What's the minimum age you would leave your child with a babysitter for more than an hour?

Question

(Minimum age of the child not the sitter.)

Answer 1

There is no minimum age.  The first time I babysat for the little girl I watch was the day she came home from the hospital.  The partents were moving houses and had no choice considering the mom delievered before she was supposed to.  I babysat again two weeks later so the mom could go shopping.

If you leave you child with a trustworthy babysitter there is no minimum age.

If you care going crazy it is better to get out of the house and unwind they becomine frustrated and angry.

Answer 2

it REALLY depends on the sitter.  in my opinion its not a good idea for newborns or small infants.  sitters usually dont know what to do in certain situations. say your baby turns out to have colic or there is something bothering him and the baby sitter cant figure it out...thats what usually leads to shaken baby syndrom, the sitter ALWAYS says 'it wouldnt stop crying'

but if you have someone really reliable and is an adult with pissibly kids of thier own then you probably wouldnt have as much to worry about  

Answer 3

I really think it is more a question of the sitter than the age of the baby. If I truly trusted the person who was watching my child, I would have felt comfortable leaving them when they were even weeks old for a few hours.  

Answer 4

well considering Im also a full time nurse, and we're  a military family with no family any closer than 3000 miles away.....I have to leave my children with a sitter just to work. Luckily with my first 2, we lived on the east coast in the same town as my family, so they were with my mom since birth....and Im now due in November with my 3rd, and really dreading that I'll have to leave my newborn in the care of someone other than my family. BUT on a good note, I love my babysitter, and so do my children, and I know she is VERY good to them, so its very reassuring. Im thinking my baby will be around 4 weeks old when I go back to work...so thats the minimum age.  

Answer 5

It really depends on who the babysitter is, if its an adult whose had kids, you could dump your baby on them as soon as i plops out, but if its just some kid i'd wait until around 2 or 3

Answer 6

My son was born in April and I left him for the first time with a sitter last month. I went food and furniture shopping and it was so much easier without having to drag him along. My husband is military, we don't really have family close by and I need some time to myself every now and then to get things done. My sitter is an 18yr college student and is WONDERFUL with my son. She came to the house 3 times with me there and did fantastic.  

Answer 7

Newborn as long as the babysitter is capable of taking care of the baby. I'm meaning grandparents or aunts and uncles, not so much teenagers. It really all depends on the age and maturity of the babysitter. If it were a 13 year old (or around that age) . . . boy, I don't even know if I would do that! : ) I think I'd leave my children (when I have them) home with a babysitter who is at least 16 (preferably older) when they're at least a few months old, as long as they're not cranky babies. I would need to make sure they would be taken care of.

When I was 13 and my nephew was born I actually babysat him all summer from 4am- 6pm while his parents were at work. He was a very good baby though and my sister knew I was mature enough to take care of him.  

Answer 8

I didn't leave my son with anyone more than an hour (besides my husband) until he was 6 months old.  He went to the church service with me and any dates my husband and I had were short ones, like going out for ice cream.  My husband's parents kept him over night once for us to go on a date to Olive Garden and spend some time together just the two of us when he was 9 months old.  Once he got to be a year old I let him go spend the night a little more often when we were in town for a visit (we lived in Kansas when he was that age).  I had a couple of friends that I trusted to keep him if I needed to go to a doctor's appointment.  Once he reached a year old I was a little more relaxed and he got to go to the church nursery and have more play dates and he does great now.

My three month old has never stayed more than 30 minute away from me and that was to go to the store and she stayed with my husband at home.  I'm a bit protective of her, like I was with my son at that age.  The fact that I breast feed too is part of why I can't spend too long away from her.  She refuses a bottle of pumped milk.  It's normal to want your baby with you all the time.  Enjoy your baby, they grow up so fast! :)  But take a break when you need to.

Answer 9

No less than 6 weeks old.

Answer 10

The minimum age of a child or the baby-sitter?  The youngest baby-sitters we've had have been 12, but I don't think I'd leave a newborn with a 12-year-old for more than an hour.  I have left a newborn with an experienced grandmother (not my mother--just a kind lady I knew from church who was available so the adults in my family could have a get-together completely without kids) for several hours before.  Once the baby is crawling, climbing into things, sitting up well, etc., it should be okay to leave him/her with a baby-sitter for a longer period of time (several hours).