At What Age in Massachusetts Can You Legally Babysit Siblings?

I mentioned in a previous article that when I was growing up in Northern Berkshire County, my brother would babysit me. You would think that would be a good idea for my parents. It's a great way to save money and good for him to hone his skills when it came to responsibilities. For the most part, it was a pretty decent system but with the two of us being boys that are 8.5 years apart in age, we would get into some pretty decent physical battles as most brothers do. We would be wrestling, putting each other in headlocks (with him always getting the advantage), and knocking over furniture. Sometimes you would think there was a rock band in our house sharpening their hotel trashing skills.

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As I mentioned, these physical altercations didn't happen all the time. It came to a point where even though he was still watching me, I was old enough to the point where I took over his paper route which enabled me to have my own responsibilities while making some money. I have to admit, even though we would get into tussles, I found it to be pretty fun...call me crazy, but it was. As I think about those times, I started wondering the following question...

At What Age in Massachusetts Can You Legally Start Babysitting Siblings? 

According to various web sources, there isn't a set or minimum required age to babysit other children in the Bay State. It's subjective and based on maturity level. (Go here to find out what the legal age is in Massachusetts to leave kids home alone. The answer may surprise you). However, the website Kidsit, which is a website for babysitters, suggests that generally speaking, kids around the age of 11 or 12 can start babysitting siblings for short periods of time. As the babysitter becomes more experienced, the time period can increase but parents shouldn't leave their kids overnight until the babysitter is age 16. You can get more babysitting suggestions by going here.

KEEP READING: From Adventures in babysitting to the best character names of the 1980s. It all equals fun.