Looking after someone else's kids can be tricky. With your own kids, you make the rules. You decide when is bedtime, how much screen time they get, and what's for dinner. When you're babysitting, parents are usually the ones who give you the guidelines. They might not align with what you have in mind as the babysitter, but you have to abide by them nonetheless.
Sometimes, parents might have some exceptionally odd or unusual instructions. That's evident from these two threads on Quora about the weirdest and most inappropriate requests babysitters got from parents. The people in the answers shared stories that make them scratch their heads to this day. And what about you, babysitting Pandas? Have you ever had a particularly jarring or strange babysitting experience? If so, don't hesitate to share it with us in the comments!
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It was the early 70s and I was in college, babysitting occasionally to make a little spending money. Jobs were posted on a dorm bulletin board. I arrived at an apartment full of stoned people, including the parents, getting pre-high for a Dead concert. The kids were asleep already.
They offered me a hit. At first I was gobsmacked that they wanted me to watch their kids while high. And then I thought, dummy, they probably smoke around them all the time.
Then one of them said, “So . . . you goin’ to the concert?”
“No. I’m babysitting.”
“Oh, right, man.”
Good times.
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I think when little girl came with her iPad… Mom wanted me to teach her how to use it. She was only 1 year old!
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Five unruly kids I had babysat frequently for years came into the drug store where I worked. They pretended the youngest had his hands locked in a toy handcuff, as a diversion while they stole several cartons of cigarettes. Several of us saw them do it, but I was the only person who could recognize and name the kids, and I told on them. Their mother was furious with me.
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I would babysit for a friend of my parents when I was between 12–15 years old. The parents were pretty big partiers, but I actually liked the fact that they stayed out late because I was paid by the hour. They would come home pretty drunk and eventually the father started asking me to drive myself home in his new BMW. He would sit in the passenger seat while I drove and drive himself back to his place after dropping me off. I’m sure he thought this was a safer alternative to him driving me home while completely drunk, but not only was I under age, but not a particularly good driver. Unfortunately, years later his wife did k**l herself in a single car accident involving alcohol. It was very sad that her children lost their mother and I always liked her despite her issues.
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The most inappropriate thing I was asked to do is actually only so, looking back on it as a mother.
When I was 10, I started babysitting my next door neighbors kids, they were 3 and 6 years old. I'd play with them after school for an hour or two while their mom went grocery shopping or whatever. Super easy, she'd give me $20 and a candy bar lol it was awesome. This was in 1987 so it was actually really nice pay!
My neighbor 4 houses down had a baby, and she was friends with my mom. When that baby was a week old, she asked me to babysit for her while she went to some thing. I was 10. This was a newborn. She left for 4 or 5 HOURS. I'm mixing bottles of formula, feeding the baby, holding him, changing his diapers. I had zero experience with a baby. The closest I came was playing with baby dolls. Oh it went fine and I called my mom when I had questions, but seriously who in their right mind would leave a newborn with a 10 year old girl who had no experience at all for 5 hours?? And it became a regular thing. I babysat him weekly for the next 4 years until they moved away.
I consider this wildly inappropriate now as a mother. A newborn? A 10 year old? 5 hours? WTF was she thinking??To not take them out of the house. I was with them for 3 days a week, 9 hours a day for a year. The first 2 months were fine. They let me take them to the park, to the library for story time, up to the shops for an ice cream etc. After a while the kids got attached to me and the mother got jealous and said I was no longer able to take them out of the house.Once, I had a parent bring in her teething infant. Poor thing was suffering with her teeth and drooling all over. She also brought in some whisky. Now, a lot of old-school people used whisky to rub on baby gums to help with the pain. Ok, not something I agreed with, but I had teething medicine. However, the request was not just to rub it on her gums. She was giving her a tablespoon every four hours for pain. I was like “heck no!” Needless to say, they found someone else to watch the baby pretty quickly.The most inappropriate thing I ever did while babysitting was lose a kid.
We had been playing in a bedroom when the two sisters began fighting over a toy. I interceded and the older girl stormed out of the room in a huff. It was awhile before I realized she wasn't coming back. I started wandering the house calling her name. No response. I checked the basement. I checked the yard. Fear rising in my chest, I dragged the little sister and the toddler to a neighbor’s who had playmates. Nope, had not seen her.
Now, I was really panicky, and for an additional reason than most. Years earlier, the family had suffered the death of a 4-year-old who had wandered from home and drowned in a neighbor’s pool.
So what’s a 13-year-old to do? I called my mom.
Minutes later, she walked into the house and said very loudly, “Fiona! Come out! We are going to Dairy Queen!”
We heard a giggle, then an, “OK!”
She had been hiding under a pile of dirty clothes in the laundry room. The little snot.
So, we went and got ice cream. I knew we were rewarding bad behavior, but this babysitter really needed some chocolate.Someone once called me at 11pm on a worknight (I was in my 20s and worked almost full-time, but also babysat sometimes). I was fast asleep, and I was sick with a fever, and she asked me to come babysit. She then got angry at me when I said I couldn’t.
She then called my mom and told her I was being unreasonable.“If they misbehave, there’s a ladle in the left hand drawer.”
Yup, when I was babysitting the two daughters of one of our neighbors, the mom told me to hit them with a ladle if they were bad.
No, I never even considered it. And they were bad. A lot.“Whatever you do don’t let him take an orange into his bedroom.”
The words didn’t mean a lot to me at age 15 babysitting little Timmy (aged 4 I can’t recall his name) but boy did they ever spring back in my memory later.
My best mate babysat this kid in my absence. We had babysat him together but I was away and no one thought to tell her about the orange rule.
I was away at a camp. Jen was babysitting. Little Timmy asked oh so sweetly for a piece of fruit and Jen gave it to him. He took his orange to his room. He tore it up with his bare hands and then sorted it into fleshy pulp, pith and rind.
The fleshy stuff was fed to a GI Joe figurine he called “Chooms” (smooch backwards according to his mum). Juice all over his bedsheets.
The pith was posted into the all in one tv-video recorder unit in his play room (shh it was the 90s, yes I know I’m old) . This was discovered when I tried to put a power rangers video on for him on my next visit.
The rind he had been told was great for starting fires. Jen found him in the bathroom setting fire to toilet paper and orange peel with matches then flushing it at 10 at night. Little scientist. Bless. So glad it wasn’t on my watch. (Sorry Jen)In the 70s, I babysat once for my sister’s neighbor— just for the afternoon. The mom asked me to give the 6 month-old a bottle at 2 pm. Yeah, fill the bottle with Pepsi, she said. There was no milk in the refrigerator. I didn’t see any formula. He appeared to be a healthy well-fed baby. I did what I was told but I felt awful afterwards.
He slept like, well, a baby.One time while babysitting a friend of the couple (male, about 30) told them he would give me a ride home. Instead of taking me home - which was about five blocks away - he drove me to a remote area and started to grope me and try to kiss me. I protested and managed to back him off - even though I was only 12. It scared me. I never told anyone.Once I was babysitting a very small one who had just started walking. The mom was a naturalist and didn’t believe in poison.
She said “There might be a mouse in the kitchen. Don’t feed the mouse. I am sure it is just visiting.”
Hearing a racket in the kitchen, I put small one in a crib with a toy, to investigate. Turns out there were eight mice in the kitchen. They not only planned on visiting, they were having a family reunion. I told mom the mice problem needed professional help. Her landlord took care of evicting the mice.I baby sat rotation at the church nursery.
A mother told me her baby is breast fed and gave me instructions to let junior massage my breast while taking the bottle or he would be inconsolable. That child promptly had his bottle propped up on a blanket in the bed!
Another time a child was being potty trained with skittles candy. The mother brought a quart size bag for an hour sermon. Consequently child went potty without candy end of story. She didn’t understand how I got her to go without it… simple. Don’t mention it… kid may get potty trained but gets rotten teeth in the process. YOU are the parent people. It’s OK to call the shots!Weird requests I got while babysitting 1, 4, and 7 yr olds.
Don't let the baby take her shoes of, even though we weren't at any point going outside.
The 4 yr old could have soda with dinner, but the 7 yr old couldn't because she had school the next day.
Dont let the kids in the pool unless they had socks on. Apparently she was afraid their feet would get dirty.
The baby had to stay up until 11 so she'd sleep till 8 the next day.
Even though they could use regular cups the 4 and 7 yr olds had to use sippy cups. So the baby wouldn't feel singled out.My grandkids go to a private school and I was babysitting them one night (6 of them) and I told the two school age girls to get ready for bed and they came down in their school dresses.
I said, “I said get ready for bed not for school!” They replied, “Mom lets us sleep in our school clothes because it is easier to get off to school in the morning.”
I said fine but held back a small laugh. I had never thought of that but I had never had six kids to get ready for school.The most inappropriate thing that I was asked to do was babysit my newborn twin cousins at the ripe old age of 10. Now, one baby, I think I would have been OK, I had a brother 10 years younger than me, so a slight acquaintance with the needs of a baby. Very slight, I'm 10 after all. So there was a family wedding, college friends from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh of my aunt and uncle, who could not find a babysitter. My mom “volunteered" my services so that they could attendnd the Mass and skip the reception, they had newborns after all. So I'm driven to my aunt and uncles's house, no idea where I am by the way. They told me the babies were sleeping and shouldn't wake up, but gave me instructions if they did. That was the longest day of my life, praying that they did not wake up, and watching out the front window for their return. I think the babies were just beginning to stir when their car pulled up, I almost collapsed with relief.I was eleven. A young couple down the road from our farm had a baby boy. They hired me for $1/hour. His parents told me to add scotch to his baby bottle to help him take a nap. They didn't tell me how much though and I knew nothing about booze. I poured about half an inch, added milk and about an hour later the kid projectile vomited all over his nursery and was zonked for the entire four hours! My mom asked how it had gone. I told her about the scotch in the bottle and she went ballistic. She called them up and schooled them. The boy grew up to become an alcoholic and I always thought it was my fault.I was asked to wash the feet of the kid from his mom. She was having trouble with his hygiene. I was really hesitant to do so because of the age. I had washed my friend’s feet for him when he was injured, but a 12 year old? I told her I would try as she left the house.
AJ was a soccer fanatic and always like to stay in his soccer uniform. I was able to get him to get his cleats off when he came inside and even his socks though the foot odor was almost unbearable. AJ said he hated taking showers or baths, but I replied that he needed to wash his smelly feet. After a few minutes, he complied and I drew him a hot bath and he stepped into the tub. I showed him the important parts to wash especially between his toes. I washed the soles of his bare feet and noticed they were noticeably smooth and well groomed for a boy his age.
AJ said his mom gives him a pedicure almost every other week. I stated that clean feet are important just as deodorant. He laughed as I scrubbed between his toes and tickled them. He thanked me for washing his feet.
Future visits were easy and the house didn’t smell of foot odor like it did before.I was working as a relief Nanny. Turned up to this family who had 1 child approx 12mths old.
They had a book on the bench a i had to write everything down. They wanted me to measure how much water was given how much was left which equaled how much was drunk. Each time he had a drink. I had to count how many steps he took and how many he crawled. I had to measure how much food was offered and type. I had to measure what was left and what was thrown on the floor. Nappy changes, dirty nappies were to be kept for inspection. Times he played with specific toys. He was not allowed to crawl on the carpet as itcouldnt be sterilized. His hands were to be washed beforehe put them near his mouth if he was crawling. I was to only play educational activities wit him, consisting of reading books, flash cards, and a few other specific activities.
After the first half hour of writing in the dam book it accidentally fellinto a sink full of water. I wouldnt of had time to interact with him if i did everything she wanted.In the late 60s, when I was 12 and beyond, I sat for someone down the street who was referred to as the ‘divorcee.’ That was uncommon in our town in the midwest and in most places in America for that matter. She told me each time that if her ex-husband showed up to the house that I was never ever supposed to let him in no matter how much he pounded on the door. “What?…”
Back then, I babysat most every night for all kinds of families. Some better off than others. I loved kids but I loved reading their magazines and eating from their fridge more. I became addicted to two things from that time of my life, ‘before’ and ‘after’ remodeling in mags like “Better Homes and Gardens” and “Chips Ahoy” cookies.
I always wanted to refuse when the ‘divorcee’ called but I felt sorry for her kids. Also, I worked it out in my naive brain that it was somewhat of a public service. Something akin to satisfying an imagined girl scout badge requirement.
But the thing is that she had magazines too! They were absolutely lurid to my young Catholic self, ‘True Detective” was probably the tamest.
BTW, 50 cents an hour was the going rate back then but I charged 60 cents in order to calculate by the minute…and I walked home.I was babysitting a 6 yr old girl and was asked to keep her all week.
The mother then took a vacation without asking what I thought. She just assumed I would do it. The following week she came back to find I had not only adequately taken care of the girl but had bought her new clothes since the mother had not given me anything for her before she split.
I still scratch my head over that.The weirdest request I've ever had from a parent, was too make sure to not let their 5 year old son get ahold of any butter knives or flathead screwdrivers during December, and his birthday month. Why? Because the little rascal figured out how to unlock the door to the basement storage room (using butter knives, or a flathead screwdriver), and he'd also figured out that the storage room under the stairs, was where Mom would hide birthday and Christmas presents.This happened with my first wife.
I came home from work one Friday to find my wife babysitting a neighbor’s child. Probably 18 months? I was a bit surprised that someone would want to leave their child with a couple when they’ve never met the husband (me).
I was told they were out for the evening and would be coming back late, probably picking him up Saturday morning.
By Monday, I wasn’t sure if I should call CPS or just start raising him. My now ex-wife was adamant that she was not raising someone else’s child, and was ready to drop him off at CPS. From the moment I got home Friday, I took care of him, played with him, fed him, changed him.
I’d heard him crying every day from their apartment, he’d be left to cry himself to sleep at night. When I put him to bed the first night, he started crying as soon as the light was off. We’d put his playpen next to our bed for him to sleep in, so I laid down on the bed and put my hand on his back and talked to him quietly. After a few minutes, he fell fast asleep and I left the room.
Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night, all I had to do was lay him down, put my hand on his back, say “See you in the morning”, and walk out of the room. I did not have to stay in the room, he’d fall asleep with no crying or fuss. He just wanted to know that he wasn’t being abandoned.
They came back Tuesday. We’d been knocking on their door and calling every day. They acted as if nothing were wrong, and only paid my wife for one day.
After they finally showed up and got him, I could hear him crying in their apartment again. It seemed to anger his mother when I told her how I got him to sleep quietly every night.
Shortly after, they moved.The kid would only take his tylenol up the butt. Thankfully the fever stayed under 100.4 so I never had to actually do the medicine insertion.
I had been babysitting the child for several years on a weekly basis, and have had the healthcare training for things like that, but it was still an uncomfortable request!When I was thirteen I was asked to babysit for some friends of the family. The mother had a girl who was about nine, and the two parents together had a new baby. When I had arrived and the parents were gathering up their things to go out, the father lit a joint (marijuana cigarette) and asked me if I’d like a hit. I said no thanks, but inside I was thinking “What kind of father asks a thirteen-year-old if she wants to smoke pot right before leaving her with his newborn baby?!”
I only babysit for them a couple of times, then I heard they’d started hiring the son of some other friends of ours. I knew that guy, who was about 15, would be happy to share some pot with the dad. As far as I know, the parents got divorced a few years after that, but the kids grew up just fine.When I was in 9th grade I babysat for a Jewish family but I was completely ignorant of Jewish customs at that time in my life. So without giving me any explanation, they simply told me “you’ll need to set the table with an extra plate”. I was like, is there another child idk about in the basement? Did somebody die recently and the kids are in mourning? Are we expecting company? After 3 consecutive days of this strange request I finally asked a kid who the extra placesetting was for, and that’s when they told me it was for “Messiah”. I said who’s Messiah? (Thinking it was a real family member, not THE MESSIAH, and I probably looked really stupid) Lol. They never asked me to babysit again after that.I was about 14 and one summer, I babysat during the day for a family across the street. They had 3 children. 2 were in elementary school and one was a baby.
I was sitting in a recliner watching TV, with the baby asleep in my lap, when the father came home. It was 2 or 3 minutes before the hour and my show was about to end… next thing I knew, the father had his hand in my shirt around my breast.
I don’t remember what I did- I must have looked shocked or said something because he said he thought I wanted it.
I avoided him and left promptly the next 2 days and then they fired me.
I never told anyone until after I moved away.I used to babysit my cousins and their mom was a mean one (my aunt by marriage, I just need to reiterate that we are not related). She held one of her kids down when she got back and made me spank them (he was acting up, but this was just bad). And she said and not wimpy either, HIT his butt! It was bad. I spanked him, but she didn't like how I spanked him and she whacked him HARD on the butt and he ran off crying. That whole family is messed up now.Babysitting turned into living with me.
It was not a verbal request but she left them with me and i never got paid in full at the end. One kid was on meds i even got them refilled, took kids to doctor,doctor for check ups, to school, fed them etc ..basically i was broke because i have kids of my own.When I was 13, I used to babysit a neighbor's 3-year old boy who lived two doors down from us. I was sitting in a rocking chair watching him play on the floor at my feet and he looked up and asked innocently "Can I play with your toes?" I was repulsed and immediately replied with a resounding "Ewww...No"! He absolutely couldn't understand why I wouldn't let him because, he said, "Momma let's me play with her toes".When I was 13, I babysat a one-year old boy. His parents were very nice, not like the others I’ve read about on this thread. Just sweet people.
One night, while the kid’s parents were out, I read a book to the little boy and then put him on his changing table for a diaper change before bed. As I was changing the diaper, he rolled right off the changing table and fell about 3 feet to the floor, banging his head pretty hard. He screamed and cried, but I finally got him to relax and go to bed. He seemed to be OK. There was no bleeding or anything. But it was a pretty bad fall. I never told the parents. Maybe he had a bruise the next day, but I never heard about it. I can’t remember if they ever asked me to sit him again, but I definitely sat him more than once. Not sure if that was the last time.
I’ve always worried that I may have caused some damage. Once, decades later, I looked the kid up on Facebook, and it looks like he’s kind of a loser, though both of his parents were smart people. I wonder if that had anything to do with the fall he suffered when I was supposed to be taking care of him. Probably not, but what if?I remember I was babysitting for a lady who contacted me on Care.com, and she had asked me to give a bath to her youngest child after feeding them dinner. I'd never been asked that before, so I was completely taken aback by her asking me that. She even showed me where the soap and towels where.
I ended up not having to do it, because she got home early, but I definitely won't put myself in that situation again. I feel like it's very inappropriate to ask that of a babysitter who's babysitting your child for the first time.
To clarify I had babysitted before, but it was my first time babysitting for her.I was babysitting for my mom’s friend. I’ve babysat this girl since she was 6 months (Shes two now). The mom told me they were starting to potty train her and to ask the girl if she had to potty frequently. The little girl (I’ll call her Amy) asked if she could go potty. The mom said, “Lets show Cori how well you go potty!” I rolled with it but felt very awkward. The mom showed me a stack of books she had for Amy when she was on the potty and then asked me to read them to her when she was on the potty. Amy asked to watch TV and her mom said, “Not today, but Cori will give you a bath.” She looked at me and told me how Amy had gotten a hold of markers and was a mess, so would I please clean her up and put nice clothes on her?
I agreed to do all of this because the mom was paying me REALLY well. I come from a VERY modest family. I wasn’t comfortable seeing other kids naked and felt really awkward.
TL;DR- The weirdest request I ever received was a parent asking me to read to their child on the toilet.
