Hi, just wanted to know has anyone been asked to babysit the HO children (11 and 14 yrs) on the first night of the sit? The HO’s have a wedding to go to on the first day of the sit and are staying overnight, the children are to be put in a taxi the next morning to meeting the parents and go on holiday. I’m a complete stranger to these people, has anyone else been asked to do this?
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No, I haven’t had such a request. Please tell me you haven’t agreed to this.
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Welcome to the forum @Finchy
Aside from breaking the THS third party policy
https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001881117-Third-party-policy
and the THS policy on not expecting sitters to do extra jobs that should be paid for ( baby sitting )
This is also a safeguarding issue - parents leaving their kids in the care of a “stranger” overnight …. Totally inappropriate …
You could be accused of all sorts later down the line and you could be held responsible for whatever an 11 year old and a 14 year old get up to while their parents are away ….
To quote another forum member “Run for the hills “ ….and also you can report this to THS by e-mail
Support@trustedhousesittes.com
or call the Urgent Support Phone number ( which is a 24/7 phone line )
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#utterlyspeechless errrrr, nope to that
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Nononononooo…. 
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People should really know what THS is when they join, it’s not Trusted Free Labor and they can’t expect sitters to do any sort of work they require. Babysitting would fall into the paid job category. It would be very expensive for them to get an overnight babysitter.
I’m curious if this was in the listing or was brought up in the video chat? Regardless, report it to THS so they can tell the HO this isn’t allowed. I would hate to see a new sitter who doesn’t know better agree to this.
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This is so incredibly problematic.
Please, please report the listing.
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No… Such a shameless request!
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Thanks for your responses. The sit is a week away, I am feeling very uncomfortable about it and will point the HO in the direction of the links provided. The way it was worded was that her two would be in the house the first night, I subsequently found out the sons were children.
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Yes we were once asked if we could collect their grandchild from school and keep her with us until the mother came home from work.
We declined, mainly because we dont like children 
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@Finchy please report back to the forum on how this goes -
In addition to sending links you may need to set clear boundaries . For example , I am not comfortable staying in the home with two children under 18 , therefore I will arrive on xxday morning ( 2nd day ) OR please make arrangements for someone else to take care of your children overnight and for the home to be vacated for the start of the sit on xxday …
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Hi, it was bought up in the video chat along with the pictures in the listing weren’t of the house where the pets currently reside, she sent those via WhatsApp.
I am a new sitter and did feel a bit like the dogs body 
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I actually have grandchildren of this age and it would not bother me. Mine entertain themselves, homework, books, social media etc. They are at an age that they may have been left on their own, if you were not going to be there. I know when I was thirteen a friend and I advertised, as babysitters and we did get a few jobs looking after much younger children in the evenings, whilst parents were out for the evening. At 11 and 14 they are of an age that they do not really need looking after. Highly likely they would just stay in their rooms, entertain themselves and you would not know if they were there. And the majority oif sits I do, I stay with the owners and any children, if they have any, the night prior to them departing. As much older children I would just do it. Toddlers and babies would be a different matter.
Hi @Finchy
This request is not ok, for all the reasons already mentioned here.
Have you managed to reach out to Membership Services for further support? If not, I’d be happy to pass your details over and have someone reach out to you, if you’d like to speak to someone.
I’ll be here until 2025-05-13T15:00:00Z and back at 2025-05-14T07:00:00Z - happy to pick this up on my return if needed.
Jenny
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@visit I’m sure the kids wouldn’t want to hang out with the sitter and would entertain themselves. However, the sitter would still be responsible for them as minor children.
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If it’s in U.K. children under 16 can’t be left alone overnight …
I wonder whether the parents have considered that asking someone random to watch their kids could be dangerous. It also can be risky for the sitter, of course. Who knows whether the kids or sitter are even within the range of normal. The parent(s) don’t seem to be.
I also wonder whether there’s a risk that they’d be reported to child protective services for just randomly farming out their kids.
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Okay, so they didn’t specific ask you to babysit them.
But you have the idea/ feeling that they want you to babysit? Or you feel the responsibility to look after them.
Maybe straighten this up before making an official report to THS.
It can have big impact on their THS account.
If you did agree to come a day earlier to meet the pets whilst you knew the family would be still at home, it is, in my opinion, not a violation of “the third party rule”.
Whereby people still can have another opinions regarding at what age it is responsible to leave (underaged) kids for the night (or during the day), with or without strange (paid or unpaid) babysitters.
But that’s something the parents (and maybe the law of the country) have to decide.
In some countries for kids it is very normal to be very self-sufficient at a young age. Caring for their siblings at a young age. Walking to school alone. Helping in the household…etc. In other countries it is not common.
If you don’t feel comfortable, just don’t take the sit.
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That’s a hard no from me for a million reasons. Think they need a registered child care professional to look after the children.
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