Just because grandparents express a willingness to care for their grandkids doesn’t mean that they are the best fit to babysit.

For one, there is every chance that parents and grandparents have very different ideas on the best ways to raise children, and they may be likely to clash over that. Also, it has likely been a long time since they had to look after kids, and they may find that they are not up to the challenge in their current phase of life. While the offering of a free babysitter in the family is a godsend to most parents, it is not necessarily going to have a happy ending.

The unfortunate thing about it not working out when grandparents babysit is that they might not be happy to have their childcare opportunities taken away. After all, many dote on their grandkids even if they are not the best fit for looking after them consistently. When they are no longer given this responsibility, they can take it as a message that their kids do not want them to be around their grandchildren. This can only make them become more defensive, even if the decision is the right thing for everyone involved.