do your brothers and sisters help out with children?

stelly

Me and my sis do.


I had my niece and nephew pretty much every day after school for 4 years while my sis went to College and Uni. I had to be there for my DS so in my mind she wasn't taking the pee (I think she felt she was though) and my nephew has Aspergers so she's finds it hard to get someone to watch him. I'm also pretty much the only person she can ask for babysitting so i don't grudge it as she wouldn't have any social life if i said no. I'm lucky as OH's mum lives nearby and will take DS if needed.

I now have to find a 2nd part time job so the roles will be reversed and she's going to take DS after school for me.

I love it. Were best friends and it's great to have someone you can always rely on.


But OH's sis has never looked after our DS and i would never ask her.

barbiedoll

My sister has never looked after my son apart from once in 2004 when me and OH had ticket for the FA cup final in Cardiff and I told her that if she didn't come round and look after him, she would find him on the doorstep as we were going anyway.

She is always making noises about having him over to stay but when he calls and asks her, she is always "busy" (in the pub mostly :rotfl:) so he has given up. They do love each other and she always sees him on birthdays and christmas but she's just not into kids at the moment. Mind you, if she ever has a baby, I just know that she will be on my case from day one, asking for babysitting favours. My OH says that there's no way we will do it, but I know we will, we all love babies in my house!

My brother hardly ever sees him, his girlfriend gave up custody of her son to his dad and my brother doesn't really like kids so they're hardly a child-friendly couple anyway. Plus they have a mad staffordshire bull terrier who was a rescue dog. I think they got him to keep the kids away!

Loz01

I always do but thats coz I still live at home so when niece and nephew come to see Nanny, Im here! I suspect thats the same for most people with older siblings who have kids, you end up being with em by default

kendalls_cave

Yeah my nephews (then aged 5 and 3) lived with me for a year when my sister decided she couldn't cope with them and their dad didn't wanna know. After a year Dad decided he did want them

Cam1970_2

I'm a single mum and cope on my own pretty much. 2 of my 3 sisters will call round once a week so I can pop out for an hour and get some "me time", but it's not written in stone.

It's up to them what help they give me. I don't ask, I take what is offered and I hope they don't feel obliged.

balletshoes

red_devil wrote: »

Following on from should grandparents help out? What about siblings do they help with your children?

yes they would and they do, at a minutes notice - I do the same for my nieces and nephews. We look after each other's kids in school holidays and if one of us is in hospital etc, and I'm taking my niece with us on our next holiday. Having said that, my mum would do the same for any of her grandchildren. No, none of my family should feel they have to look after my child, but I'm glad they want to. I don't have to look after my nieces and nephews, I offer because I enjoy it (mostly lol) and it helps us all out.

euronorris

I used to babysit/take out/have for sleepovers my neice's and nephews on a pretty regular basis when I was in the UK. Not because I had to, not because anyone expected me to, but because I wanted to. I loved it and I miss it so much now.

I have been known to also give babysitting vouchers as Birthday and Christmas presents when I have been completely skint. I'd do it for free anyway, but it's more so that they feel they can ask me every now and then.

I remember agreeing to babysit my sister's two girls on the weekend I met my OH. He, some friends and I had arranged a day out at Hampton Court Palace as he was visiting from Belgium for the weekend. The childminder was sick that day but she and her hubby were both due to work, so she called and asked if there was anyway I could babysit for the day. After checking with my friends, and my now OH if it would be OK to bring the girls with us the next day, and they agreed, I called my sister back and let her know. As I arrived the next day my neices were waiting excitedly for me and had drawn me a picture to say thank you (*melts*). Now, my youngest neice is very, very shy around new people. Completely carefree once she knows and trusts them, but very shy at first and it can take repeated visits sometimes before she will relax with a person. Not my OH though, he had her giggling and babbling away with him within an hour! It was then that I thought 'Mmm, better not let this one get away.'. I'll never forget that day, it was so much fun.

Even now I keep in regular contact with all of them via webcam chats and will take the kids out when I visit the UK.

I have 4 siblings in total and we have all, regularly, looked after the eldest two's kids (5 in total) and my other brother is now expecting his first child. I can't wait to meet my latest neice or nephew.

I know it's not for everyone, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

miss_independent

I would love to look after my niece and nephew but, sadly, we live in different countries. I miss not being involved in their lives and not getting to be a proper Auntie (like their other Aunties do). My niece is very much like me at her age and I think if we would have lived nearer we could have had a great bond.

smunchkinp

Myself and hubby have raised our kids on our own.

We've never asked for grandparents or siblings to babysit, and they've never offered. As such we never had a social life, but now the youngest is old enough to take care of himself, we've just started to date again.

SandC

I have always babysat my one nephew on a fairly regular basis, but our family have never been ones to spend loads of time with each other anyway. My brother has used the 'you need to spend more time with him' line about the babysitting to justify to himself their sometimes last minute requests.

I have told him I don't mind at all but please be honest as when a young child the time spent with him on a babysit is an hour or two before bed and then 5 hours sitting in someone elses house waiting for them to come in - usually worse for wear and forgetting that at 2am sober people don't find it that amusing that you repeat yourselves over and over again trying to tell an amusing anecdote or just by blathering complete rubbish at you.

My sis in law, however, has two sisters with kids of their own and a niece with a child and is a godparent to two of her friend's children and doesn't really get how different my family is when it comes to hanging out with each other.