Would You Hire a Teenage Boy to Babysit Your Kids?

Mum asks if it is wise to hire a teenage boy to babysit her young girls.

Mum shares, “We are thinking of getting a babysitter for our kids (girls aged 5 & 7) for this Saturday night. We don’t often get a babysitter so not that experienced with picking one.

“When I put a post up on one of the babysitting groups, I got a reply from a teenage boy who lives close by and was keen to babysit.

“He got quite a few recommendations but I just feel a bit weird and uncomfortable having a young boy look after my little girls.

“Am I being completely old-fashioned and silly? Would you use a male babysitter for your kids?”

Mums share their concerns

One mum said it was just totally sexist to feel that way, “Of course I would. Sexist much? Girls hurt children too. Its not a male specialty you know. I honest to god cant even believe i read that question in this day and age.”

“Of course I would! But I wouldn’t trust anyone with my kids without meeting them, and having them meet my kids first.”

“Way to be sexist.”

“This kind of thinking really boils my p!ss. We all fight for equality within our world and this type of thinking drags us back down.”

“You know what? I find males better than females to look after my kids! They are just more fun and down to earth. I wouldn’t be worried. Meet him first and call some references. You might find he is a great fit to your family”

“This makes me annoyed. Why wld a teenage boy be any different to a teenage girl? Boys are sweet, sensitive, caring and my 14yr old is a great babysitter. Poor kid…”

“This saddens me as a mother with only sons. I hate that because some men do the wrong thing that we as a society now judge most men with the same questions. At the end of the day gender does not define if someone is a good, responsible human or not. That comes down to them as an individual, who they associate with and how they behave. I had a horrible female babysitter when I was a kid. She was nasty as. But the male who babysat was always great fun and would take me to play sports”

Meanwhile some mums also shared similar concerns to the OP.

“I don’t think it’s old fashioned. I think as a mother of both boys and girls we tend to worry about our girls a little more. I personally would worry about my girls with a male baby sitter and especially a teenage one as I know how teenage boys can be when their hormones kick in. I am not saying anything would ever happen just that I would not feel comfortable and could not enjoy my time out if I were worried. In saying that I wouldn’t allow anyone I don’t know personally to baby sit my kids period!”

Another said, “Its not sexist dude. I have three girls. Only guys I’d let watch my girls are my brothers. You have to be careful about men being around girls. I mean yes. Women hurt kids too but its much less likely. I’d have to meet the kid. Have parent meetings to make sure he is ok and watch him with my kids as a trial run to make sure he ok.”

“I wouldn’t even consider having a teenage boy watch my children let alone little girls. No way.”

” ah hell no sorry i would not be letting no teenager boy or girl look after my kids. Choose very wisely & follow your gut instincts, it’s a crazy world out there & you need to be very careful when it comes to leaving your kids with strangers!!!”

Is It Odd?

A discussion on reddit recently attracted some attention after reddit user Yuioir asked, “Is it odd to have a teenage guy babysitting my kids?”

“My friend told me that she’d never hire a male, especially a teen, to babysit, because it’s too risky and dangerous,” she wrote. “Several of my other friends agreed with her, saying that they only hired women to babysit their children. Is that the general consensus on male babysitters? Why does it seem that being teen boy automatically makes you dangerous to kids? Shouldn’t we judge people based on their characters, not their age or gender?”

Is it odd to have a teenage guy babysitting my kids? from r/Parenting

We Love our ‘Manny’

When single mum of two Kat Abianac shared her excitement at hiring a “Manny” for her son, some of her friends were actually pretty bit quick to judge her motives. He was perfect for her young son and introduced him to so many great new opportunities.

Share your thoughts below.

49 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 23 Feb 2023
    11:44 am
Everyone is different but I never left my kids with people I didnt know.
I actually was not happy to ever leave my kids with a babysitter and can count on one hand the number of times I did with all 3 of my children. I dont judge others for using babysitters….thats fine but for me I personally felt that they were my children and I had them knowing that it was a massive commitment and i took that very seriously.

- - rachel1970 said
  - 23 Sep 2019
    6:45 pm
To be honest I wouldn’t be comfortable with it, but I’m also not comfortable with anyone babysitting my kids. The only person who has looked after my kids is my mother in law.

- - tessie said
  - 20 Sep 2019
    9:59 am
I think it’s more because it’s not very common to hear of teenage boys who will babysit. Get to know him first, his parents and any references. Do your homework first. Won’t matter if you get a teenage boy or girl, you are a parent and you are leaving your children with another child. Just do what you feel is right.

- - Ellen said
  - 20 Sep 2019
    7:40 am
I’ve never hired a babysitter and it has nothing to do with gender. My kids are now 15, 14, 9 and 5 yrs old. The youngest two have special needs and would not quickly leave them in somebody else care. However my 15yr is getting at the age that I can leave them briefly with her every now and then.
However I can imagine that if you want to hire a baby sitter that it is someone you truely know and trust.

- - Kimeeja said
  - 18 Sep 2019
    11:29 am
I have and will continue to use a male to babysit my children. Talk about discrimination……if this was about a girl/woman there would be outrage. I think with all babysitters you have to know them, have good references or have checks done to ensure you’re happy with who you use.

- - mom376182 said
  - 18 Sep 2019
    10:48 am
1 in 9 girls are sexually assaulted before the age of 18. I would never risk it. As a psychologist, I’ve had way too many clients come into my office and tell me that they were sexually assaulted by a male entrusted to take care of them.

- - rovermum said
  - 18 Sep 2019
    9:15 am
I never hired a babysitter so I’m not an authority on this at all. I don’t know that I wouldt have, only because I did not know of any suitable boys that would be up for it. I can see how it might work if it’s a teenager you know and trust, but I’m on the fence.

- - Krystal said
  - 17 Sep 2019
    7:29 pm
I think that it will be fine if they know him, or meet him first.

- - shanika said
  - 17 Sep 2019
    2:13 pm
I don’t think i will.

- - MisChip said
  - 17 Sep 2019
    12:45 pm
I don’t think it’s worth the risk.

- - Chantelle said
  - 17 Sep 2019
    9:39 am
I can understand and sympathize with her concerns but I agree with most opinions. Abuse can happen from males and females! Would definitley be doing thorough reaserch
- cherz replied
  
  17 Sep 2019 , 1:08 pm
  Great response Chantelle and I agree research is a must.
- - mom290396 said
  - 16 Sep 2019
    9:37 pm
Your a parent, your first responsibility is to your children. Since we are pregnant we are told we need to trust our gut. If something doesn’t feel right trust in yourself. How quickly that gets forgotten! If you don’t hire this boy, it’s ok. Others are happy enough to hire him. I don’t think anything is right or wrong. To answer your question as to whether or not I would hire a boy to babysit both of my children, it’s really hard to say as we really only trust one person other than us with our kids.

- - mom152736 said
  - 16 Sep 2019
    8:38 pm
I would have to meet them a few times and know them perfectly well .. be it a boy or girl.. either side.

- - ella12 said
  - 30 Apr 2019
    10:54 pm
I’d have to get to know them pretty well. It wouldn’t matter if they were male or female, the issue would be if they were responsible.
- cherz replied
  
  16 Sep 2019 , 8:55 pm
  Great response ella12. Yes I would have to know them and know they where responsible.
- - AmbieBambi said
  - 01 Apr 2019
    9:53 am
I agree with not letting any teenage boy OR girl watch my kids. I’ve heard bad stories of both boys and girls. I’d have to really know and trust someone if I were to let’s them mind my kids!

There can definitely be some lovely boys out there who would be just great baby sitters.

- - mom101628 said
  - 31 Mar 2019
    10:53 pm
I would only ever have someone babysit my children that I knew well and probably knew their family too. In that case it didn’t matter if it was male or female

- - LuckyMum said
  - 12 Mar 2019
    5:28 pm
I wouldn’t have a problem if I knew the boy or had friends that know him well.

- - Kimeeja said
  - 12 Mar 2019
    1:25 pm
If I knew them and/or they were highly recommended I definitely would. If this topic was about not trusting a girl comments would be very different. Girls can be bad too

- - Amanda Holland said
  - 11 Mar 2019
    9:32 am
If I met them first and get recommendations I probably would. My 17 year old son I would allow to babysit. He’s great with kids and lets them know the boundaries if they’ve gone too far (but in a nice way of letting them know) but he is a teenager so I reckon he would think it wasn’t cool to baby sit lol

- - mom74005 said
  - 10 Mar 2019
    3:46 pm
Young guys can be so good with kids, and it may just give them a lesson in bagging it.