The Crucial Information Your Babysitter Needs to Know

This is a guest post from regular contributor Elise von Wolzogen. Elise blogs atnaturallywestcoast.com .

Something I run into quite often as someone who babysits for multiple families regularly, is frequently having to repeatedly ask for various passwords and phone numbers for whatever reason.

It definitely makes me feel like a total butthead when I have to hold you up as you try to run out the door because I need your wifi password so I can finish a college assignment that’s due the next day.

A few months ago, I ran into something rare, but was very welcomed and something I think every parent should be doing if they hire a babysitter at all – even if its just a relative. I showed up to babysit for the first time, and the parents had typed up a complete information sheet.

It included everything from the baby’s full name and allergies to the password for their iPad. I was in heaven! Here it is!

Information every parent should leave for babysitters:

• Full name and birthdays (including year) of all children left in my care
• Your home address or address of wherever I am working. I definitely won’t remember your address if I need to call 911 and I’m freaking out, since I depend on GoogleMaps to get me to your house without getting lost in the first place.
• Full names of parents and their contact information. I’m going to be honest, I’ve probably forgotten your husband’s name on more than one occasion unless I babysit for you frequently.
• Allergies; all of them, but especially if they’re related to food or medication. If your child has a broad allergy, a list of all products likely to contain what your child is allergic to, would also be much appreciated so I can be sure to avoid those products, if possible, before I come over to your house.
• Insurance carrier and policy number. I really hope I won’t ever need them, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Especially if you need to meet us at the hospital in an emergency.
• Wifi name and password. Lets not discuss the number of times I’ve had an assignment for college due at 11:59pm that I plan on cramming out after the kids go to bed.
• Diet restrictions, if any (gluten free, vegan, etc).
• Any passwords I might need to know. As an example, the family mentioned above uses their iPad for Chromecast, so I needed to know the password to the iPad so I could access their various streaming accounts.
• Location(s) of emergency supplies, medication + their doses, etc. If your child should receive any medication while in my care, there is nothing more important than this section. I would feel eternally horrible if little Andy got hives because I didn’t know that I needed to give him his allergy medicine before bed.
• I also like to know what happens if a child begins to run a fever in my care. Should I call you to come home immediately? Do I give your child a lukewarm bath and see if it manages itself? Do I administer a fever reducer? Please tell me! No two families are alike, and my best judgement may not be the correct choice for your family.

Now when I arrive to babysit for the family who implemented this system and inspired this post, hand off goes much more smoothly and I can always refer to the sheet they made if I need to know anything specific!

It makes it so that I don’t have to text the parents during their date, and they know that I have all the information I need in the event of an emergency!

Do you have a sitter information sheet ready for whenever you need childcare?

If you don’t, now’s the time to get on that!
Grab your free babysitter information printable by clicking on the picture below.

It’ll remove some of the stress of nights out, so that you can relax a bit more, and your sitter will thank you for it, too.

From Elise: I’m a Professional Nanny to a toddler and a baby and part-time college student trying to pass Algebra in sunny Southern California. I’m a CPST, baby gear junkie, and lover of travel. I’m just a gluten-free girl in a gluten filled world, blogging my misadventures at Naturally West Coast. You can also check out how cute my nanny girls are on Instagram and hang out with me during nap time over on Twitter!