Parents ask friend to babysit their baby one week after birth while they go on 4th of July trip. UPDATED
''Friend asked if I could babysit their newborn."
My friend (23) and his girlfriend (21) are having a child. He is like a brother to me and they have made me the godmother. The baby is not even here yet and he asked if I could babysit his child for July 4th weekend as he is going out of town with his girlfriend and family.
The girlfriend is due soon (expected due date June 25th). I told him I’ll let him know if I can next week. But, I do think it’s quite strange to go on a trip after just having a baby.
I feel like they should take time to establish a routine and bond with their newborn. It’s really weird why anyone in his family would even support going on a trip knowing he will have a baby fresh out of the womb.
I am not one to speak on someone’s parenting but from the moment he told me he was having a child he didn’t take it very seriously and tend to have unrealistic expectations.
I am not doing anything on July 4th weekend as I was just in a car accident a month ago and still mentally healing but this shouldn’t affect my ability of taking care of the newborn.
It’s more so that newborns need to eat every 2-3 hours and need extra care during this time. If I say no I feel like this would deem me as not dependable to babysit in the future.
His girlfriend definitely knows. It’s shocking that a new mother would be willing to leave her newborn after giving birth but I don’t think she’s thinking clearly either. She seems naive and goes with whatever he wants to do in order to satisfy him.
I would not be comfortable with doing this if I was her. They both weren’t ready, from what I have observed. I mean, he got her pregnant after only 3 months of knowing her.
He constantly vented to me about their relationship problems and after a while I started to ignore it because he kept pursing her. The relationship seems toxic and they don’t understand how much a child affects their daily lives and won’t know until the child is here.
He also says he lives paycheck to paycheck and the girlfriend doesn’t work but yet he constantly want to go on trips. It is upsetting when people have babies and they are not emotionally or financially prepared.
It affects the child the most in the end. I will be reaching out to my friend to discuss my concerns. I think he is still having a hard time processing that he is going to be a father and I have told him on multiple occasions that when you’re a parent you no longer come first. He has yet to understand this. I can only hope that he starts being more mature once the child arrives.
Here is what readers had to say in response to the OP’s post:
"no, absolutely not. I cannot comfortably babysit a child less than two weeks old."
I want to say I'm shocked that BOTH parents are wanting to leave their child, literally straight out the gate, but I'm just not surprised by anything anymore.
Uh, no, don’t do this. That’s going to be a newborn. What idiot goes on a trip without their newborn? These people should not become parents, they think it’s the same as babysitting a dog.
I’m sorry- What in the actual world? The baby would be nine days old if it arrives on her due date! After I had my first baby I basically quarantined her for a month before we even left the house or let anyone around her.
As a mom I can’t even begin to imagine how either of them could be letting this happen and it feels like they have no intention to bond with this baby if they’re choosing to let someone else watch it so easily at barely over a week old, no offense to you at all OP. This is very irresponsible and inconsiderate on their part.
Four days later, the OP returned with an update.
I recently posted about my friend (23M) and his girlfriend (21F) asking me to babysit their newborn who would have been less than a week old while they go out of town for July 4th weekend.
I am not sure if many of you recall this as I have deleted the post in fear that he may see the post but I thought I would provide you all with an update. He and his girlfriend was in a car wreck on 6/21/2025. This is also the same day I talked to him about my concerns with babysitting the new born.
I did tell him that women need to heal after giving birth and what if the baby comes earlier or later than the expected due date of 6/25/2025. He told me his girlfriend said she will be good and they didn’t think it will be an issue going on the trip.
Shortly after that phone call they got into a wreck. My friend lost control of the vehicle while driving on the highway and hit into the barrier. No other vehicles were involved.
Thankfully they are okay and the girlfriend had an early labor. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl on 6/23/2025 born two days early. When I said the baby could come earlier I did not mean it in this way but thank goodness they are all okay.
It’s safe to say they will not be going on the trip anymore. My friend was driving his brother’s car and the brother did not have car insurance so my friend has to pay out of pocket to pay for repairs.
Although this may cause a financial strain and may be very stressful since they also have to deal with a newborn it could have been way worse. It’s crazy how life could change in a matter of seconds.
Here is what readers had to say in response to the OP’s post:
Wow. What idiots think it is okay or even possible to leave a newborn with a babysitter in the first weeks? Thats insane, and it shows they have not been reading up very well about newborn care.
I hope they will do a bit more research and learning about caring for a newborn. This also should have been a hard no from you OP. Good to hear they are okay, and hope they will grow as parents in the future.
I think it's crazy that OP even entertained the idea to begin with.
"He's a good guy."
He isn't. At best he doesn't mean harm, but he is selfish to the detriment of everyone around him. In two posts his selfishness and ignorance is a problem for his partner, his child, his friend, and his brother.
It's baffling how people can go on living life being so clueless. They're in for a rude awakening. That is if they even stay together which I doubt they will.
Tell me you’re a pregnant first time parent without telling me you’re a pregnant first time parent. “A week postpartum? Yeah I will be fine going on a vacation, baby will come exactly on time, please watch my newborn” OOF.
That poor child being saddled with 2 parents who already don’t care about it. If you live paycheck to paycheck then you definitely can’t afford a kid. If you’re having problems in a relationship you definitely shouldn’t bring a child into it. If you don’t have insurance on a car you shouldn’t be driving it. It’s not that difficult.