Babysitting

Participants must be 11 years of age or older (or must have completed Grade 5). The course is designed for children aged 11-15 years.

Red Cross guidelines require that children are 11 years or older or that they have completed Grade 5. If your child is not yet 11 or has not yet completed Grade 5, please check our course schedule for future course dates.

There is no age specified by law for babysitting. It is a matter of the parent determining if a child is responsible enough to provide a safe environment for the younger children in their care. Canadian social services organizations advise that children under 12 years should not be left at home alone.

Your child will gain useful skills and knowledge on the Babysitting course. After the class they will be more prepared and confident to babysit. The Babysitting course is a participation class. There is no testing of skills and therefore no “qualification” Whether or not the child is ready to take on the responsibility of babysitting is left to the discretion of the child’s parent or guardian.

The instructor to participant ratio is 1:30 (one instructor per 30 participants).

Special arrangements can be made for groups of 30+ children

Certified Red Cross Youth Leader

No. This course is designed for 11-15 year olds. If you are a child care worker or adult babysitter we recommend you take the Red Cross Emergency Child Care First Aid & CPR course.

In British Columbia, there is no legislated minimum age for leaving a child alone for a short period. However, according to a B.C. Supreme Court decision, children under the age of 10 should not be left unsupervised at home.

This is a complicated issue and the guidelines are unclear. Please refer to this article from the Canadian Child Welfare Research Portal: Legal Age for Leaving Children
Unsupervised Across Canada

On a Red Cross Babysitting course children learn:

• How to look after babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and school-age children.
• Care for himself/herself and siblings when home alone.
• Create a safe environment, and deal with phone calls and unexpected visitors.
• React confidently in case of an emergency, such as choking, bleeding, poisoning or burns.
• Cope with common problems, such as tantrums and crying.
• Play games and organize activities to keep kids of all ages entertained.
• Manage a babysitting business. This includes creating a resume and a business card and asking the right questions before accepting a babysitting job.

First Aid Content includes:

• Check, Call, Care (includes phoning EMS/911)
• Glove removal
• Recovery position
• Conscious choking (adult/child/baby/alone)
• CPR (baby/child)
• Illness
• Asthma (includes use of inhaler and spacer)
• Anaphylaxis (includes use of EpiPen)
• Poisoning
• Insect stings
• Wound care (i.e. minor cuts and scrapes, splinters, nosebleeds, bumps and bruises
• Life-threatening bleeding, burns)
• Head, neck and back injuries
• Broken bones
• Seizures

Children need to bring their lunch, a morning and afternoon snack and a bottle of drinking water. The classroom is air-conditioned so we suggest they  bring an an extra layer of clothing.

When you register your child for the class, you will receive an email confirmation with course details including what to bring to the class.