been babysitting since about that age .

Answer 7

There is no age limit as long as you can find someone that trusts you to babysit for them.

Answer 8

That depends on the age limit for children being left alone on their own in your state.

In Canada you cannot be left at home alone until you are 12. I would think that same goes for the states. In fact in most states you cannot start working until high school.

Answer 9

i dont think there's a minimm age requirement... it's just a question of finding people who will trust you enough to leave their babies with you, and you being able to live up to that trust. good luck!

Answer 10

Don't you need to cope with your studies too? As long as there's a family that trust you, you can be a baby-sitter.