(Hypothetical) babysitting accident

[liliana]

Hi,

I hope I am posting in the right category - if not, I apologize, that was my best assumption. I tried posting again earlier, but I don't think it went through.

It appears that my 17 year old daughter has been asked several times by her father to babysit her 7-month old stepsister.
I am VERY worried that if something should happen to the infant my daughter (as responsible as she is) could face an array of consequences, from emotional to legal.
From a legal standpoint, what could happen to her if, god forbid, some freak accident should happen to the baby?

Thank you greatly,
Liliana

 

[army judge]

Older siblings watch or babysit younger siblings everyday.

If the 17 year old was acting in good faith nothing could befall her from those actions.

 

[liliana]

Thank you, I appreciate your reply.
I sort of made the same assumption - my worries were about the baby being so young and she, so inexperienced - what if "good faith" means one thing to her and another to the law. (i.e. She may watch TV in the living room of the small apartment while the baby sleeps in the room next door, only to find the baby blue in the face when she checks on her... While she may think there's nothing wrong with that (first part), wouldn't that be considered "negligence" in the eyes of the law? I hear of so many heart-breaking stories of babysitting gone wrong, I cringe at the thought!
Her father would never buy a monitor. Oh, and my daughter - and my son - live with me, but because they see their dad so rarely (father's poor choice) I try not to deny their requests to go over, which lately have been happening a lot more, and now I just found out why... Despite their dad's complete lack of concern for them over the years, my daughter is only trying to be nice and I don't want her to be (not only used) but also, hurt.)

Thank you again,

Liliana

 

[army judge]

Thank you, I appreciate your reply.
I sort of made the same assumption - my worries were about the baby being so young and she, so inexperienced - what if "good faith" means one thing to her and another to the law. (i.e. She may watch TV in the living room of the small apartment while the baby sleeps in the room next door, only to find the baby blue in the face when she checks on her... While she may think there's nothing wrong with that (first part), wouldn't that be considered "negligence" in the eyes of the law? I hear of so many heart-breaking stories of babysitting gone wrong, I cringe at the thought!
Her father would never buy a monitor. Oh, and my daughter - and my son - live with me, but because they see their dad so rarely (father's poor choice) I try not to deny their requests to go over, which lately have been happening a lot more, and now I just found out why... Despite their dad's complete lack of concern for them over the years, my daughter is only trying to be nice and I don't want her to be (not only used) but also, hurt.)

Thank you again,

Liliana

Your daughter owes an ordinary duty of care.
She is still not an adult.
If she is doing dad a favor and babysitting her sibling, and the child suffers a horrible medical incident, fear not mom.

Your daughter is not culpable or negligent.
If your horrific scenario were to happen, all she would have to do is call "911".
That is all that would be required of her.

She would only suffer jeopardy if she did something to harm the baby.
You know she would never do anything like that.
Allow her to be a big sister.
With the wisdom of your parenthood, help her.
tell her what to do in case these rare events occur.