Kids, the virtual babysitter is here

When she worked as an actress in London in 2019, Ms Selma Alkaff started babysitting children. It was a flexible side hustle and she found that she loved working with kids.

In May last year, she found herself babysitting a former client's pre-schoolers - via Zoom this time, as she was back in Singapore because of Covid-19.

It began with an urgent text message by her former client, who "needed a break" from her children during lockdown in England.

"The mum said: 'Look, I really need your help. Could you try and entertain them every day for an hour? I don't really care what you do, just figure something out,'" the 24-year-old Singaporean recalls.

Ms Alkaff, who studied at the School of the Arts in Singapore and The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, got to work.

She started "trial and error games" to see what worked for the two children, aged six and three, created programmes and videos and "got really into it".

What made it worthwhile was hearing from the mother that "you really saved me this lockdown", says Ms Alkaff, who is now filming a local children's science programme.

"She said: 'That one hour a day makes such a difference, like the fact that I can watch TV, have a meal to myself and know that they're entertained.'"

Realising there was business potential, she started The Virtual Babysitter in August last year, offering remote babysitting services to families in Singapore and as far away as Britain and Sweden.

Her rates start at $45 for a 45-minute storytelling session, which comes with an activity pack that is sent to the child's home in advance, and she receives about three bookings a week.

She joins babysitters worldwide who have pivoted online during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Media outlets from The Washington Post to Forbes have reported on this trend, where frazzled parents hire sitters to provide meaningful screen time so they can get work done at home in peace or enjoy some me-time.

Babysits, a Netherlands-based portal that matches sitters to parents, launched virtual babysitting services in March last year as it saw opportunities to help parents with childcare disruptions.

The 13-year-old company has more than 96,000 sitters in 44 countries, with almost 1,700 listed in Singapore. It says some 500 of them offer online sessions, but it does not track the number of bookings for virtual babysitting.

Unlike traditional babysitters, who take on a more child-minding role that can last hours, virtual ones tend to host sessions of about an hour that are suitable for kids old enough to interact with the sitter on-screen, about age four or so. Parents can choose to stay in the same room if they wish.

They typically engage children in a variety of activities, including playing games, reading stories, colouring and craft, and even helping them with schoolwork, says Mr Daniel Lawson, Babysits' community manager.

"From what we've heard, parents have reacted very positively to virtual babysitting. While some may be sceptical at first, it's been seen as a beneficial resource for parents working from home," he adds.

Ms Alkaff, who has babysat kids as young as 21/2 with a parent supervising, says it can sometimes be challenging to engage children.

One four-year-old was so shy, she tilted the camera away to face the ceiling. "I never had that kind of rejection before," Ms Alkaff says.

So, she decided to chat with the girl and found out she liked music. After a while, the child warmed up to her and she was able to start her storytelling session.

While some parents may worry about exposing their kids to more screen time with virtual babysitting, Ms Alkaff argues that it is "screen time that matters" as they are entertained and engaged, rather than passively watching.

Singaporean Veronica Cain, 42, agrees. She booked Ms Alkaff's services last year as her sons Douglas, five, and Duncan, four, love storytelling sessions, but could not attend them at the libraries here because of Covid-19.

She was impressed Ms Alkaff created an exciting activity pack for her kids, which included a small dinosaur poster with their faces superimposed on it, colourful dinosaur "eggs" that were printed on paper and laminated for a scavenger hunt, and dinosaur "horn" props.

"They absolutely loved it because it's so interactive," Mrs Cain says, admitting that she did not take the opportunity to enjoy some me-time.

"You can hardly sit down and shake your legs. Because it's so exciting, you will want to sit in the background, take photos and disrupt any fights," says the secondary school teacher, who continues to book Ms Alkaff's themed sessions, such as those for Easter and Halloween.

Describing it as "money well spent", she looks at it from a larger lens.

"I want my boys to learn to use their imagination, I want them to have fun with books, and I think this is a great avenue to do that."

Singaporean Syra Gulam, 31, booked two sessions with Ms Alkaff last year for her daughters.

"The good thing is it can be done anywhere and everywhere," she says. This spared her from having to chauffeur her girls and allowed her to catch up on work e-mails for her beauty and body art business.

She also appreciated that Alya, seven, and Azra, five, learnt new things as they engaged with their virtual nanny, such as the fact that an octopus has eight tentacles.

Ms Gulam advises parents to "look out for someone who's very engaging with the kids, so it's not just a storytelling session - it's an interactive session".

The only drawback was her daughters loved the sessions so much, "they felt it wasn't enough".

"Kids, they always want more. They would like to meet Selma in person, which is a good thing", she says with a laugh.

Staring at the screen for a prolonged period increases the risk of myopia and can be tiring for a child, says Dr Lim Yang Chern, a consultant paediatrician with Thomson Paediatric Centre.

This may manifest as temper tantrums or feeding issues in some kids who cannot vocalise how they feel, he adds.

However, "as opposed to a passive watching of a show on a screen, or swiping around on a screen playing games, an interactive activity actively engages the child and allows for a to-and-fro exchange", he notes.

While virtual babysitting can be useful when you desperately need a break or time to focus on a project, parents should be mindful that it does not replace face-to-face interaction with their kids.

"Such outsourcing should be preferably kept to a minimum and as a near-last resort," Dr Lim says.

Do your due diligence when vetting potential virtual babysitters, Dr Lim says.

"There are always dangers of paedophiles posing as online nannies, the coaching of children to do dangerous tasks, and games that secretly promote risky behaviour (hanging of oneself, death dares)."

He suggests taking precautions, such as recording every session so you have proof of what transpired.

It is also natural for children to be wary of strangers. "Neophobia (fear of something new) is a protective response in young children I want to preserve," he says.

Parents can help their little ones relate better to a stranger on-screen by sitting in the first few times and helping them to engage with the online nanny, he adds.

It is also a good way to size up the babysitter.