Things to Consider Before Hiring a Teenage Nanny to Watch Your Toddler

Babysitting or nanny services are typically provided by teenagers looking to earn extra spending money. It is common practice for most parents to hire the services of a high school or college student to watch over younger children. School-age kids may be easier for a teenager to manage but there is a lot of debate on whether or not it is proper to get a teenage nanny to look after a toddler.

The upside and the downside of a teenage nanny

On one hand, a teenage babysitter is great because she can keep up with the energy of an overactive child. Teenage nannies are energetic and fun because of their youth. They also charge cheaper compared with older nannies.

On the other hand, teenagers may not have sufficient experience in handling toddlers. Two- to three-year old kids have different needs and handling them is quite different. An inexperienced teenager may not be able to attend to the needs of a toddler. But this doesn’t mean that teenagers, in general, do not make for suitable nannies for younger children. If you’re looking to hire a teenage nanny to watch your toddler, here are some things you might want to consider.

Extensive experience

It would help if you hire a teenage nanny with sufficient experience. Teenagers who have younger siblings are more likely to come with decent childcare skills. Ask your candidate if she has younger siblings or relatives that she babysits. It’s also important to consider hiring somebody who has completed babysitter training or somebody who knows first aid and CPR. Red Cross babysitting courses are regularly offered to teenagers so it would also be a good idea to consider candidates with such certifications.

If the teenager has already babysat for other families, you may want to ask for references and contact the other parents. This is a good way to determine just how capable the candidate is.

Your children

If you have another child aside from your toddler, hiring a teenage nanny may not be a good idea. School-aged kids are already a handful and combining one with a toddler may be more than what the teenager can handle. However, if you only have a toddler who needs to be looked after, an experienced and trained teenage nanny should suffice provided that she is mature enough to care for the child.

Location

Some parents do not mind having a teenage nanny watch over their toddlers particularly if she lives nearby. If your potential babysitter just lives a few blocks away and she can easily call someone like her mother or another adult for help in case of emergencies, she would still be a suitable candidate for the job.

Interviewing the candidate

The interview is crucial to your decision to hire a teenage nanny for your toddler. This is where you will be able to determine if the applicant is mature enough to handle a child as young as yours. How she answers your questions would be indicative of her competence.
By Doreen Lee