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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Teenagers and Older children
Babysitting with no house phone
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lfab




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 12:41 pm
We don't have a landline. At one point we had a sitter who didn't have a cell phone so we bought a cheap pre-paid. At this point all the sitters we use have their own phones. If a sitter didn't have a phone she could bring along we wouldn't use her (and, yes I always ask a new sitter if she has a phone to bring before hiring her). Completely unsafe IMO for her to be stuck with no phone. What if god forbid there was an emergency and she had no way to call hatzolah or call me?
My kids are still young so they're not at the point of babysitting for others. When they are old enough to babysit/go out places on their own if I don't want them to have their own phone I would buy a cheap pre-paid family phone. Then I would give it to them to use while they were out/babysitting/etc. I don't know if it's still around but there used to be a phone called a kajeet phone (not sure of spelling) where you can only call pre-programmed numbers. So as a parent you could set it up to only be able to call you, hatzolah, etc. Before each job you could have you DD get the parent's cell numbers and program them into the phone then remove after.
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MyUsername




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 4:14 pm
We don't have a landline. When beis yaakov girls come and babysit, they usually borrow a phone from one of their parents - it's just for a few hours and it's never a smart phone or anything.
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Raisin




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 4:20 pm
I would not leave a sitter without a phone. In that case I would provide a cheap prepaid phone. All phones can make emergency calls even if there is no credit but I would want the sitter to be able to call me in an emergency.

Also, remind your sitter to bring a charger, or provide one, if you have no landline.
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Chayalle




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 4:34 pm
MyUsername wrote:
We don't have a landline. When beis yaakov girls come and babysit, they usually borrow a phone from one of their parents - it's just for a few hours and it's never a smart phone or anything.


That is exactly the issue - I don't want her taking my phone for a few hours...and I don't necessarily want her using a smartphone either (mine is not a smartphone)....so, without a landline, we will ask people to find another babysitter.

ETA: What bothers me is that people don't tell us that they don't have a phone...so now we have to ask them and make sure.


Last edited by Chayalle on Wed, Jun 07 2017, 4:35 pm; edited 1 time in total
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watergirl




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 4:34 pm
MyUsername wrote:
We don't have a landline. When beis yaakov girls come and babysit, they usually borrow a phone from one of their parents - it's just for a few hours and it's never a smart phone or anything.

Why inconvience the sitters parents and ask them to give up their phones? They arent benefiting in any way from this. You are benefiting - you are going out. Teen is also, she is getting paid. Its up to you to provide a phone. Why wont you give up yours, but you expect her parent to give up theirs? After all, it's just for a few hours. I am a parent of a young teen who babysits, and I have young children as well. I would not let my dd take my phone to sit for you like that.
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sky




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 4:46 pm
As a parent I would never feel comfortable leaving my kids without a phone in the home.
Lets say I had to reach the babysitter or one of the kids needed me. I can't believe parents don't think of that!
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MyUsername




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 4:49 pm
watergirl wrote:
Why inconvience the sitters parents and ask them to give up their phones? They arent benefiting in any way from this. You are benefiting - you are going out. Teen is also, she is getting paid. Its up to you to provide a phone. Why wont you give up yours, but you expect her parent to give up theirs? After all, it's just for a few hours. I am a parent of a young teen who babysits, and I have young children as well. I would not let my dd take my phone to sit for you like that.


I would gladly leave them my phone, but we have smartphones, and it isn't appropriate for us to leave beis yaakov girls with smartphones. I always check in advance and make sure they and there parents are ok with them bringing a parent's phone. If it's not possible, I would get another babysitter.
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newmother




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 4:55 pm
Many people I know have set up a free google voice number with an Obi200 and a landline phone to deal with this problem.
Its all explained on dansdeals.com here and basically is a one time fee for the obibox and phone and then it's free
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/107541
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 4:57 pm
My sitter is a teen, she doesn't have a phone yet. She takes her mom's or dad's, or we leave one. Of course not an iphone.
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amother
Khaki


 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 5:25 pm
Agreed that a family in your town with only young kids likely has no idea that the teenagers can't have phones. And assumes that they do have them.

I see a definite divide by age/stage pf those with and wothout landlines. I can't comprehend not having a landline. Every time one of your kids wants to make a call, they use your cell? And their friends call it? My 2nd grader has a friend who regularly calls my cell because she uses her mom's phone and that's what's programmed, and it drives me crazy.

We don't give our kids out phones. If the house has no phone, then dd who doesn't have one doesn't go. And I don't know about you guys, but babysitters are hard to come by where I am, and I would not want ti be the parents who actually find someone available and willing and then lose her because there's no phone.
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L K




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 6:41 pm
Funny how recently my dd also babysat in the house with no home phone. I was shocked when she told me later.

I'm in the same town as Chayalle, not giving my daughter my (smart)phone, and if it weren't a smartphone I wouldn't either. It's my phone and ppl call me on it.

I can send her with a gizmo that has my numbers programmed but it's not a solution if she needs to call police ot hatzolah. Or if the gizmo isnt charged enough.

Maybe I should get her a line with a free phone (do they still give them out?) to take along on babysitting jobs, but I'm shocked how ppl leave heir kids and a babysitter in a house with no phone.
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ra_mom




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 6:51 pm
I wouldn't allow it.
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simcha2




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 6:58 pm
It also goes the other way.

Sometimes I want to call the babysitter. Maybe I'm running late, maybe the car broke down, maybe I forgot to tell her where the baby's medicine/diapers/pacifier etc is.

I can't imagine putting a teen in a situation where they can't contact you and you can't contact them. And yes, I think the responsibility is on me to make sure there is a way to do that.
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amother
Scarlet


 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 6:59 pm
The last time someone asked my daughter to babysit (and I knew they only had a cell phone) I made it a point to ask her if she was leaving a phone for the babysitter. After all, doesn't she want to keep her kids safe??? She HAD thought about it and borrowed one for my daughter to use while she was there. I would not allow my children to babysit in a house without a phone.
The first time I heard about someone hiring a babysitter and not leaving them with a phone, I was horrified. I mean, you can be young and dumb, but THINK when it comes to your children's safety.
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cm




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 7:20 pm
I haven't used a babysitter for many years, but back before everyone had cell phones, parents would leave a list of emergency numbers (parents' destination, ambulance, neighbor) for the sitter.

Nowadays I thought all teens would bring their own phones, but if you're in a community with cultural limits on the use of phones by teens and many households no longer have landlines, this is something that should be worked out ahead of time.
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amother
Mint


 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 7:25 pm
No landline here so we leave one of our phone with the babysitter if she doesn't bring one, not a big deal since we don't mind leaving a phone. It is an iPhone but we disable the internet and its password protected so they can't download anything.

A lot of the girls in our neighborhood will have a prepaid "family" phone to use when babysitting. I think the BY allows here but not sure
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amother
Brown


 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 7:58 pm
amother wrote:
Agreed that a family in your town with only young kids likely has no idea that the teenagers can't have phones. And assumes that they do have them.

I see a definite divide by age/stage of those with and wothout landlines. I can't comprehend not having a landline. Every time one of your kids wants to make a call, they use your cell? And their friends call it? My 2nd grader has a friend who regularly calls my cell because she uses her mom's phone and that's what's programmed, and it drives me crazy.

We don't give our kids out phones. If the house has no phone, then dd who doesn't have one doesn't go. And I don't know about you guys, but babysitters are hard to come by where I am, and I would not want ti be the parents who actually find someone available and willing and then lose her because there's no phone.


This!! It's a little OT here, but I really don't understand what people do without landlines if they have girls. My daughters are in elementary school and IMO definitely too young to have their own cell phones, but they speak to their friends on the phone a lot, study together, etc., and I would find it hard if they always had to use my cell for that.

On the topic of babysitters, I would never leave a babysitter in my house without a phone or let my kids go babysit without one. I think it is the responsibility of the parents who hire the babysitter to provide a phone if she doesn't have one. The babysitters I use generally have their own phones, but I have a landline anyway.
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dancingqueen




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 7:59 pm
newmother wrote:
Many people I know have set up a free google voice number with an Obi200 and a landline phone to deal with this problem.
Its all explained on dansdeals.com here and basically is a one time fee for the obibox and phone and then it's free
http://www.dansdeals.com/archives/107541


This. I like having a landline as a backup even though teens in my community do have phones that they obviously bring to babysitting jobs with them.

(So what do teens do while babysitting when the kids are sleeping if they can't call friends or watch tv? Read or study I guess.)
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amother
Teal


 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 8:11 pm
Chayalle wrote:
I'm not sure where to post this so I'm putting it in the teenagers forum, because I'm really coming from the perspective of parenting a teen. However, you can look at this from the perspective of a parent hiring a babysitter.

Do you think it's safe to allow your teen to babysit children, in a house that has no phone?

If not, would you give your teen your cell phone for the evening, so that she can babysit for someone else?

I live in a community where the high schools do not allow their students to have their own cell phone - some not at all, some not until 12th grade. My 16 year old does not have her own phone, and I don't feel comfortable with her being in a house with no phone - what if there's an emergency? I also don't like giving up my phone for the evening. I'm considering telling her she cannot accept babysitting jobs at homes with no phone.

As a parent of young children, would you be okay with leaving your kids with a sitter with no phone? Why would you consider that safe? Whose responsibility would you think it is to provide a phone - yours or the sitters?

I'm interested in hearing your response. TIA!

No I pay for a landline just for this scenario. I once left my sister babysitting not realizing she didn't have a phone. I got. Landline the next day. Unsafe without it. I did Google number for a while but if interest is down it is.
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yksraya




 
 
    
 

Post Wed, Jun 07 2017, 8:28 pm
I would not allow either. they need to provide the phone, not you. In case she does go and you can't back out of it anymore, give her yours.
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